If you like food and you have a Facebook account, chances are you’ve seen a Buzzfeed Tasty video. Buzzfeed, a digital media company, started their food division, Tasty, just two years ago, and since then Buzzfeed has launched the Tasty takeover.
Who is Tasty?
Tasty create 90-second videos demonstrating how to make a food recipe. They are set to fun music and shot overhead, with the focus being on the chef’s hands. Communicators need to understand the pull Tasty has on its viewers and how to tailor their content to replicate the Tasty takeover because in two years Tasty has become a top producer of some of the most popular digital content on the internet today. A New York Times article said, “Tasty’s videos were seen about 1.1 billion times in June. In some months its viewership has eclipsed three billion views.”
Tasty is now Buzzfeed’s fastest-growing revenue source, and they are using the Tasty Takeover to their advantage. Tasty released a cookbook last year that sold more than 100,000 copies in two months and made the best seller list. The Tasty shop is also selling the Tasty One top, a multipurpose hot plate. The Tasty app just launched to solve the viewer’s chief complaint; the videos are hard to cook along with because they are so short. By downloading the Tasty app, you can click on a video, and the written recipe pops up on your phone. It is this ability to use their content to expand the business off the internet and into the viewer’s homes that makes Tasty unique.
Why are they so popular?
The popularity of Tasty is indicative of how the public likes their content delivered to them. Tasty is formulaic and obsessive in their videos. Most recipes include cheese, steak, bacon, and pasta because those are the most popular ingredients. A Tasty video producer named Alvin Zhou said, “Every single video that comes out, I look at it, I analyze it, and over time, I’m able to get a sense of what numbers I’m looking for or what number signals a viral video within the first hour.”
Additionally, Tasty uses social media to their advantage. The content does not require sound because it is highly visual. The video relies on Facebook’s autoplay feature, as people scroll through their Facebook feed the delicious food video automatically starts playing for them. Tasty’s numbers are measured in shares and comments and likes, which they rake in on Facebook. An Adweek article states, “In 15 months, Tasty has created 2,000 recipe videos that in aggregate reach a staggering 500 million people a month-and the brand counts more than 100 million Facebook fans.”
The Tasty takeover is far from over, in fact, it is just getting started. Communicators looking to boost their brand’s image should learn from the video style and Tasty’s reliance on data to push their content to the next level.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittneyeffner/
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