EP 31: Why Your Business Can't Ignore Social Media in 2026
In this episode of Sip On This, Emad, Naj and Ryan break down why social media is now a sales channel, not a popularity contest. They cover how buyers use Instagram and TikTok as search engines, why AI tools like ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews are quietly built on your social content, and what actually happens in the 35 days between an enquiry and a closed sale. Leads check your social media before they buy. If your last post was months ago, they're calling someone else. If you're running ads but ignoring organic social, this episode explains where your leads are going. What we cover: - Social media as a search engine: your buyers check you here before Google - Zero-click search and why social is one of the last direct lines to your customer - AI SEO and GEO: how your social content shapes what ChatGPT and Google say about you - How organic social makes your paid ads work harder - Measuring the unmeasurable: practical ways to attribute social to sales - Active vs dead socials: what a lead sees when they compare you to a competitor - The silent buyers who never like or follow but decide based on your content - Using AI as a production tool, not a replacement for your expertise The follower count question: how many do you actually need? Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome + what's in this episode 06:00 Social media as a search engine 08:21 Zero-click search and reaching customers directly 09:45 AI SEO and GEO: how socials influence what AI says about you 11:21 Organic social + paid ads working together 14:22 How to measure social's impact on sales 23:44 Active vs dead socials: the due diligence moment 26:00 The 35.5-day window between enquiry and sale 28:45 The silent buyers: watching without liking 30:57 New, relevant, interesting: the three content tests 32:56 Using AI to produce content 37:08 Why social matters more now than ever 40:24 The follower count question Multimediax is a Sydney digital marketing agency and Google Premier Partner, ranked in the top 3% of agencies in Australia. We manage SEO, Google Ads, social media, web design and HubSpot for brands that want marketing tied to commercial outcomes, not vanity metrics. 🎙 New episodes of Sip On This every fortnight. Subscribe so you don't miss the next one. #socialmediamarketing #digitalmarketing #smallbusinessmarketing #marketingpodcast







