How to Increase Social Engagement Like Buzzfeed

Tired of hearing about how your company should take notes from Buzzfeed and how Buzzfeed is the smartest company ever? Too bad! They’re doing social engagement and virality extremely well. Let’s talk about why Buzzfeed is doing social engagement better than most and how you can apply these same moves to your B2B Marketing Strategy (yes, it CAN be done).

Attention Grabbing Headlines Aren’t Enough

Buzzfeed got pretty infamous for producing articles that could only be described as click bait. Pictures of cute puppies, funny “listicles” and headlines that promise “you won’t believe what they did next” can go an exceptionally long way in terms of getting your shares and likes up, but it can’t be the only thing.

Buzzfeed realized this some time ago and has diversified their content to make sure they still have a hundred times more shares and likes than pretty much everyone. Mixed in with the posts about nostalgia and entertainment news Buzzfeed writes incredibly well researched and detailed articles about a variety of topics including politics (and not a single one of them claimed that you won’t believe what President Obama did next).  

That same logic can apply to marketing your business too. Say you’re a plumber, and every post you make on Twitter or Facebook is on saving money (via low flow toilets), sure the idea of saving money will draw people in to read your stuff and they might even share it, but if EVERY post you make is singing the praises of the 1.6 gallon flush? People will dump you in a heartbeat (no pun intended) for a plumber that doesn’t have such a repetitive social media account. So for every sales-y or informative tweet or post, mix in a tweet or blog post about something in your field that people might actually find interesting.

Know your audience

Knowing who shares what, when, and how is Buzzfeed’s bread and butter. While it might seem that they just load their social media shotgun with buckshot and hope to hit SOMETHING, a shocking amount of work goes into making sure the most office workers and college kids possible share listicles all day long.

One of the most prominent ways that Buzzfeed does this is altering what share buttons appear on which articles and in what order. This sounds like it wouldn’t affect much of anything, but it has been a key to Buzzfeed’s success. Buzzfeed also knows that a good emotional connection or appeal to someone’s interests and beliefs is a surefire way to get them to read your stuff and maybe buy whatever it is you are selling. Focus on this and you’ll be shocked by how much of a difference it can actually make.

While not liking how Buzzfeed does business is quite fashionable right now, amongst all of you social media hipsters who hate popular things, it probably isn’t going anywhere, especially with all the boatloads of cash it makes. So why not do your best to try and learn from the masters?

Rotating interesting and sharable content into your social feed. Creating lists and quizzes instead of standard blog fare. Trying your hand at video or SlideShare for some visual interest. All these are ways you can imitate the Buzzfeed pathos for your marketing initiatives. At the very least, though, you can try to get a slice of their social media pie with this advice.

Need some help making it all happen? We specialize in creating effective and smart marketing campaigns for companies all over the globe. Give us a call and see how we can help you!

Maren Hogan

Maren Hogan is CEO of Red Branch and general Bad@$$

Maren Hogan is a seasoned marketer and community builder in the HR and Recruiting industry. Maren started Red Branch Media and, before she hired all the smiling faces you see below, she ran it on her own. In marketing for over 15 years, she has deep experience in strategic campaigns and a long-term, results-based operational approach.