BuzzFeed France’s Cecile Dehesdin on staying connected with the digital audience
Not many media companies have more digital advantages than BuzzFeed. Our executive editor Brian Braiker spoke to BuzzFeed France’s editor-in-chief Cecile Dehesdin at Digiday’s publishing summit in Portugal on how publishers can make the most out of their digital advantages. Here are some highlights from the conversation lightly edited for clarity.
Buzzfeed’s digital advantage helps them see their community react to their content live.
“We get advantages from being an online, social web company that other media [companies] such as broadcast or print don’t necessarily have. That’s why we obsess about sharing. We want to know all the time why are people sharing content, who are they sharing it with, and how are they sharing it. And understanding why and how they’re interacting is one of the most important things to us.”
Buzzfeed grows because it takes feedback from its audience.
“We have a constant loop of learning. We put out something, we see how people react to it live, we learn from it. And we can build on that every day”
Staying connected to audience is important
“We try to make the most of our digital advantages by being really connected to our audience on a daily basis. We hire very deeply socially connected young writers and reporters. Our relationship with our readers often provides us with tips for stories.”
Adaptation is key to success with a global network and regional offices.
“We benefit from being a global cross-platform company. Adaptation gives you a local and global network value even with one single piece of content. We tune into global trends but always striving to keep a local voice, and that’s how we get to create more stuff.”
More in Media
In Graphic Detail: The scale of the challenge facing publishers, politicians eager to damage Google’s adland dominance
Last year was a blowout ad revenue year for Google, despite challenges from several quarters.
Why Walmart is basically a tech company now
The retail giant joined the Nasdaq exchange, also home to technology companies like Amazon, in December.
The Athletic invests in live blogs, video to insulate sports coverage from AI scraping
As the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics collide, The Athletic is leaning into live blogs and video to keeps fans locked in, and AI bots at bay.