How to Optimize Search on TikTok and Instagram to Increase Reach for Your Brand
Increasing reach on TikTok and Instagram can result in tangible results for your business; from awareness to building your online community to converting on and offline sales. Here, we describe how to leverage the search functionality on both platforms to increase reach and drive action for your brand.
It’s a warm, sunny July day and you’re lounging in a beach chair during your family vacation. As you relax, you pull out your phone to research restaurant hotspots nearby. Five years ago, you likely would have started with a Google search. These days, however, you may be more likely to type your inquiry into TikTok or Instagram instead — especially if you’re a member of Gen Z since 40% of users aged 18-24 are utilizing one of the social platforms for search instead of Google.
This stat alone should be enough to convince you that search on Instagram and TikTok is powerful, and a significant opportunity for brands (big and small!) to increase discoverability and reach new customers. And, while social media posts were not indexed by Google in the past, they have recently started to show up on search engine results pages (SERPs), which means that optimizing for search on these platforms could help your SEO in general; a true win-win.
In order to successfully leverage search as part of your social media strategy, you must use tactics to optimize your content so that it ranks higher in search results. Here are some ways to do so:
Understand your niche
The best way to increase your relevance on Instagram or TikTok is to create content that your audience is actually searching for. Spend some time getting to know them and understanding the type of content they are most engaged with. You can also employ social listening or use free tools like Google Trends to find current trending topics to reference when creating content.
Use keywords
Perhaps the most important thing you can do to increase your reach is to use relevant keywords - not only in your post copy, but also in your bio, titles, descriptions, captions, and any text that appears on images (this would be exclusive to Instagram, of course). It is also helpful to utilize the alt text feature on Instagram and include relevant keywords there.
We love to use Google’s Keyword Planner to research keywords. This tool will give you a sense of the monthly search volume for the specific keywords you input and will also provide keyword ideas for your content planning. You can also start a search query on TikTok, since the platform will auto-populate the results with popular keywords related to your query.
Optimize your hashtag strategy
Not only are hashtags still alive and well, but they are essential to your SEO strategy on TikTok and Instagram. Much like the keywords we discussed above, it is important that you conduct a bit of research to optimize the hashtags you use. We love the TikTok Creative Center, which lists trending hashtags and allows you to toggle by industry and time period. We should caution, however, that you should avoid using only the most popular hashtags, as there’s a good chance your content will get lost in the mix. Seek out hashtags that also have a lower volume (~50K-100K) to increase the probability that you will be seen.
Aim for engagement
Okay, so this part isn’t as much about search as it is about the quality of the content you are producing. You can be an SEO wizard and do everything right, but that won’t matter if people aren’t watching and interacting with your content. Consider how you can get users to take that extra step - comment on your video, add it to their favorites, save it for later or share it on Stories or with friends.
Like most things related to social media strategy, perfecting your SEO game on Instagram and TikTok will take a little bit of trial and error, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t achieve the results you want immediately. Keep testing and measuring results, and then make tweaks until you get it right.