The Tasty Addiction

Many of us have experienced the phenomena before. You open up Facebook to get a quick palate cleanser from your daily life. As you aimlessly scroll through a sea of baby announcements, political rants, and travel pictures, something catches your eye. Sixty seconds later, you realize you’ve been mesmerized by a cooking video that makes cooking shrimp Pad Thai look like child’s play.

Tasty videos have the power to draw in the most novice of cooks with their easily digestible, short, how-to cooking videos. What’s the story behind these videos, and what can we take away from their success?

Rapid Growth

BuzzFeed started Tasty in July of 2015, and in this short time, it has gained 80,164,064 Facebook page likes. To put that in perspective, it has become the sixteenth most liked page and the third biggest video account on Facebook in less than two years’ time.

Recipe for Success

Tasty became a rapid success by combining both science and art to create a digital video powerhouse. Not only does it put a lot of consideration into the content of its videos, but it has the publishing down to a science. With the help of a 75-person team, Tasty can predict a video’s buzzworthiness before it’s even published. Using proprietary analytics and statistics from previously posted videos, Tasty can successfully predict the media platform and time of day that the video will be most successful.

Digital videos are something that brands cannot ignore. More and more brands are investing in digital videos to extend their brand awareness across social channels. Brands can aim for digital video success by following a similar model of quick, engaging content mixed with analytical insights that Tasty has begun to establish.

Tasty’s Industry Influence

In 2016, digital videos were a $10.3 billion industry, and it is predicted that this number will rise to $12.5 billion in 2017. Tapping into the rise of digital video is essential for brands, and they are seeing the payoffs.

Brands have seen that by partnering with digital video sites such as Tasty with the intent of driving brand awareness, they have been pleasantly surprised to find that they also drove up sales. When Tasty collaborates with brands, the videos give users a sense that the content is organic and real. One brand in particular, Newell Brands, found that its Tasty partnership video alone gave it more activation than it would with a traditional Super Bowl ad. This is great news for marketers because digital videos are a fraction of the cost of traditional media.

Digital Video Meets Agency

Working in the motion graphics department, I’ve seen firsthand how brands are reacting to Tasty and the rise of digital video. Brands that have been notorious for their traditional media plans are creeping more and more into the digital video market. They are amazed at the incredible reach they receive at a much smaller cost than traditional media.

Brands are flooding in asking for “Tasty” videos for their social platforms. It’s become a buzzword that is synonymous with more than just an alluring cooking video, but for quick, compelling video content that grabs a consumer’s attention.

While this rise of digital video may seem like a fleeting trend, I believe that it is quickly becoming the new media of the future. It’s something that should be embraced by all brands because it’s here to stay.