A March 25, 2026 verdict by a CA jury held Google and Meta (Facebook) responsible for the mental health difficulties suffered by a woman who since childhood compulsively used social media. The jury awarded $6M to the plaintiff and Meta is responsible for 70% of that amount. Heavy use of social media can lead to unintended consequences, for sure; nevertheless, most US citizens do not feel that social media is a menace to society. Datareportal found that 73% of US adults were active social media users as of October 2025, a response that verifies the often significant benefits that social media can bring to our personal and/or professional lives when it is used with discretion. All of you reading this post know that social media plays an integral role in the business sector, from lead generation to the buyer’s journey to post-sale customer service, positioning it as foundational to effective B2B and B2C sales and marketing.

 Satisfy new algorithms with AEO, GEO and SEO

Artificial intelligence has added more acronyms and abbreviations to the alphabet soup that a Freelance professional must memorize to show that you’re in the game, know what’s up and you’re worthy of receiving a new assignment. To achieve your goal of establishing a robust and respected online presence, you must once again get familiar with new search algorithms and then decide under what circumstances you might be persuaded to introduce new approaches that promise to enhance the search functionality of your sites. The obvious answer is to contact a Freelance colleague to discuss potential benefits for your digital platforms and conduct a cost-benefit analysis. Can you afford to dip into the new technology? Can you afford not to?

• AEO. Answer Engine Optimization. AEO is meant to get your content selected as the prime answer to specific online queries and not just an alternate answer to what’s best-in-class. Incorporating AEO is meant to help your content be chosen as the best answer in our era of AI-powered overviews and voice assistants that are increasingly in the driver’s seat. AEO visibility is determined by how easily machines can read your content. The function of AEO is not to drive clicks as does SEO, but to become the certified best answer that AI agents showcase in all search engines used to post that query.
• GEO. Generative Engine Optimization. GEO goes a step further than AEO and optimizes content so that AI-driven search engines and large language models (LLMs) like Perplexity and ChatGPT can understand the content and cite it in answers the search engines receive and generate. GEO structures content so that it’s easy to locate, access and cite. The function of GEO isn’t just to help your answer become the first on a list of responses, but goes farther to become a strategic approach that boosts your visibility, authority and citations in AI-generated responses.
• SEO. Search Engine Optimization. You already know that SEO helps content attain a higher ranking in traditional online search engines like Bing and Google. SEO is driven primarily by keyword targeting, content quality and technical SEO (e.g., page loading time and mobile-friendliness). The function of SEO is to encourage clicks on your content and drive traffic to your website, et al.
• Continue SEO techniques to boost social media content visibility. Keyword research, alt text, subtitles and long-tail keywords—think sentences—can all make your social media content more search-friendly. Why abandon what works?
• Experiment with AEO and GEO. Add to your online content short social posts that directly answer questions known to be frequently asked by prospects and clients. Use question-based as titles for posts and provide clear, plainly stated answers. Maintain a conversational, yet professional voice for your Q & A inspired content (think FAQ frequently asked questions).

Social media is becoming the place for first-party data

As the presence of third-party cookies fall out of favor, brands are turning to social media platforms to access first-party data, which is regarded the most desirable, along with adjacent sources that are obtained with clear user consent, such as opt-in leadgen promotions. Your newsletter or blog subscriptions, webinar RSVPs and calls-to-action are also desirable sources for first-party data that provides such valuable context and authority to your CRM strategies and activities. 

Brands also increasingly turn to social media touchpoints for market and consumer intelligence that evolves too quickly for traditional research methods to keep up. Social listening tools like Talkwalker use AI to pull specific brand insights from the vast quantities of data available on social platforms, in real time. social listening is the practice of  tracking conversations about your brand, industry, and competitors across social media platforms that allows a the bigger picture to emerge and reveals how prospects and others feel about your brand, what trends are bubbling up and where opportunities (or risks) are hiding. This data can impact all areas of the brand.

