Getting your voice heard online often feels like trying to talk in a crowded room. So how do you rise above the noise?
In this 99U talk, Jonathan Perelman breaks down the tactics and mindsets used by Buzzfeed to stand out on social media and elsewhere (complete with its trademark listicles). By adopting a social-first mindset and creating content that appeals to emotion, Buzzfeed has grown from a small blog to a cultural phenomenon read by tens of millions of people (including the President of the United States).
His advice? Respect the platform you’re using (e.g. Twitter is about timelines, Facebook is about emotion), stay positive, and tell a story that is “genuine, authentic, and meaningful.”
Jonathan Perelman is the VP of Agency Strategy and Industry Development at BuzzFeed. At BuzzFeed he works closely on all aspects of the business, with a particular focus on educating advertising agencies on the BuzzFeed platform and ad products.
Prior to BuzzFeed, Jonathan spent six years at Google, most recently as the Global Lead for Industry Relations. He was responsible for brand identity initiatives and relationship management within the advertising and media industries. Prior to Google, Jonathan worked at Financial Services firm, Unifund, and also was the Deputy Finance Director on Cory Booker’s 2002 Mayoral run in Newark, NJ. The campaign was captured in an Academy Award nominated film, Street Fight, released in 2005.
Jonathan is a Sr. Fellow at the Center for the Digital Future, at the USC Annenberg School. In addition, he serves on the board of Advertising Week, Ad:Tech, and the International Association of Internet Professionals, along with other industry groups. He’s also an advisor to several start-ups.
