Playbuzz Launches 'Countdown' Format, Increasing Average On-Site Engagement Rates by 345%

NEW YORK, Dec. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Playbuzz, the leading global user engagement platform used by more than 7,000 publishers and 40,000 content creators, today announced the launch of Countdown, a new interactive content format that helps publishers increase audience anticipation and user engagement. Leading global publishers, including FOX Sports, The Independent (UK), Marca (Spain) and Bild.de (Germany), are exclusive launch partners for the Countdown format.

The Countdown format, which enables the creation of a numbered list of items in descending order, ending at No. 1, builds audience anticipation by creating a dramatic effect out of displaying list items. Items created using the Countdown format can be displayed as either a list or slideshow, both of which compel users to engage with the content by actively scrolling or clicking to access the next item in the countdown. The Countdown format supports the embedding of both images and YouTube videos.

"Countdown is exactly the type of engaging content experience our publishing partners tell us they need to create unique storytelling experiences for the social and mobile age," said Tom Pachys, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Playbuzz. "Countdown is to listicles as Instagram is to digital photography: a powerful way to help content creators and brands build audience anticipation in a way that no other online content format can deliver. As we continue partnering with major global publishers, we are working with them to create new formats, several of which are in the pipeline, to address their user-engagement and digital storytelling challenges."

Early results have shown engagement levels spiking as much as 345%, including a 98% item start rate, a 97% item completion rate and attention minutes approaching an average of 70 seconds per item, among users interacting with webpages that include Countdown items, as compared with the average time spent on content pages across the web, according to a report from Chartbeat.

Countdown is the ninth format in Playbuzz's suite of highly engaging, interactive content-creation formats that help publishers, brands and content creators easily create and embed content that is optimized for meaningful engagement across their websites, apps and social media channels. The Countdown format is now available for creation on playbuzz.com and via publishers.playbuzz.com.

What publishers are saying about the Countdown format:  

"Our ongoing collaboration with Playbuzz continues to deliver sports fans an enriching way to engage with our content. The Countdown addition to Playbuzz's suite of formats is yet another example of how Playbuzz understands our desire to engage fans across social platforms." - Teddy Mitrosilis, Social Content Development Manager, FOX Sports

"At i100.co.uk we love working with the team at Playbuzz. Countdown is a great way to tell an engaging story for our readers across mobile and desktop." - Matthew Champion, News Editor, i100.co.uk / The Independent (UK)

"We're excited to be working with Playbuzz and its team of content-engagement experts. Playbuzz's innovative, data-driven storytelling formats and user-engagement tools enable Marca to create more engaging stories for our millions of readers. Our partnership with Playbuzz helps us increase the user engagement and share rates of our content and also open up new distribution opportunities, thereby allowing us to further expand our audience reach." - Diego Diaz, Director of Digital Strategy, Marca (Spain)

"Bild.de was one of the first publishing partners for Playbuzz in Germany. Today, we are using Playbuzz's user-engagements formats in various different editorial sections like news, entertainment and sports. We welcome new tools like the Countdown format, which help us inform, engage and entertain users on our website even more." - Madleen Kamrath, Social Media Editor, Bild.de (Germany)

About Playbuzz

Playbuzz is the leading global user engagement platform for publishers, brands and agencies. By creating, distributing and embedding interactive content formats on any website, social page or mobile app, more than 7,000 publishers and brands worldwide, and 40,000-plus content creators, use Playbuzz to improve audience engagement, increase site traffic and optimize content for maximum social interaction.  

Contact:
Lauren Gumport
Director of Communications, Playbuzz
[email protected]
+972-58-499-7227

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SOURCE Playbuzz

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