Kayla Miller, Jillian Roth, Hannah Rovito

1. Kayla Miller, Jillian Roth and Hannah Rovito
S.I. Newhouse School of Public
Communications | Syracuse University
COM 400 | BuzzFeed: Future of Media
Professor Grygiel

2. “One-stop destination for all things mystery, true crime, conspiracy, supernatural, and everything
in between, including the hit series BuzzFeed Unsolved: Supernatural, BuzzFeed Unsolved: True
Crime, Ruining History, & much more!” (BuzzFeed: Unsolved, 2018)
2016
BuzzFeed: Unsolved was
aired on BuzzFeedBlue
May 2018
Unsolved Network was
created
July 13, 2018
Unsolved Network was
announced on
BuzzFeedBlue
September 25, 2018
1.4 Million Subscribers
BuzzFeed’s Strategy

3. BuzzFeed’s Strategy
Content Selection
● Influenced by trending topics
○ Reddit, r/UnsolvedMysteries
(Reddit, 2018)
● Research driven
● Viewer feedback on episode topics
Paid Promotion
● Promote videos on Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter
○ Partnership with Amazon, Hulu,
and Roku (BuzzFeed Unsolved
Network, 2018)
Sell Merchandise
● Shirts, Sweatshirts, Popsockets, Hats,
Tote Bags, Pins, Mugs, and Koozies
● Different sayings from the show
(BuzzFeed Shop, 2018)
Interact With Loyal Audience
● Q+A after each episode
○ Answer questions from viewers
across their social media
platforms (BuzzFeed Unsolved
Network, 2018)

4. Working
● Gained loyal audience
○ Content caters to
specific trends
■ supernatural, true
crime, sports
○ Interact with audience
through Q+A
● Sell Unsolved merchandise
● Longer videos = more views
What’s Working + What’s Not
Not Working
● Q+A videos have ½
the amount of views
as original videos
(Miller, Roth, Rovito,
2018)
● Paid Promotion

5. Guest Appearances
● Have features by interesting
celebrities
● “Everything you see in our
investigations is 100% real. Frankly,
that's the reason why not a whole lot
happens... Gotta keep the
investigations honest, even at the
sacrifice of your entertainment!” -
Ryan Bergara (Reddit, 2018)
Ideas To Grow
4%
recall seeing an ad
for BuzzFeed
Unsolved
61%
never heard of
BuzzFeed Unsolved
MoreAds

6. BuzzFeed Shop. (2018). BuzzFeed Unsolved. Retrieved from https://shop.buzzfeed.com/collections/buzzfeed-unsolved
BuzzFeed Unsolved Network. (2018, September 14). The Suspicious Retirement Of Michael Jordan [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyeCf8Vp38U&t=1s
BuzzFeed Unsolved Network. (2018, May 14). About BuzzFeed Unsolved Network. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKijjvu6bN1c-ZHVwR7-5WA/about
BuzzFeedBlue. (2014, May 5). About BuzzFeedBlue. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/user/buzzfeedblue/about
Miller, K., Roth, J., & Rovito, H. (2018). Google Sheets-BuzzFeed Unsolved Video Stats. Retrieved from
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12Kso7APWC7Z2agUIRcPa6Iw9gjZiLaw319KoiXn8MN0/edit#gid=0
Reddit. (2018, January). r/BuzzFeedUnsolved. Retrieved from
https://www.reddit.com/r/BuzzFeedUnsolved/comments/7t5vn5/hey_reddit_its_ryan_and_shane_from_buzzfeed/dtakeh4/
Reddit. (2018, January). r/UnresolvedMysteries. Retrieved from
https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/7hzugm/hi_reddit_its_ryan_and_shane_from_buzzfeed_in_our/dqva45k/
References