BuzzFeed, while often associated with viral content and social media, has found a surprising success in email marketing, an older digital channel. Despite not publicly revealing the total size of their email subscriber base, it’s reported that BuzzFeed expanded it by over a million subscribers last year alone, according to their email tech provider, Campaign Monitor. Email consistently ranks high, among their top five or six traffic referral sources, frequently outperforming platforms like Twitter and Pinterest. This highlights the enduring power of email, especially when coupled with engaging content like the Buzzfeed Gift Guide.
Oshinsky, likely a BuzzFeed representative mentioned in the original article, has hinted at the strong engagement of their gift guide newsletter subscribers, noting an impressive 45 percent open rate. This open rate significantly surpasses not only BuzzFeed’s own news newsletters (at 30 percent) but also the media industry average of 22 percent, as reported by MailChimp. This strong performance underscores the potential of a well-crafted buzzfeed gift guide to capture audience attention.
Initially, the BuzzFeed Gift Guide newsletter was a bi-monthly affair, typically featuring just one or two product recommendations aimed primarily at younger women. However, the strategy has evolved significantly. By the end of the upcoming holiday season described in the original article, these newsletters were set to transform dramatically. Moving away from the infrequent, generic product drops, BuzzFeed planned to shift towards weekly emails. Crucially, these emails would be tailored to readers’ personalities and identities, not just tied to holidays or general events. This pivot to personalized gift recommendations mirrors the successful content strategy BuzzFeed employs across its various content verticals and is central to the buzzfeed gift guide’s future.
This personalization means subscribers could receive recommendations ranging from wedding gift ideas to more unconventional items, like the example of “Lipdicks” mentioned in the original article, showcasing the brand’s signature quirky and diverse product curation.
Jessica Probus, then director of BuzzFeed’s markets section, emphasized this personalized approach. “The thing that makes our gift guide content different is we don’t do a [single] gift guide,” she explained. “We’ll do hundreds of them: Gifts for people who are medical nerds; gifts for people who love grammar; gifts for people who love to curse.” This hyper-segmented approach to the buzzfeed gift guide ensures relevance and boosts engagement by catering to niche interests.
This strategic shift in the newsletter format was largely driven by subscriber research. A survey conducted that past summer revealed that nearly two-thirds of email subscribers desired more gift recommendations for friends. “We hadn’t really thought about reaching that type of audience before,” Oshinsky stated. “BuzzFeed has always been about making content people want to share. We’d never thought about products people want to share.” This realization marked a turning point for the buzzfeed gift guide, recognizing the e-commerce potential within their engaged audience.
To capitalize on this opportunity, BuzzFeed reorganized its commerce-focused editorial team, “markets,” into a distinct operation. This move signaled a serious commitment to monetizing their markets content. They began utilizing affiliate link technology through Skimlinks and deepened their understanding of subscriber shopping habits through surveys. This groundwork allowed their business team to secure exclusive deals and discounts for subscribers, partnering with e-commerce platforms like Fab, Bulletin, and Shoeaholics. This strategic move highlights how the buzzfeed gift guide is becoming a significant revenue stream.
Despite BuzzFeed’s primary revenue model being branded content, this foray into e-commerce aligns with a broader trend among publishers seeking diverse revenue streams beyond traditional advertising. While BuzzFeed entered this space later than some competitors, the industry as a whole was still in its early stages, with publishers experimenting with e-commerce editors and technologies like Apple Pay integration.
Companies like Gawker Media, as noted in the original article, had already demonstrated the revenue potential of e-commerce, with a significant portion of their annual revenue coming from this channel. However, success in publisher-driven e-commerce, particularly with initiatives like the buzzfeed gift guide, hinges on deeply understanding reader behavior both on and off-site.
Chris Vollmer, a principal at PwC’s Strategy&, aptly summarized this point: “This is as much about data and community as it is about commerce,”. “Publishers need to have the first party insights to create commerce environments that are contextually relevant to their users as well as their brand partners. That means understanding the preferences, interests and behaviors of their user communities more deeply and more analytically than they have before.” This data-driven, community-focused approach is precisely what positions the evolved buzzfeed gift guide for continued success in the competitive digital landscape.
