7 Content Marketing Insights From Buzzfeed Honcho Jonathan Perelman
This is Jonathan Perelman, Buzzfeed’s General Manager of Video and VP of Agency Strategy. (Pretty wordy title for someone who specialises in snappy content, right?)
By Ahmed Ahmed, Senior Account Manager at Clarity
I had the luck to meet and talk to Jonathan at a conference at Birmingham City University today called #RethinkMedia, where Jonathan delivered an insightful talk on content and how social media is a powerful force for brands and publishers.
And in classic Buzzfeed style, here are 7 key content marketing insights from Jonathan’s keynote address:
1. THIS DIAGRAM SUMMARISES BROADCAST MEDIA VS SOCIAL MEDIA
Audiences are no longer just passive recipients of content – they share and ‘narrowcast’ among themselves. This is a fantastic resource for brands and publishers to tap into, as long as they create the right stuff that gets people talking.
2. THE INTERNET MEANS NICHE CONTENT CAN DO VERY WELL
Traditional media often put a lot of effort into creating content which appeals to the widest possible audience. The Internet’s global and social nature means that articles as random as 7 Types of Players you meet at Magic: the Gathering Tournaments get shared and recycled, achieving millions of shares and views.
3. IF YOU WANT TO EXPLOIT SOCIAL, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THIS:
Enough said, no?
4. HERE ARE 3 REASONS PEOPLE SHARE CONTENT ONLINE
Buzzfeed categorise and produce content according to a set of key ‘needs’, and so everything they publish is designed to achieve shareability by tapping into one of these human instincts.
5. CONTENT BEHAVES DIFFERENTLY, DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU PUT IT
Twitter content is shared and consumed early, with a quick drop-off. On Facebook, thanks to the reactive algorithm that takes into account the popularity of the post and your relationship with the sharer, content floats around for longer. And Pinterest is great for evergreen content – it sticks around almost forever.
6. ENGAGE YOUNGER DEMOGRAPHICS WITH CONTENT, IF YOU KEEP IT EXCITING.
Buzzfeed is entering the news arena – with a young audience in thrall, the platform is now able to explore topics like the relationship between politics and big business, in an engaging way.
7. CHANGE IS GOOD – BUT DO IT RIGHT!
The digital revolution is showing that for brands and publishers, change is good. The trick is to truly go digital and flourish.
Special thanks to Jonathan Perelman, Birmingham City University and Daniel Reading for sourcing the images and GIF.
