Instead of positioning itself as a publisher, Playbuzz positioned itself as a platform, providing users with the technology to build and embed their own polls, lists, and quizzes for free. In just one year of operation, Playbuzz has built a platform that has a 94 percent item completion rate from its audience, and it challenged and surpassed the social sharing traffic of BuzzFeed and Huffington Post. What can you learn from this viral content machine? We produced a viral content case study analyzing what contributed to the success of Playbuzz.

1. A white paper by
A Case Study in Engagement

2. Playbuzz has established a content engagement baseline unlike most
others. In just a year of operation, it has built a platform that has
a 94% item completion rate from its audience and challenged – and
surpassed – the social sharing traffic of BuzzFeed and Huffington Post.
Why is its Playful Content so successful? Our research on the trends and
psychology of online content reveals some insights.
10M
10M
Playbuzz
Huffington Post
BuzzFeed
Fox News
NBC News
The Guardian
The New York Times
Mail Online
BBC
Yahoo
Facebook Shares
10,218,843
8,668,569
7,089,734
4,407,667
3,201,048
2,817,276
2,634,928
2,467,753
2,283,898
2,112,079
2M0 4M 6M 8M
2M0 4M 6M 8M
Data: blog.newswhip.com
Playbuzz: A Case Study in Engagement
Playbuzz: A Case Study in Engagement 2
January’s Most Shared Sites

3. In our research, published by Harvard Business Review, we studied the
emotions most commonly evoked by viral images. Our findings were striking:
The two most frequently reported emotions were surprise and anticipation.
These qualities are inherent to well-designed interactive content. Quizzes,
polls, trivia, and ranked lists – forms of Playful Content that Playbuzz
specializes in – entice audiences to participate and discover the outcome.
Whether testing their knowledge of history or imagining survival techniques in
the zombie apocalypse, users are invested in completing the activity because
they are eager to find out how it will end. This transition from mere media
consumption to true media engagement gives users an active role in the
content, making them more likely to return and explore more content
offerings.
Playbuzz: A Case Study in Engagement 3
1. Emotions of surprise and anticipation are frequently evoked by viral content.

4. Our research also found that positive emotions correlate highly to initial views.
This is a crucial point for content platforms: Earning the initial click is half the
battle in user engagement. Playful Content wins big at generating positive
emotions because users are excited to participate in order to showcase their
knowledge, share their preferences, or learn more about themselves.
Beyond the positive association with participation, the topics themselves can
build on a user’s warm regard for a particular piece of content. Pop culture
themes can quickly and easily inspire amusement or positive associations
among fans, but serious subjects such as science and literature are also
successful in playful, interactive formats. These two examples alone have
garnered more than 4 million Facebook interactions.
Playbuzz: A Case Study in Engagement 4
2. Positive emotions are also central to viral content.

5. Another popular theme among Playbuzz content is self-discovery – it is so
popular, in fact, that all 10 of the most shared quizzes from 2014 contain the
word “you” or “your.” Part of this can be attributed to the theory of confirmation
bias, which asserts that people are more willing to engage with ideas that
confirm something they already believe or identify with. There is no subject
more well known to someone than themselves, making identity-based
questions and quizzes incredibly compelling for audiences.
Playbuzz: A Case Study in Engagement 5
3. Playful formats can often be emotionally complex – challenging either our
knowledge about a subject or ideas about ourselves.

6. When we asked 1,000 social media users what is most important to
them when they share content online, 44% ranked entertaining their
friends, followers, and social circles as the most important factor.
Playbuzz offers an extensive library of material to choose from,
including categories such as education, psychology, geography,
politics, and more. Users can easily find content that will appeal to
nearly anyone on their friends list.
Playbuzz: A Case Study in Engagement 6
4. 44% of social media users want to entertain when they share content.
THEY WANT TO EDUCATE.
THEY WANT TO SHOW
SUPPORT FOR A CAUSE.
THEY WANT TO SHARE SOMETHING
THAT IS A REFLECTION OF WHO THEY ARE.
THEY WANT TO ENTERTAIN.
THEY WANT TO LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT
THE PEOPLE ON THEIR FRIENDS LIST.
10%
20%
25%
44%
1%
Why Do Users Share Content?

