BuzzFeed Traffic Takes a Dive
If you’re anything like me, you’re a sucker for social media and uselessly entertaining websites. I regularly catch myself on Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, and BuzzFeed, often at times when I shouldn’t be. It almost seems like it’s a formed habit at this point – I pick up my iPhone to respond to an email, and automatically tap on the Facebook app. Not only does social media let me stay in touch with my friends, but it’s also my primary news source. How many times have you clicked on a BuzzFeed quiz that you saw a friend took and posted on their Facebook?
When I think of BuzzFeed I think of two things: lists and quizzes. How about the infamous list titled “17 Things That Happen During Conference Calls” or the “Which State Do You Actually Belong In?” quiz that went viral on Facebook. When I find myself taking a BuzzFeed quiz or reading a list with a catchy title, it’s because I saw one of my friends on Facebook do the same. Not surprising, BuzzFeed gets a lot of their traffic from Facebook.
Being actively involved with social media for your business can make all the difference. If you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and set up a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest account, keeping in mind your audience. Each of these social media platforms is free to sign up for, and with the right strategy you can have your customers do some of the marketing leg work. For example, take a picture of your happy customer with their new house, car, engagement ring, etc. Then, post it on your business page and have the customer share it from their own social media account(s). If your customer has 500 Facebook friends and only 10% of their friends see the picture posted, that is 50 more people who know about your business! This opens the door to free referrals.
BuzzFeed reported that they had a 55% decrease in their Facebook shares between the months of March and May this year. So, what happened? BuzzFeed’s staff stopped producing as many quizzes. This knocked them behind The Huffington Post’s number of shares, and clearly these interactive quizzes were giving them referrals by going viral organically. Since the decrease, BuzzFeed has started creating quizzes again, on a daily basis.