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Search intent can sharpen creator briefs, connect social and SEO teams, and keep useful content discoverable.

A social campaign can create demand without making the brand any easier to find. That gap was the central challenge in Ray Saddiq's opening Social Media Marketing Festival 2026 session, Search Insight: The Invisible Signals Driving Modern Marketing.

Saddiq, from Rise at Seven, argued that social teams need a closer relationship with search specialists. Not because every post should become an SEO exercise, but because the questions people type into search bars can reveal needs that public posts, likes and surveys do not fully explain.

For social media managers, the practical opportunity is to build content that works twice: first as something people want to watch or share, then as a useful answer when someone actively looks for help.

Public engagement and active searching are different behaviours. A person can enjoy a brand's posts without considering a purchase. Equally, someone can research a difficult or private problem without ever discussing it on their own social account.

Saddiq's point was that search data adds another perspective to audience research. It can show the wording people use, the questions they ask and the platforms they choose when seeking an answer. He described this as looking for human intent rather than simply collecting more data.

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