Social Media & Viral Marketing With AI – Masters of Traffic Part 8

Views: 13

Listen to the Notebook.lm edition

 

As we navigate the new AI-all-the-time Google Zero Click Serps, it is always good to look  alternative sources of traffic. While our traditional SEO has prioritized rankings, links, and on-the-page optimization – the significance of social as a traffic generator is too often underestimated by SEO’s.  AI-driven social media strategies can be essential in expanding your reach and creating natural backlinks.  All of those features can enhance a sites SEO visibility, both with pure clicks as well as rankings exposure. Yes, the big-dog social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,  and TikTok can significantly impact brand searches and SERP performance. Where AI can  help, is in identifying viral social elements that we are completely tone deaf too and gauge audience sentiment across all metrics. With AI, SEOs can craft targeted shareable content that attracts somewhat higher-quality referral traffic and may ultimately secure backlinks from reputable sources.

Being everywhere your audience eyeballs are at is the goal of great marketer – not just optimizing for SE’s. AI systems can suggest quality content topics and  automate the reuse of content across platforms. For example, AI can create LinkedIn posts, BlueSky threads, and social snippets from a high-performing blog post based on the audience behavior of each site – not just each page.  AI-driven analytics can identify the communities or influencers that are most likely to interact with your material.

In order to provide the best hashtags for a certain topic, AI-powered systems can examine competitor usage. It can also surface trending debates. AI can rank hashtags according to audience size and past performance (ChatGPT is best at this). That said, it take some time to get this right – there is no ‘perfect fit’ for hashtags and AI. One place AI is good at is basing tags on popular conversations and other high-engagement postings – AI might recommend #SEOstrategy #DigitalMarketingTips #AIforSEO if you’re advertising an SEO webinar. By using hashtags carefully, marketers can make sure that their content reaches the proper audience—not just the biggest one—thanks to these AI-driven insights.

For example: repeatedly during the buildout here of Search Engine World we have run into hashtags that led to traffic, that we would not have thought of without using AI. One aspect we will repeat is that one size fits all is not a recommended strategy. What I mean by that is using these services like Buffer or Social Sprout seems like it might automate your postings, but in reality they only genericize it. We want to create custom posts for each major social service. The differences between a linked into post and a BlueSky post are so different, you can not homogenize posting or the vanilla aspect of the post will show through and people will just ignore it. Engagement rates increase when you create a custom post to each service.

In truth, hashtag effectiveness varies widely across platforms. It is always best practice to let the AI know what the target platform is that you are trying to reach. On Twitter, AI might suggest 5-7 trending hashtags with a mix of broad and niche tags, such as #PPCAds #AdTech #AIcopywriting for a paid search campaign. Meanwhile, on LinkedIn, where fewer but more targeted hashtags perform better, AI might recommend #B2BMarketing #GrowthHacking #PerformanceSEO for a post about scaling organic traffic. On Instagram and TikTok, AI can analyze trending challenges and viral content, suggesting #EcommerceSEO #ShopifyGrowth #GoogleAdsTips to maximize discoverability (TikTok is an entirely different beast when it comes to hashtags).

Tip: if your are using ChatGPT to create hashtags, make sure to trigger on the “search” feature so that it examines recent results as well as it’s web based chat generations.

Lets also not forget that SE’s will index many of these social media platforms. While Google used to love to index Twitter, it is leaning much more towards surfacting content from Linkedin these days. Linkedin posts will often out perform content from your own site. It seems Google loves the authority and verified authors of Linkedin.

As you know, every post you write competes for social attention. A custom caption for the post ensures your message stops the scroll and drives action. Whether you need short punchy hooks for Twitter or story-driven captions for LinkedIn, AI optimizes for CTA strength, keyword impact, and shareability. Example: Instead of “New blog post on SEO trends”, AI might generate “ SEO is changing—are you ahead or behind? 3 trends redefining rankings. Read now.”

Where AI can shine is  in generating multiple caption variations. You can then use it to predict which will perform best based on historical data. It can test curiosity-driven clicky-loo’s vs. authority-driven captions or compare question-based CTAs against direct CTA commands. Example: Promoting a lead gen guide? AI might suggest:

1️⃣ “Struggling to convert clicks into leads? Download this playbook.”

2️⃣ “The secret to high-converting landing pages? Get the blueprint.”

AI-driven captions ensure every post is optimized for engagement, clicks, and conversions—turning social shares into real traffic.

Social media moves fast – well duh – lol. If you’re not creating content around trending topics, you’re missing out on huge engagement spikes and organic reach.

AI can track real-time discussions, hashtags, and industry news to suggest content ideas that fit your brand. Instead of posting evergreen content that gets lost in the feed, you can tap into what people are already talking about. For example, if a new Google algorithm update drops, and you are a SEO blog, AI might recommend a quick LinkedIn post breaking it down or a Twitter thread analyzing the impact on rankings.

The right trend can drive high-volume social shares, backlinks, and brand authority. AI tools can monitor Reddit, Twitter, and industry blogs, surfacing hot topics before they peak. If an AI-generated search update is gaining traction, AI can help craft a post like: “Google’s AI ranking signals just got an upgrade. SEOs, here’s what you need to know (and fix) today.” This keeps your brand visible, relevant, and positioned as a go-to source in your industry.

Why you should care: YouTube SEO involves strategically optimizing your video content’s metadata to increase visibility and reach on the platform. By using AI to craft kw-rich titles that accurately represent your content while incorporating relevant search terms, you can significantly improve your video’s chances of being discovered in the massively crowded YouTube creator world. Effective descriptions should expand on your title with natural kw placements in the front of your first 1-2 sentences and contain relevant links to your other content. Tags – while less influential than they used to be – should still include a mix of specific and broader terms related to your content niche. This optimization process requires understanding your target audience’s search behavior at a level that is difficult for the average SEO. One perk is to analyze your competitor’s strategies and regularly review YouTube Analytics to refine your approach based on real world performance data.

How: Start your videos with something unexpected that makes viewers pause. Try a bold statement that challenges what they think they know. Ask questions that speak directly to their biggest challenges. Share a surprising stat that makes them rethink their approach. Make a clear promise of what they’ll gain in the first few seconds. Create curiosity gaps that keep them watching to find the answer. Remember, you’ve got about three seconds before they decide to stay or scroll away.

Tip: study some of the YouTube tips & tricks videos that are out there. It’s not rocket science to get the basics down, but using AI to tweak that process can incrementally increase your results.

When ending your videos, ditch those annoyingly boring “like and subscribe” requests nobody listens to. Instead, connect your call to action directly to the value you just provided. Create a sense that they need to act now or miss out. Use clear, specific directions about exactly what to do next. Mention results others in your community have achieved. Share data showing why taking this step makes sense. Position your CTA as the obvious next move for anyone who wants results. When you frame it right, clicking, subscribing, or signing up feels like the natural thing to do.

As search engines continue to evolve and incorporate more social signals and engagement metrics into their algorithms, the line between social media marketing and SEO will continue to blur. The most successful digital marketers will be those who embrace this convergence. Uusing AI to identify patterns and optimize content across all platforms where their audience spends time. Your goal shouldn’t be to rank well just on Google, but to create a cohesive digital presence that meets your audience wherever they are—delivering value, building relationships, and driving conversions through an integrated approach that harnesses the combined power of SEO, social media, and artificial intelligence.