Top 7 Reasons this Buzzfeed Insights report makes me want to punch a kitten.*
Alternately: 7 reasons why I’m over the irresponsibleness of social media marketers.
Last week, I happened upon BuzzFeed’s Industry Trends 2014 report and placed it into my cue of 25 tabs in Google Chrome to read. I had legitimate interest in reading it as my job demands that I stay up to date on the latest trends, findings, etc. So with bright eyes and a slightly bushy tail, I waded in.
Oh the horror. If you want to stop here, I’ll give you the (TL:DR) version: “Do not EVER trust any ‘research’ that is brought to you by a website who financially benefits from selling said website.”
“Do not EVER trust any ‘research’ that is brought to you by a website who financially benefits from selling said website.”
If you’d like to continue, allow me to expand a bit more. Let’s do this:
1. The Headline.
“According to Shareaholic, social is now the #1 source of referral traffic to content on the web.” Somehow, they are able to lump every type of website on the entire interwebs into one dangerously irresponsible blanket statement that is sure to mislead scores of corporate marketing executives. As their infographic to the side acknowledges, I have NO doubt that Buzzfeed’s social traffic is 5X their search traffic. Their entire business model is predicated on social traffic. I should hope their traffic follows that ratio. In fact, I’d suggest that seems even too low for them. But to assume that is the same ratio for all sites is reckless.
I can tell you that for one of our largest accounts, social traffic accounts for .5% of all the traffic they get. That’s 1/2 of 1%. And for past clients I’ve developed websites for, who do business in highly researched categories, search traffic is their lifeblood, particularly when the brand and category doesn’t lend itself to social content. Nobody is sharing compelling content on how their vinyl windows are extruded. I’m just saying.
2. Social feeds are the new homepages.
No. No, no, no, no. This exactly the type of thinking that caused so many brands to invest in building up their Facebook pages for “free” amplification, only to see Facebook repeatedly change their algorithms to evolve into a paid media model. Brands do need to invest in content designed for social and mobile consumption, where appropriate and credible, no doubt.
Suggesting that brands’ social feeds should be their homepages is asinine. A 2014 study by Kentico found 68% of all their respondents “mostly” or “always” ignore content from brands they follow on all social media. If we built websites for our clients where 68% of all the visitors ignored the content on the homepage, our doors wouldn’t be open. And don’t get me started on the weird relationship they’re trying to make here between social feeds being the new homepage and the fact that 50% of all millennials read BuzzFeed every month. WTF? Those are two entirely different things.
3. Not all brands can be social and mobile.
Again, I have no argument on the ongoing trend of mobile traffic. To pull another real life example, one of our client’s web traffic just this year tipped over with the majority of traffic now going to their mobile site, after being only 33% even 2 years ago. But the message this section (and entire article) sends is that all of these recommendations apply to all brands. Very few brands are lucky enough to have content organically and inherently interesting enough to have it voluntarily shared on their behalf. It’s not impossible, but as the decline of UGC contests (thank God) have shown, consumers are tiring of being asked to do work on brands’ behalf.
4. Social content can no longer spread if it isn’t viewable and shareable on mobile.
OK — I admit, this isn’t a reason to punch a kitten. I 1000% agree on this point. The mobile trend isn’t going to abate any time soon. Brands that don’t adopt a “mobile-first” mentality like we push for at Struck, will be left behind, regardless of their category.
But for the love of all that is holy, can we please put a moratorium on all Facebook/social contest ideas? We still see ideas presented in our industry from companies that don’t fully realize that any of those ideas, once executed, wouldn’t even be seen in the Facebook mobile app. Face. Palm.
5. Second screens and digital video are emerging trends!!!11!!one!
Sigh. Why is this even considered an insight in 2014? Millennials who eat, sleep and breath with their phones tend to watch a lot of digital video. Unfathomable. And second screens are something to be considered? That’s 2013. Moving forward, the key will be to consider the 3rd and 4th screens and how to tailor content and platforms across those that meet the changing needs for the user behavior on each.
/snark
6. TV is dying, if not dead.
While I will concede the sensory advantages that TV once held are long gone, please do not try to compare any digital opportunities to TV when it comes to reach. There is not a medium on this planet that can consistently provide reach to the extent that TV can. We are seeing an emerging trend to longform content regaining popularity. Binge-watching/listening habits are forming around Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy or Serial the podcast. So digital isn’t the be-all, end-all that will replace our other mass media options. For Millennials, it’s a place to start an argument, but certainly not a valid blanket statement for all demos and brands.
7. BuzzFeed provides more reach than major networks and cable channels.
This one fried my brain, so I’m glad it’s at the end of the article. And if you’ve made it this far, you may want to find something to throw. This chart shows how much more “reach” BuzzFeed provides than TV networks. It would make for a convincing argument for BuzzFeed as a viable advertising opportunity if only they hadn’t tried to make the point higher up that Millennials don’t actually watch network TV, but instead are watching more and more digital video.
And where might some of these cord-cutting Millennials be catching up on some of the shows that MTV, Comedy Central and FX carry? Oh, yes, on those network websites. But conveniently, BuzzFeed leaves those numbers out of this argument. I imagine that if you combined the overall reach of those three networks AND their websites for 18–34 year olds, the numbers might not look so good for BuzzFeed.
Let me conclude with their money quote, the quote that should provide all the context we need for this “insightful report:”
As global brands push toward these trends, those who act sooner will have the advantage. Identifying socially savvy, mobile-first, video-ready partners like BuzzFeed will be the key to success.
As marketers, it’s incredibly important for us to be ever-vigilant on new trends that may impact our clients’ businesses. But we also must take the sources of such trends into account. Like all data, it’s very easy to paint any picture you want the audience to see.
Now, I’m off to go find a kitten. To cuddle.
*Relax — I’d never punch a kitten.
