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Planable is the best client-facing social media tool we've ever used and we've used a lot.
Onlypult is a handy tool for scheduling social media posts, but it isn’t without its frustrations. Users often mention issues like client profiles not syncing in the calendar view, along with glitches and failed posts on certain platforms, small things that can slow...
Oct 16, 2025
As a senior SEO specialist, I’ve watched SEO and social media functions operate in silos for too long. I used to chase keywords, backlinks, and rankings exclusively, while our social team focused only on likes, shares, followers and engagement. But in 2026, that approach is outdated.
Search behavior has changed dramatically. People now turn to TikTok or Instagram to search for how-tos, and social posts show up in Google’s results. Everything is effectively a search engine, and everyone’s a content publisher.
With Instagram posts appearing in Google search results and TikTok training AI models, social and SEO are tightly intertwined in the customer journey. Ignoring this means missing out on “the opportunity to influence the full customer journey”.
In this guide, you’ll learn how SEO and social media teams can collaborate to create content that reaches audiences everywhere. Specifically, I’ll share practical ways to work with your social media team, real examples from our campaigns and other brands we admire, platform-specific strategies that actually work, and workflows that help every marketer to move faster and get better results.
By the end, you’ll walk away with actionable tactics you can apply immediately to amplify your content and influence the full customer journey.
Over the past few years I’ve seen at least four key benefits when SEO and social media strategies come together:
In fact, a recent study from SE Ranking found YouTube was the #1 linked source across popular AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity, and LinkedIn even cracked Google’s top-10 results.
A great example of how this collaboration can transform results comes from Jon Stephen Stansel, Founder @Saturn 9 & Social Media Manager @Amazon. He emphasizes that social media managers should be involved from the start:
Talk to your social media manager BEFORE you create the content you want them to post. Invite them to the meetings. Tell them your goals. Ask them questions. Listen to their thoughts. Build with them. Their job is to help craft content and build a strategy that works for your brand on social media, not to just hit send whenever you tell them to.
In short, when SEO and social work together, they reinforce each other: multiple touchpoints (search results, social profiles, content shares) create a stronger online presence than either channel alone. This synergy is now critical because search behavior and content consumption have evolved.
To win in 2026, we must treat SEO and social as one integrated ecosystem. The days of keyword lists in one room and hashtag calendars in another are over.
So what do SEO and social teams actually do differently when they collaborate? In practice, it means breaking down workflows and sharing tactics:
We treat social profiles and posts as mini search assets. I work with George, our social media manager, to include relevant keywords in bios, captions, hashtags, and even video transcripts.
We kept our workflow simple. We created a Notion document with a list of main keywords relevant to Planable, categorized by platform and content type (Tofu, Mofu, Bofu). I regularly update the list, while George uses the keywords in descriptions, hashtags, YouTube scripts, and other content.
Conversely, we mine social media for content ideas. When a LinkedIn post or Instagram Story sparks lots of questions or comments, that feedback highlights what our audience cares about. We capture these pain points and turn them into keyword ideas or blog topics.
For example, when we reached 10K followers on TikTok, we published an opinion piece under George’s name explaining how we achieved that, then promoted it on social media.
Instead of separate plans, we batch-plan together. That means our content calendar shows blog posts, social campaigns, and even video scripts side by side. We ensure they complement, not duplicate, each other.
For example, if I publish a long guide on “content approval workflows,” the social and design team will collaborate simultaneously to create and schedule related posts. This coordinated cadence builds momentum across channels.
Feedback plays a crucial role in our process. Every quarter, we set a shared key result: to hold at least four structured collaboration sessions dedicated to research and cross-validation. During these check-ins, we align on upcoming content themes, review community insights, brainstorm new social media topics, and verify our overall SEO strategy against emerging social trends.
For example, after conducting a competitive research, we realized the need to strengthen our presence on YouTube. Together, we decide which themes deserve new video content for the upcoming quarter, which ones could evolve into series, and how both teams can reinforce them across channels.
✨ Bottom line: Collaboration means thinking “SEO first” and “social first.” It’s planning content that works on both search engines and social feeds, with consistent messaging.
To operationalize this collaboration, here are my five go-to tactics, each broken down with examples and action steps.
I start every quarterly content session by syncing our SEO keyword research with social trends. First, I review Google Search Console and SEO tools for high-value, relevant keywords and topics. Next, I sit with George and show what’s trending in search. We brainstorm how those topics could be repurposed into social posts.
How we do it: If our SEO data shows that “social media scheduling tools” has tens of thousands of monthly searches, we decided that we might create a week of posts (Carousels, TikToks, Stories) highlighting scheduling tips, each linking back to our blog or demo. Conversely, if a social post about “how Planable cut our clients’ scheduling time” goes viral, I dive into our SEO data to expand on that topic in long-form content.
Example: I noticed a spike in searches for one of our free tools – Instagram caption generator. I partnered with George and the design team to create a simple guide on how to use it, which we then shared on Instagram and Youtube. This helps us drive more traffic and engagement around the topic.
✨ Tool tip: We use Planable’s Universal Content and the keyword list mentioned above to keep the copy consistent.
In Planable, I can draft keywords directly in a blog title or post copy and easily share that exact phrasing with George through live feedback. This ensures that captions on LinkedIn and Instagram naturally include the same key phrases, no guessing involved. I also love the option to add different labels, which helps me stay organized and quickly find and update content when needed.
