How ironic that as Gen Z's we're now the ones who can say "back in my day, we used to use Google" as we grew up hearing Millennials say they didn't even have mobile phones when they were growing up. A lot of changes came about in our generation too (believe it or not), with technology developing rapidly, the introduction of smartphones, social media channels, and Artificial Intelligence times have really changed.
With Google monopolising all the other search engines that existed in the early 2000's like Bing, Yahoo, and even Internet Explorer we would've thought that its usage would only continue scaling up. A shocking Statista Report however reveals just how delusional this assumption was. Comparing Google's usage analytics in 2019 to more recent data we can see a 15% decrease (particularly in shopping searches) which changes e-commerce and how businesses should operate as a whole.
Source: Statista Consumer Insights Report
With Social Media Channels making it so easy to shop through Facebook Marketplace, Instagram Shop and TikTok boosting trends like TikTok made me buy it consumers are hit with conversational Ads left, right and centre giving them no reason to look around for things to buy. Social Media Ads convince you that you've seen exactly what you need to buy, how to use it and why it's the best thing you've seen all day.
Social Media has also become your number one tour guide for any and every city in the world. Looking for a brunch place? Get a tip from that Instagram Influencer who was eating something that caught your eye last week. Planning a trip to Copenhagen? Here are the top 10 things to do in Copenhagen in a 20 second TikTok. If TikTok says it, it must be true!
Let's not forget all the follow along recipe's that Social Media has to offer. Do you remember the last time you actually bought a recipe book? And no not one written or recommended by your favourite influencer - Just a good old recipe book you've found in a book store. I didn't think so, and we can all agree that although there's a certain authenticity to recipe books, social media gives you so much to play around with all through one platform.
Lastly, the reason behind all these social trends and the take over of social media as opposed to a regular search engine does route from the human need of community and being in with what everyone else is doing. Do you think everyone would be googling "How to make banana bread" during the COVID 19 lockdown if it wasn't for social media trends making it viral? So why not save the recipe that just came up on your feed as opposed to searching for another one on the internet? Social Media gives us all the shortcuts we desire while building onto our generations culture of serving consumers with everything they need on a silver platter and making them feel elite.