7. From the same survey, 25% of respondents ranked their desire to
educate their digital social circles as the most important factor. As a
test of knowledge or a tool to reveal a new insight, the quiz format
excels. Trivia and poll formats can also serve to highlight information
about past or current events, as we saw with Senator Rand Paul’s “Fact
Check” during the 2015 State of the Union Address.
Whether users share in order to challenge their friends or show off
their savvy, interactive content is well suited to serve the purpose of
education on social media.
Playbuzz: A Case Study in Engagement 7
5. 25% want to educate when they share content.

8. 84% of users ranked being a good friend as the most important value
they consider when sharing content online. Sharing interactive content
enables users to achieve this goal by:
1. demonstrating to their social circles that they want to share a
moment of enjoyment and entertainment.
2. indicating that they care about their friends’ results, creating a
further point of social contact and engagement.
3. establishing a social image of the themes and ideals with which they
want to be associated.
Playbuzz: A Case Study in Engagement 8
6. The most important value people consider when sharing online is
demonstrating that they care about their relationships.
84% of survey respondents said their
relationships and “being a good friend to
those I care about” are important values when
they share content online.
84%
Personal Values and Content Sharing

9. The design of Playbuzz’s content is smart in its appeal to people’s
innate curiosities and also in its easy integration with the world’s
largest social media platform. 81.9% of sharing happens on Facebook,
and Playbuzz quizzes display easily within newsfeeds and can be
included as menu options in Pages. Their content and design are so
well matched with Facebook’s platform, in fact, that Playbuzz earned
more shares and comments than any other online publisher in
NewsWhip’s most recent engagement report.
Playbuzz: A Case Study in Engagement 9
7. Quizzes are optimized for Facebook, where the vast majority of sharing
takes place.
8.6%
4.3%
3% 2.2%
81.9%
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Playbuzz Sharing on Social Networks

10. Language can contribute significantly to content’s success on social
media; particular keywords can earn drastically more traffic and shares
if promoted correctly. In our study on sharing patterns on each platform,
we found that knowledge-based verbs (action words like know, think,
and understand) tend to earn more shares than others. This insight is an
advantage for Playbuzz, since its Playful Content generally revolves
around testing a user’s knowledge. The trend may be a result of the
rising popularity of exactly this kind of content as well.
Playbuzz: A Case Study in Engagement 10
8. Knowledge-based verbs are highly viral in headlines.

11. Playbuzz: A Case Study in Engagement 11
Conclusion
Playful Content has risen to dominate social media
because versatile, interactive formats appeal so
easily to users’ feelings of anticipation and positive
associations. By pairing this insight with a
social-media-friendly platform, Playbuzz has
positioned its content to earn huge returns in
engagement, completion, and social shares.
Curious about the research? Find more at http://frac.tl/press/

12. Playbuzz: A Case Study in Engagement 12
Sources:
1. https://hbr.org/2013/10/research-the-emotions-that-make-marketing-campaigns-go-viral/
2. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/10/15/how-well-do-you-really-know-the-u-s-constitution-see-if-you-can-answer-all-15-questions-correctly/
3. https://www.playbuzz.com/samanthahealey10/how-long-would-you-survive-in-the-zombie-apocalypse
4. https://blog.playbuzz.com/best-ways-make-content-shareable/
5. https://www.playbuzz.com/sarakeeton10/can-you-pass-an-8th-grade-science-test
6. https://www.playbuzz.com/jonb10/what-classic-novel-describes-your-life
7. https://blog.playbuzz.com/top-10-shared-quizzes-of-2014/
8. http://www.viralgains.com/2014/11/target-generations-identity-social-media/
9. https://www.facebook.com/RandPaul?v=app_222219647807785
10. http://blog.newswhip.com/index.php/2014/11/likes-shares-comments
11. http://contently.com/strategist/2014/08/19/this-study-of-2-6-billion-shares-reveals-which-platforms-and-publishers-dominate-social/