4. News and Entertainment
You Love To Share
30 Million
Unique Visitors
Google Analytics | comScore Global 17M
5. the viral web in realtime
The Big Question
• How can you spread your ideas and make them “go
viral” on the web?
• I have been answering this question by creating
media, working on political campaigns, starting
companies, and collaborating on research
• I will share some of what I’ve learned in the past 10
years
6. Key Concept:
The Bored At Work Network
• Millions of bored office workers blog, Tweet,
Facebook, and IM all day
• The BWN is bigger than the BBC, CNN, or any
traditional media network
• A decentralized network that enables media to “go
viral” if ordinary people enjoy sharing it
7. The Bored In Line Network
• I used to hate mobile
• Now I love it
• Over a third of BuzzFeed traffic is mobile
• You can’t go viral if you content can’t be viewed and
shared on the mobile web
16. hanging out with close friends!
OMG! Good Morning
America with Chelsea
17. The biggest misconception about viral
Quality is all that matters
• Quality content automatically goes viral on its
own
• The best content is the most viral
• The “best” ideas always win
• Quality matters, but isn’t enough
18. the viral web in realtime
Which Is Higher Quality:
Judaism or Mormonism?
20. The Mormons realize that success is...
The Idea
+
A Way To Spread It
The viral distribution strategy is as important
as the idea itself!
21. The Science Behind BuzzFeed
R=ßz
• ViralRank measures the “social reproduction rate” of
media
• It is the key metric to show what is getting shared and
linked on the social, realtime web
• Organize site to maximize how content spreads
22. Viral Optimization
Viral R = 0.8
Content
Viral
Promotion Content
R = 0.3
Viral R = 0.1
Content
• We test R values in realtime and promote content with a
higher rank
• BuzzFeed editors, users, and advertisers can try lots of
ideas and the platform maximizes distribution for Viral Lift
23. We Use Machine Learning
To Predict Social Hits
• We know what’s viral
before
it’s viral
• Regression analysis and
machine learning
approaches
• Data assets provide
economies of scale and
moats
24. Dashboard Technology
Built For Social
• Measure Social Lift and
Earned Media
• Scalable and measuring
billions of events per month
• Used by 300M UVs of top
publishers like: Time,
Huffington Post,
Daily Mail
• And all our brand advertisers
38. Social Takes Over The World
• As social media matures, the basset hounds, memes,
and personal updates were joined by breaking news,
original content, and substantive articles
• People are already getting everything they want, all
mixed together, in their Facebook and Twitter feeds
• BuzzFeed is maturing along with the social web
47. Do on Youtube What We’ve Done on Facebook
and Twitter
• Lightweight, low cost, social-native
content just like BuzzFeed.com
• Youtube Grants ($300K Q1), more in 2013
• LA Bureau
48. Do with Entertainment reporting in 2013
what we did in Politics in 2012
• Richard Rushfield and Kate Arthur, LA
reporting heavyweights
• Start with a team of 12
• Scoops and entertaining content for the
social web, Special Operations team
• Digital journalism no longer a sideshow
in Hollywood
56. 100% of our Revenue
is Social Content Marketing
• No banners
• “Story Units” have 1%-2% CTRs,
Over 10x industry average
• Programmed by viral rank
57.
58. Social advertising is
Word-of-Mouth marketing
at Internet scale
“What comes to mind when you think about General Electric (GE)?”
Control Group
Control Group
Via Social Media
Via Social Media
“We see social branded content as a great way to engage.”
— Paul Marcum, Director of Global Digital Programming & Marketing, GE
59. We’re Already Doing This With Brands In Every
Vertical That Cares About Social
82. Takeaways
• Learn from the Mormons — have an idea and a way to spread it
• Understand your platform — different content spreads on Google
vs Facebook
• The big shift to social content is coming — get ready for it
• People love the Paris Cafes — stay close to what makes us
human
• Use the “13 Ways To Go Viral” — they really work!
