This time last year, Mashable unveiled its proprietary Velocity Technology Suite software, which uses predictive analysis to inform content creation. Since then it\u2019s gone from \u201ca couple hundred million video views\u201d monthly to 1.5 billion, according to Chief Revenue Officer Ed Wise.<\/p>\n
Using Velocity, Mashable tries to identify \u201cwho\u2019s influenced, who can influence on a certain topic and who\u2019s influenceable,\u201d Wise says in this interview with Beet.TV at the Digital Content NewFronts<\/a>. This is done by staffers examining users\u2019 behavioral habits like sharing, engaging on the web, liking, commenting and other activity.<\/p>\n Snapchat in particular has been a boon, as Mashable is the platform\u2019s exclusive tech partner for its Discover network of media outlets. \u201cThat\u2019s led to significant growth. For us it\u2019s a game changer,\u201d says Wise.<\/p>\n At this year\u2019s NewFronts, the company launched a new vertical video product called Mashable Reels. Reels are arranged as slideshows that can be easily scrolled through on both desktop and mobile devices. The slides also change automatically after the individual videos they contain finish running, as Tubefilter reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sprint and McDonald\u2019s are two launch partners for Mashable Reels, according to Wise.<\/p>\n He says the \u201csecret sauce\u201d for Mashable inside of video and in addition to sponsorships is branded content, again fueled by predictive analytics. \u201cI think when you look at the advertising community they\u2019re not really quite sure what to create,\u201d Wise notes. \u201cThey have a gut.\u201d<\/p>\n He cites the example of an automobile manufacturer that says it wants to target 18- 34-year-olds who are in the market. Since that doesn\u2019t really differentiate the auto brand from its competitors, Mashable seeks additional targeting data that might consist of, say, coffee, shoe and travel preferences. Then it tries to figure out what content those targets are consuming right now.<\/p>\n \u201cThe brand might think it\u2019s entertainment but we\u2019re saying it\u2019s technology,\u201d specifically technology related to music, so Mashable does a deeper data dive. \u201cInside of that thread we\u2019re going to see that the insight is fearless thinking\u201d so content related to fearless thinking is produced and distributed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s creating the right piece of content that you may not have thought was the kind that you should create,\u201d Wise says. \u201cIf we\u2019ve done that right we then should prove out that it actually works that we\u2019ve moved the needle on your business. I think we\u2019re getting pretty close to being able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n