BuzzFeed Travel: Channel Case Study

COM 400/600 BuzzFeed: Future Media Skills with Jennifer GrygielJessica Engs, Ray Marek, Brittany Stephanis, Katie Zilcosky

Outline• Overview

• Strategy

• What’s working?

• What’s lacking?

• Travel Facebook vs. Travel Twitter

• BuzzFeed Travel FB compatibility with Instagram

Facebook icon from Facebook.

Screenshot from BuzzFeed Travel Facebook.

• How do other channels compare on Facebook?

• Our suggestions

• Facebook Live could be perfect

• Ideas for further growth

Overview• About Facebook page:

• “Social network for Travellers.” (BuzzFeed Travel Facebook)

• Mission: “News, stories, experiences, questions, photos & videos about Travel.” (BuzzFeed Travel Facebook)

• Twitter: www.twitter.com/BuzzFeedTravel

• Instagram: @buzzfeedstyle - Interesting that they link to BF Style, which has no relation to BF Travel. Actual BF Travel Instagram is @berightback.

• Facebook: www.buzzfeed.com/travel. Screenshot from BuzzFeed Travel Facebook.

Strategy• Photos and videos of iconic and scenic places around the world.

• Link to BuzzFeed articles relating to travel.

• Recently, there’s a post approximately once every four days.

• No posts from January, May, or August 2016.

• Beginning of 2016, one or two posts per month.

Screenshot from BuzzFeed Travel Facebook.

Screenshot from BuzzFeed Travel Facebook.

Photo by Federico Penta. Retrieved from BuzzFeed Travel Facebook.

What’s working?• Enjoyable content.

• Photos and videos from followers.

• Produce worldwide content which allows for a global audience.

• Posts photo and videos of appealing places.

Screenshot from Buzzfeed Travel Facebook Screenshot from Buzzfeed Travel Facebook

What’s lacking?While BuzzFeed Travel has interesting articles on the BuzzFeed site...

BuzzFeed Travel’s Facebook page fails to post them regularly.

This would attract more people to the page, as it is low on followers and engagement. Screenshots from BuzzFeed.com/Travel.

Travel Facebook vs. Travel Twitter• Interesting disparity in engagement over platforms.

• More active on Facebook, but 6x more followers on Twitter.

• Stopped posting on Twitter as of February 2016.

Still produce new content & posted on Facebook.

Buzzfeed Travel Twitter Following

Buzzfeed Travel Facebook Following

Compatibility With Instagram● Buzzfeed Travel FB sticks to pictures and videos only (very little text).● The concept might be better suited for the Instagram platform.● Buzzfeed’s Travel Instagram @berightback has almost 13,000 followers, but there’s a

lack of cohesion between Travel Instagram and Facebook - they have completely different handle names.

● #buzzfeedtravel has 2,085 posts -- showing its demand on Instagram.

How do other channels compare?• BuzzFeed’s top Facebook channels have at least 930K followers and are verified.

• BuzzFeed Travel has a mere 5K followers on Facebook and is not verified.

Our Suggestions• Wider variety of posts. Post more

often.

• Highlight beautiful places that are threatened by climate change to create awareness.

• For example, coral bleaching is occurring in Guam and Hawaii, both amazing destinations.

• Post more articles from BuzzFeed Travel website.

• Post something exciting, new and different for every #TravelTuesday.

• Create cohesion between all Travel platforms.

Bali’s Bukit Peninsula with surfer Craig Anderson. (2016, September 26) Retrieved from Surfer Magazine.

Facebook Live Could Be Perfect● Interactivity would distinguish itself from Instagram.● 360 degree view would provide amazing scenery.● Put actual faces to these photos (interaction).● It has already been done by individual users.

www.mountainproject.com www.asiancorrespondent.com www.360worldtravel.tv.com

Ideas for Further Growth● Have established popular channels promote Travel page.● Buzzfeed Video Page post Travel videos.● Create Facebook exclusive content.● Post more sharable content, not just photos and videos.● Directly link website published content to the page.

Screenshot from Buzzfeed website travel page

Screenshot from Buzzfeed Video Facebook Page