Example of a social media & SEO collaboration in Planable
Social profiles and content can rank or be found in search. We make sure to treat them like mini landing pages:
Every time we publish a blog post or new page, we immediately plan a social amplification funnel. Content repurposing is crucial for content velocity: we leverage one asset across many touchpoints.
This is our repurposing system framework:
Main keyword → Average search volume → Blog post URL → Platform → Type → CTA → Hashtags
The last four are optional, as George knows what he’s doing. 😀
Example flow: Suppose we publish a guide on “social media approval process”.
Across all these, we use consistent CTAs (“Read more in the blog”) and relevant hashtags (broad: #SocialMediaMarketing, specific: #ApprovalWorkflow).
The key is platform-native execution – none of these feel like lazy copy-paste. The content is reframed for the format (e.g. a short video or a quote card) but the underlying message and keyword focus stay aligned.
Cold outreach via email is fading. Now we build relationships through social engagement. Below you’ll find three ways to do that easily:
True integration means measuring combined impact. We track shared KPIs and cross-channel conversions to prove the value of collaboration:
These show both teams how their efforts feed each other.
Cross-platform social media analytics in Planable
By regularly reviewing these metrics together, we can adjust tactics. For instance, if we see certain topics getting traction on social, we double down on those keywords in our blog strategy.
And if some social posts have low engagement, we tweak the copy or timing. This “feedback loop” ensures continuous improvement across teams.
Every major social network has its own “search engine” quirks. Below are some key tactics for each platform to maximize results:
Each platform has its own search and discovery engine. The point is: optimize natively on each one.
That might sound like a lot of work, but a unified content calendar (like the one we maintain in Planable) makes it manageable: we batch-create all these assets together so the message is consistent and keywords carry through.
Collaboration can run into roadblocks. Here are some challenges I’ve faced, and the solutions that worked for me:
Often, SEO and social teams don’t communicate enough. When I first started with Planable, there wasn’t a clear collaboration between SEO and social media.
The solution was simple: schedule regular sync meetings and establish shared workflows. As I mentioned earlier, I make sure that George and I (representing the SEO and social media teams) hold joint content planning sessions. This ensures that no one is working in isolation and everyone has full visibility into the current strategy.
SEO typically chases organic traffic and rankings, while social measures likes and impressions.
To unite efforts, we define shared metrics like overall content reach, traffic quality (not just followers or clicks), and even branded search volume. When both teams have skin in the same KPIs, collaboration happens naturally.
SEO content (like a blog) often takes weeks of research, while social content moves at a more light speed. This can cause friction. My workaround is planning ahead: I build buffer time into the schedule.
For every major SEO article, I ensure we have social posts queued well in advance (and vice versa, social-driven posts get SEO draft time). This prevents last-minute scraps and allows each side to contribute thoughtfully.
Honestly, it’s okay for the two functions to have different needs and paces, as long as we agree on overall goals and communicate.
Being transparent and have fun ensures no one feels their work is duplicated or ignored.
Imagine managing SEO and social media like “playing tennis without a net”. You might be hitting balls (creating content), but the point of connection (the net) is missing.
In contrast, an integrated approach yields clear benefits:
This synergy is now widely acknowledged. In other words, SEO and social have become strong and inseparable and this is exactly what we want. Teams that align on keywords and content strategy will dominate both search results and social feeds.
To keep the collaboration smooth and scalable, we follow a few best practices:
If you want that level of seamless collaboration, try Planable for free. The platform is built to reduce friction between SEO and social teams, so you can focus on strategy, not managing chaos.
I had a brief chat with George where we tried to debunk myths and answer the most frequent questions we’ve both encountered since our collaboration began. Here’s our final thoughts:
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The best channel is where your audience is active and where you can optimize content for discoverability.
Start by optimizing everything you post. Use relevant keywords in your social bios, post captions, and even in images (alt text, on-screen text, subtitles). Share your SEO-targeted content on social to attract organic clicks and links. Engage with communities and influencers so your content spreads.
Also use social listening to uncover new keyword ideas: look at comments and questions on your posts and turn them into blog topics. In short, make social part of your SEO machine.
Yes, but more indirectly. Social metrics (likes, shares) aren’t direct ranking factors, but they often correlate with better organic performance. More branded searches, community shares, and trending content can attract natural backlinks, making social a powerful catalyst for SEO success.
Think of it this way: social media extends your content’s reach, which influences every stage of the funnel. When your posts get shared, you see an uptick in referral traffic and possibly in branded searches as people notice you. That increased traffic can improve engagement metrics (like dwell time), which Google notices.
Also, active social profiles improve your overall web presence, which enhances credibility. In practice, we’ve seen strong social campaigns coincide with higher search rankings for related keywords, likely because more people clicked and linked to our content.
We look at both sides: organic rankings and traffic and social engagement and reach. Key combined metrics include: growth in branded search volume, amount of referral traffic from social posts, and the number of social-generated backlinks.
The future of marketing belongs to teams that plan SEO and social together. By aligning strategies, sharing insights, creating and managing content that works across platforms, you can influence the entire customer journey and maximize your impact.
Start integrating your SEO and social efforts, and turn collaboration into results.
A passionate marketing strategist with a love for nature and a zest for life. Since 2021, she’s been crafting SEO strategies with an authentic, human-first approach, combining data, creativity, and storytelling to drive impactful results.
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