Are sites like Buzzfeed and Upworthy a good place to promote my brand to consumers? Why or why not?
The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.
1. BuzzFeed Is Popular and Free
“My company recently started making BuzzFeed posts as a consumer acquisition strategy. With 75 million unique visitors each month, BuzzFeed’s posts can drive a lot of visitors and shares and are free to make. To give some context, a post made by one of my employees with our content drove 5,300 Facebook shares, 1,700 tweets and thousands of visitors to our site.”
2. Both Sites Receive Heavy Traffic
“These two websites have received some negative press as of late, but they are both great options to promote your brand to consumers — as long as you have a consistent content strategy.”
Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance
3. BuzzFeed Brings the Traffic
“Chocomize was featured on BuzzFeed in October, and although we were actually at the bottom of the article that listed “7 Delicious Mail-Order Snacks You Can Get Custom Made,” it brought more than 5,000 new visitors to our site that day. It’s a great way to generate new interest. Go for it!”
4. Sites Are Good for Promoting Stories
“Blatant advertising on sites like BuzzFeed and Upworthy don’t usually convert very well, however, creative content from a brand does. Sites like these that are filled with fun and unique content make it hard for you to stand out. If your brand can tell a unique and entertaining story quickly, then you’ll capture a lot of eyeballs and win over a lot of readers in the end.”
Logan Lenz, Endagon
5. It Depends on Your Audience
“Both BuzzFeed and Upworthy have huge audiences, but they reach very specific people. You need to take a close look at your ideal customer before committing to any particular site (or even an offline campaign). If you deal with younger audiences who engage heavily on social media, then BuzzFeed and Upworthy may be a good fit. But if your audience isn’t there, don’t bother.”
Thursday Bram, Hyper Modern Consulting
6. BuzzFeed Reaches Target Audiences
“If you’re targeting audiences between the ages of 15 and 35, then BuzzFeed is great.”
Brennan White, Watchtower
7. These Sites Let You Be Creative
“The idea is to sponsor fun content that people want to read and share. You have to stay away from blatant advertising because people will mostly ignore it. However, if you carefully position your brand in a crafted piece of content that’s either informational, humorous or provocative, then you can subtly earn a lot of attention for your brand.”
Andy Karuza, Brandbuddee