Best practices for using social media as a first-party data source

• Ramp up your social listening capabilities. Talkwalker helps you surface valuable insights through a few simple queries, guided by AI. 
• Add social listening to your marketing functions. Social data championed by an in-house expert can impact all areas of your brand.
• Test DM automation and/or gated content campaigns for lead generation. Create a social post promoting a white paper, report, or other gated content resource and use automated DMs to collect leads. 

 How should you optimize social posts for visibility?  How can you adapt to updates in search algorithms?

While Bing and Google are still the go-to sites for online search, social media search is making significant headway as users increasingly conduct online searches on their platforms. Overall, 24% of US adults who use social media also use social media for online search as of April 2024, led by Generation Z (46%) and Millennials (35%). The platforms are keeping up and aggressively courting online search and capabilities are not limited to typing in the search bar. Instagram and TikTok support image and video visual searches and Pinterest Lens enables online visual searches for products by searching from a photo. Facebook supports basic voice search—take that Siri and Alexa!—58.6% of US adults have conducted a voice-activated online search at least once as of 2024. These statistics make clear that social media online search is a growing phenomenon that Freelancers cannot ignore. 2Q2026 is calling you to sharpen your social media systems to ensure that your platforms operate efficiently to give your sites visibility that opens the door to content that attracts viable leads and converts prospects into customers.

• content to address the needs of audience sub-groups. First, there are social media frequent followers and most are already buying your services or products–some are repeat customers and some make referrals. A second group is comprised of those who are on a buyer journey. They’ve recently discovered your brand, or they’ve only begun to learn what your company and solutions are all about. It could be that your company was swept into search results thanks to an algorithm update and your content has piqued a prospective buyer’s curiosity. This last group will appreciate product information and content that conveys how and where your solution works best. Include product/service how-tos in your brand story on your social media platforms to demonstrate how your solution delivers results.
• Customize content for each platform. Because attention spans are short, making it’s more important than ever now. Depending on your business and customers, design content / express your marketing and sales messages to resonate with your audience and have many questions. What speaks to loyal customers and is not the same as what speaks to prospects who are browsing through the site getting to know you better. On all of your social media platforms, include basic information about your product and service because that is the brand story that prospects, especially, would like to see. You need to understand both and create content that speaks to the unique interests and agenda of each group. while both long-term customers and potential customers are interested in your brand story, be aware that those who know your brand well will have a different agenda than those who are learning about your brand and are trying to envision how the experience of working with your company might be.
• Always have a hook. Catch people’s attention within the first three seconds to show your visitors that your content aligns with their needs and interests.  A focal point, an exciting announcement, an advance look at something new, or an enticing call-to-action can persuade a site visitor to linger and engage.

How should you manage multiple platform identities?

• Articulate your core identity. Beyond the brand voice developed to resonate with the typical users of each of your platforms, identify the ideal language to convey the overall message— that is, the core elements of your brand purpose, outcomes and results delivered and the goals and pain points of your prospects and how they prefer to engage on each of your platforms. Your LinkedIn followers may be more interested in case studies and other data-driven information, while your Instagram followers may want to see a video of you discussing why your product or service has helped customers and keeps them coming back. While identity and voice can change across platforms, be mindful to always stay true to the essence of the fundamentals of your brand. 
• Map your platform identities to user intent. Use social listening data to understand what people want from your market niche on each platform and what kinds of actions they take there. Adapt your content strategy accordingly:
  • On X, you give a no-nonsense news account using plain language and links to content on their website
  • On TikTok, you can post create bouncy yet informative explainer videos that convey the use-case for your solution and showcase one important benefit or pain point that you can resolve.
  • It’s time to incorporate visual elements on your LinkedIn content! Brainstorm the stories you can tell by shooting a 3-5 minute video. You can make an exciting announcement, or share a clip from your guest appearance on a webinar or podcast. LinkedIn data confirms that those who post videos see a 3X growth in followers.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Chinnapong for Adobe Stock