| | | I share, therefore I am Yesterday, I shared the T-Mobile royal wedding video
with an agency friend of mine. This type of sharing is such a
commonplace activity that as a user, I don’t think twice about posting
on Twitter (@jefflevick) or emailing a link to my friend.
But,
as a professional in advertising and media, this kind of sharing
behavior is fascinating. Social media has made sharing content an
activity, a part of your online personality, and a way to foster common
interests with your network. This leads to the question: how can brands
be a part of the conversations happening with their consumers, not just
adjacent to them?
To find out, we conducted a study, in
partnership with Nielsen, to determine the role content plays in the
social media space. Results showed that many consumers are sharing links
and embedding content as a key driver of their conversations. For more
on our findings, check out the spotlight below and sign up for our webinar.
What kinds of content are your consumers sharing, and with whom? We’re excited to share this information with you.
Jeff Levick
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| |  | Ten of our favorite facts about what our consumers watch, read, and share this month.
| 1. | 27M pieces of content are shared every day | | 2. | Email is the #1 way most people share content online | | 3. | Women share more “fun” videos than “functional” videos | | 4. | Men are more likely to share content that’s “useful” or “important” | | 5. | Women are more likely to share content that pertains to common interests | | 6. | Across platforms, people share content primarily with friends and family | | 7. | The Huffington Post visitors leave an average of 3.5M comments each month1 | | 8. | In March, Politics on The Huffington Post was the most-shared department1 | | 9. | Videos about basic cooking tips were the most-viewed food videos in March1 | | 10. | Natural disaster videos were the most-viewed news videos in March1 |
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Roy Sekoff gets the five questions treatment
| | Five Questions with... Roy SekoffI’ve heard you describe Huffington Post content as “addictive.” What is addictive content? I’m
often approached by people who tell me, “I come to HuffPost ten times a
day!” That’s addictive content! It’s stories and videos that get
shared, commented on, and added to in a way that starts conversations.
It makes the news, entertainment, and information we offer very social –
something that communities form around. Does this approach lead to a lowest common denominator approach?
Not
at all. We’ve always followed an editorial vision that proudly embraces
both the high-brow and the low-brow. We care about Afghanistan and
financial reform and about who wins an Oscar or the Super Bowl, or what
the latest fashion and food trends are. We take what we do very
seriously, but we don’t take ourselves very seriously – and our users
have shown they enjoy this approach. They like the mix, clicking and
commenting on both in-depth original reporting pieces and the fun,
lighter stuff.
What do you think about the future of media? Is print dead? We
don’t see it in terms of traditional media “versus” new media. We
believe the two are converging, with old media players embracing the
ways of new media (including transparency, interactivity, and immediacy)
and new media companies adopting the best practices of old media
(including fairness, accuracy, and high-impact investigative
journalism). Our approach is to combine the two, mixing great journalism
with cutting edge technologies to create a 21st Century media company.
Is there a “secret sauce” that has fueled HuffPost’s success? Isn’t
that like asking Colonel Sanders to name his 11 herbs and spices?
Joking aside, I think the most important thing we’ve done is remain true
to our original vision and core principles. We are living in an era of
immediate obsolesce. Innovation is coming along so rapidly, by the time
you course correct, you are once again off course. In this kind of
ecosystem, it’s easy to always be looking for the next hot thing, the
next big wave to ride to success. But, paradoxically, this can be the
quickest way to get crushed under that wave. We haven’t allowed
ourselves to seduced by every new 20 year old hottie that comes
shimmying down the path.
Now for the all important fun question. Favorite super power? Given
the amount of time I’ve spent on cross-country flights the last four
months, being able to fly at the speed of light – and avoid being groped
by TSA workers -- would be pretty useful…but it’s hard not to be
intrigued by the ability to become invisible and go behind the scenes as
an undetected observer. | | |
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| | Content and the Social Web147.8M
people are on social media every day. Ever wonder what they are talking
about? We did. In a new study done in partnership with Nielsen, we
found that 23% of social media messages include content.
The
results of the research have strong implications for brand marketers
when it comes to connecting with consumers. Sixty-percent of
content-sharing messages specifically mention a brand or product name,
and the most-often shared content is from a trusted source that provides
helpful information. Findings show that because some shared content is
linked to while some is embedded, marketers have two tactics for
exploiting the behavior of content sharing. Learn more during our webinar on May 4th at 2pm. Sign up here | | |
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| | AdWeek & AOL Fuel the FutureOn
Monday, April 14th, you may have noticed that Adweek relaunched with
richer editorial and a completely overhauled, sleek redesign. In
partnership with this event, we announced a joint industry blog called, “Fuel the Future.”
On Fuel of the Future, a select group of industry thought leaders sound
off on what they find engaging, influential and inspiring-- in short,
what ‘fuels’ them. Big thinkers like Geoff Cottrill (CMO of Converse)
and Rishad Tobaccowala (Chief Innovation Officer, Vivaki), as well as
AOL digital sages like David Shing and David Bell, share what fuels
them. You can also see our IAB Portrait ad in action, with custom
creative we developed for Big Brothers, Big Sisters.
Check out Fuel of the Future, comment, vote, and find out what “fuels” you, too | |
If you have been forwarded the A-ha and would like to subscribe, please subscribe here.
Source (unless otherwise noted): Nielsen, "Contet is the Fuel of the Social Web" March 2011. 1Omniture, December 2010. |
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