Buzzsumo, a case study in success
Let’s face it, achieving success is not easy. It takes a lot of effort, skill and luck to be successful. What is considered success will vary by the organization and by the individual; however, in whatever way you define success, it is clear that many things need to come together to be successful.There are many drivers to being successful. Three drivers of success include goal setting, reflection and measurement. As a business, you need to set your goals, reflect on what you’re doing and measure what you’re doing to see if in fact your efforts are getting you closer to your goals. Coordinating these three drivers of success is not easy and in fact there are many factors that one should consider to propel your efforts.
Last year we came across a content marketing solution provider, Buzzsumo; in fact, we wrote an article about them. Buzzsumo provides an on-demand Internet software solution, i.e. SaaS offering, that helps organizations plan and manage content by using their tool to analyze tending content themes on any topic or competitor. It is an incredibly useful tool for helping guide content marketers in their effort to understand what people are interested in.
In its first year, Buzzsumo reached a great goal. They achieved $2.5m in revenue! As noted above, there are many factors that need to come together for an organization to achieve success like this. Thankfully, Buzzsumo reflected on their success and in an article shared 22 factors they see as being key contributors to their success. Here they are,
- The product matters more than marketing
- Influencers matter
- Be growth focused
- Churn is a killer, make the product sticky
- Grow revenues by developing the product
- Traffic and momentum builds over time
- Content marketing takes time
- Create unique content based on data
- Give away everything you know
- Employ the very best staff you can afford
- Partnerships
- Mentors
- Freemium can be effective marketing
- Be aware of your cost of customer acquisition
- Beta test and listen to your users
- Pricing is difficult
- Customer service, track your NPS
- Innovation matters
- You are building a brand
- Keep learning
- Use SaaS tools
- Be flexible, stuff happens
Please, be sure to read the full piece where they explain each of the factors above.
Here is to 2016 and success for all. May you identify and reflect on the factors that will lead to your own success.
Michael Becker is an intentionally recognized identity & personal information management solutions strategic advisor, speaker, entrepreneur, and academic. He advises companies on personal information economy business strategy, product development, business development, and sales & marketing strategies. He also represents them at leading trade groups, including the Mobile Ecosystem Forum. Michael is an advisor to Assurant, Predii, Privowny, and Phoji. He is the co-author of Mobile Marketing for Dummies and a number of other books and articles related to mobile marketing, identity, and personal information management. He is on the faculty of marketing of the Association of National Advertisers and National University. A serial entrepreneur, Michael founded Identity Praxis, co-founded mCordis and The Connected Marketer Institute, was a founding member of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), and was on the MMA board of directors for ten years and was MMA’s North American Managing Director for three years. In 2004, Michael co-founded iLoop Mobile, a leading messaging solutions provider. In 2014, Michael was awarded the 2014 Marketing EDGE Edward Mayer Education Leadership Award for his commitment to marketing education.