Meta recently published a three-part research series examining how online discovery actually works in 2025. Backed by a 16-page report drawing on user surveys, shopping behaviour studies, and data from across 10,000+ campaigns, they reveal interesting insights on how the marketing funnel has changed.
Most marketers are still treating Google search and social search as two separate entities. Meta is here to tell you that one is not separate from the other.
Let’s break down Meta’s report and see how it impacts influencer marketing and ROI as a whole.
Overview
- Meta’s new research reveals how social media has become the dominant product discovery channel, and why creators and UGC are at the centre of it.
- Social search isn’t replacing Google, it’s capturing your customer before Google ever gets a look in.
- Meta cites a +3% ad conversions, +5% click-through rate gained since Q4 of 2025.
- House of Marketers‘ Insights for how marketers can benefit from this update.
Where do consumers start their purchase journey in 2026?
Google searches per US user have dropped nearly 20% year over year. But that does not mean that consumers are searching less. We’ll explain why in a minute.
First, consider what actually triggers a purchase. According to Meta’s research,
- 61% of buyers trace the original spark to seeing something visually appealing.
- 46% credit a recommendation from someone in their network.
- 38% percent saw a product used naturally in someone’s post or video.
Only after those moments with a product in context does anything resembling a deliberate search in a traditional search engine like Google begin.
As marketers, it important to understand that the intent your search campaigns are capturing was almost certainly created somewhere else first. You’re harvesting demand that social search and algorithms planted.
What is social search & how is it different from traditional search?
Social Search is a search behavior exhibited by young consumers who jump between social media platforms because they are looking for a real person explaining the answer in a way that feels specific to them.
And while LinkedIn marketing gurus will make you think that traditional search is dead, Meta’s research explains that social is NOT replacing traditional search. It’s just showing up at a different place in the marketing funnel
Take the following scenarios:
When someone opens Google, they’ve already decided they want something. The search is a retrieval task. Hence, the algorithm is designed to make things be found, match the query, and close the gap between intent and purchase.
But when someone opens Instagram or Facebook, they’re not retrieving, they’re receiving. They’re open, scrolling, and being surprised. The job isn’t to answer a question. It’s to create one. To put a product so naturally into someone’s moment that it generates a question they weren’t planning to ask.
That’s a different marketing task entirely.
And it demands different content, different creatives, different success metrics.
And yet most brands’ marketing budgets still mirror a search-first world. Non-Google search spend will exceed $100 billion by 2028. The shift is already priced into the ad market.
It’s time to give your marketing and social media strategy a facelift.
How influencer marketing and UGC drive product discovery on social media
A creator showing a product in a real, recognisable context, a commute, a morning routine, a weekend trip, does something that no keyword-targeted ad can replicate. It answers the question the consumer didn’t know they had. It collapses the gap between “I’ve never thought about that” and “I need that.” And because it comes through a voice the viewer has chosen to follow, it arrives pre-validated.
63% of shoppers say purchases happen faster when social plays a role in the journey. 65% feel more confident in the decision when they do.
These stats are proof that if you’re briefing creators purely for reach, you’re using them wrong. Utilise UGC & influencer content for its trustworthy pull and if you need help with doing that, House of Marketers is an influencer marketing agency that can help you do just that and more.
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Is Social Media more efficient than Google at acquiring new customers?
Short answer: Yes. Research reveals that 64% of Meta’s iROAS comes from customers who are entirely new to the brand. These are buyers that a traditional search was never going to reach.
Traditional Search is efficient at closing the funnel for customers who already know you. Socials Search is more efficient at finding the customers who don’t.
How to optimise your marketing strategy for social search in 2026
Run incrementality testing before your next planning cycle. Last-click attribution flatters traditional search while ignoring social search’s role in creating the demand that traditional search captures. Geo-based incrementality testing shows the actual causal contribution of each channel.
Rewrite your creator briefs around discovery, not awareness. Reach is a byproduct. The real job is to generate the kind of visual proof and peer validation that moves someone from unaware to decided — before they ever open a search bar.
Brief for social search, not just social media. Caption copy should reflect how real people type queries i.e., “best running shoe for long distance,” not “#RunningLife.” Reels should answer the questions your category actually generates. The algorithm indexes intent signals. Give it something to work with.
The brands winning right now aren’t the ones that chose social over search. They’re the ones who understood that the consumer was never choosing either. They were always doing both.
Conclusion
Meta’s research provides elaborate insights about how consumers are finding products long before they open a search bar. The brands capturing that demand are the ones investing in the right content creators and influencer marketing options.
At House of Marketers, we help brands design and execute influencer marketing strategies built for this shift. We can help you design and run campaigns that work across the full discovery journey. From creator selection to content structuring and paid media boosting, our focus is on long-term performance. So Contact House of Marketers today!