BuzzSumo Review: Is It The Ultimate Content Marketing Tool You Need?

When it comes to building a brand in today’s marketing landscape, nothing works like consistent, high-grade content marketing. But pulling it off is not easy and it is seldom a one-person job. So, seeking help or a solution seems the only logical thing to do. And with more brands investing in content marketing these days, there is no shortage of such solutions. Well, then, how do you find the one just right for you?

BuzzSumo is a well-known tool in the content marketing space. And there is a good chance you have heard of it but never got around to using it. Don't worry! We are reviewing it for you today so you’ll know if it is worth your time and money before acting on all the hype.

So, let’s get started, shall we?

What is BuzzSumo?

Launched back in 2014, BuzzSumo is a prominent content marketing solution. It has been designed and optimized for content creators and marketers, offering insights into content performance and online engagement.

BuzzSumo offers a range of features that can help you analyze your competition, identify influential content creators in your industry, and automate other mundane content marketing tasks.

1. Content Discovery

BuzzSumo’s Content Discovery tool is an absolute lifesaver when it comes to finding ideas for your marketing content. You can do so much – browse topics, discover trends, and identify what content is climbing up the charts and what is on a downward trail! Its Content Ideas Generator curates countless ideas for you and puts them all in one place – saving you hassle and time.

Finding evergreen content is so easy, with a customizable search range. We seldom think about it but the best-performing content is created around real questions. And this is where BuzzSumo shines, giving you access to content ideas from questions on popular forums. But, wait - there is so much more.

For example, let’s talk about this tool’s on-the-go support for SEO. You can easily explore keywords in demand and gain key SEO insights into the headings and structure of top-ranking content. And there comes a time when you create your perfect content but also feel overwhelmed about where to post it. No worries! Let BuzzSumo do the research for you.

2. Content Research

For content marketers, it is tempting to rely on guesswork rather than research. It is a common mistake that results in a waste of countless hours spent on creating content. And it is easily avoidable with tools that automate most of your research work. For example, BuzzSumo’s Content Research tool can scan billions of pages of online content and reap meaningful insights for you. It is constantly on the move, crawling the Internet, updating its database, and helping you create content powered by data.

And all of it is a breeze. Just decide where you want to perform the search – the web in general or any specific social media platform like Facebook. Type in the keyword in the search bar and hit Search. You can filter out the search results based on a number of filters such as time, country, language, etc. The tool returns the number of articles analyzed, total and average engagement, and more. And if you want to compare the results of two or more searches, just feel free!

3. Monitoring

Simply put, this feature tracks what matters to your content marketing journey and alerts you when it finds something worth your attention. You can set up alerts to receive notifications for specific events, like mentions, trends, or just general updates.

So, BuzzSumo’s smart monitoring system alerts you when custom conditions are met, for instance, specific keywords or topics are mentioned in new content. This feature also helps you stay updated on the latest trends and discussions in your industry.

4. Identifying Influencers

With the right influencers, you can expand the reach of your content multi-fold. And BuzzSumo is one of the few marketing tools that realizes it. Whether it is on Instagram, Twitter, or the Internet in general, it helps you find creators with genuine authority and engagement in their niche.

Here is how it works - just go to the Content Analyzer tab and search for a keyword relevant to you or your brand. It gives a list of top shared headings. Against each of these headings, click on the “View top sharers” button, and voila! You now have an exhaustive list of top influencers who shared that content. And this list can come in handy in the case of influencer marketing, content collabs, crowd-sourced content, etc.

5. Competitor Analysis

So, last but not least – competitor analysis. BuzzSumo does a decent job of analyzing and keeping track of what is working for your competitors. And these insights are incredibly helpful in improving your own content strategy. In other words, it is a massive opportunity for growth.

It starts with identifying who your competitors are and making a list. With that done, dig deeper. In the Content Analyzer, type in a search keyword. Switch to the “View Analysis Report” tab and enter your domain and your competitor’s. Now, pay close attention to the difference between the competitor's Average Engagements and Top Engagements. Dig further in the Content Analyzer to figure out why a certain post is gaining significantly more traction than an average post.

6. Pricing

BuzzSumo has five pricing plans based on the client’s needs – Basic ($119/mo), Content Creation ($249/mo), PR & Comms ($249/mo), Suite ($499/mo), and Enterprise ($999/mo). The Basic plan is best suited for solo users. Content Creation, PR & Comms, and Suite plans are ideal for teams at agencies. However, Enterprise, the most expensive plan, is designed for large-scale businesses.

All the plans offer a 30-day free trial. And if you pay annually, you get 20% off.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to content marketing, BuzzSumo does offer some quite powerful features and functionalities. It has a massive index of approx 8 billion articles. So, yes, you can rely on it for some high-potential content ideas. And also, yes, it would be nice to have some advanced SEO features. But for its price tag, it does seem to be doing a pretty good job.

Where we usually see 3-4 pricing plans, it is also good to have an extra option (with 5 pricing plans). Not to mention a 30-day free trial on all the plans! Another interesting thing is their affiliate program with up to 30% commission on sales. So, if, after your free trial, you end up using the tool often, you might as well get paid. Sounds good, doesn’t it?