If you’ve heard of BuzzFeed, chances are you’re familiar with curated blog content in a “listicle” format (and if you haven’t heard of BuzzFeed, you may be living under a rock). What is it about these news bites that has users sharing, liking, commenting, and coming back again and again? In the true spirit of the listicle, here are our top 3 reasons to use curated content:

  It’s visually interesting

Bright, appealing visuals not only give the content substance, but they also break up the copy, making it easier to digest.  Think of this in terms of a comic strip v. a page torn from a novel – although many carry a greater amount of respect for the latter, eyes simply gravitate toward the comic strip.

  It’s short and readable

These blogs aren’t intended to incite the most thought-provoking conversations. BuzzFeed’s success isn’t attributed to groundbreaking journalism – not by a long shot. The reason these pieces are read and shared so often by the online community is because they are exactly what they appear to be: quick entertainment, that is appealing and relevant to the audience

  It’s too tempting not to click

In a recent report from the outlet itself, BuzzFeed reported that out of all the content it delivers, the listicle is king.

A 2-second Google search uncovers, “Do You Pronounce These Foods Correctly?”, “11 Ways We Thought the Future Would Be Cooler”, “9 Things All Millennials Secretly Do But Don’t Talk About”, and a plethora of others. The combination of an easy-to-read format, paired with a catchy title drives clicks. Period.

This clever form of communication uses surface-level content about a brand, or an industry, which helps build a relationship between the business and the customer, and ultimately drives more traffic to a brand’s website (and we all know what is created when someone lands on a website…buying intent.)

Now if you’ll excuse me, I must go read that blog I mentioned above to see if I’ve been pronouncing gnocchi the right way all these years.