Pattern research,
in the open
AI marketing strategy, how teams actually use buzzabout, and behind-the-scenes notes from the build.
AI UGC Ads: Production Is Free Now. The Angle Is Not.
We read 500 posts and 3,500 comments about AI UGC. Exactly one cluster in each room is about what the ad should say: 1 in 8 posts on Reddit, 1 in 17 on LinkedIn. Everything else is avatars, tooling and cost.
Viktor Surkov
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Mastering Audience Research With AI: A Step-by-Step Guide
A practical two-pass method for audience research with AI: read the content your market rewards to find your angle, then profile the people behind that engagement on the Big Five to find the register they trust. Ends in copy you can ship.
Viktor Surkov
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Average Instagram Engagement Rate: Benchmarks From 245,559 Measured Posts
The average Instagram engagement rate across the 245,559 posts where a view count is published is 3.52%, the median 2.41%. Full percentiles, breakdowns by intention, call to action, hook and niche, and why no published image benchmark is a measurement.
Viktor Surkov
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Average TikTok Engagement Rate: Benchmarks From 460,483 Posts
The average TikTok engagement rate across 460,483 posts we measured is 5.38%, the median 3.95%. Full percentiles, breakdowns by intention, hook and length, and the one variable that actually explains a post.
Viktor Surkov
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The 8 Best Brand24 Alternatives in 2026, Compared
The 8 best Brand24 alternatives in 2026: normalized pricing, what each tool really does, and why social media research is replacing keyword tracking.
Viktor Surkov
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The 7 Best Brandwatch Alternatives in 2026, Compared
The 7 best Brandwatch alternatives in 2026: real contract prices, metered-query limits, and self-serve research that answers on demand.
Viktor Surkov
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Google Trends Alternatives: They All Count the Wrong Thing
Fourteen of the 22 tools recommended as Google Trends alternatives measure the same thing: search demand. But search is where a trend ends up, not where it starts. Here is how to read a trend at its source.
Viktor Surkov
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The 8 Best Hootsuite Alternatives in 2026, Compared
The 8 best Hootsuite alternatives in 2026: schedulers if you post, research tools if you need insight, with sourced pricing.
Viktor Surkov
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The 7 Best Meltwater Alternatives in 2026, Compared
The 7 best Meltwater alternatives in 2026: real contract numbers, what each tool is actually built for, and the self-serve research option.
Viktor Surkov
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Reddit Marketing, Done Without Wrecking the Place
Two legitimate routes into Reddit marketing, buy the ads or earn the comment, measured against 1,560 Reddit posts and 21 first-party ad campaigns. Plus why automated posting spends down the channel.
Viktor Surkov
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The 9 Best Sprout Social Alternatives in 2026, Compared
The 9 best Sprout Social alternatives in 2026: seat prices, the $3,000/mo Listening add-on, and where audience research beats both.
Viktor Surkov
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Is Marketing a Good Career? 1,100+ Reddit Mentions Say Yes
A year of r/marketing career talk, 1,100+ mentions analyzed with buzzabout, plus ten years of our own work. Short answer: yes. The long answer is about attention, precision, and AI.
Viktor Surkov
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We Mapped Every Argument in r/marketing. There Was One.
A year of r/marketing, 1,105+ mentions mapped for genuine controversy. Five candidate debates, one real fight: whether marketing automation survives contact with production.
Viktor Surkov
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The Best Time to Post on TikTok and Instagram, in Views
Nearly 1M posts, measured in views: TikTok peaks 16:00 to 21:00 UTC (+77% median views), Instagram mid-afternoon (2x) and Sundays.
Viktor Surkov
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Is Direct Mail Dead? We Analyzed 287 Posts to Find Out
287 LinkedIn and Reddit posts on direct mail, classified by stance and by who profits from the answer. The practitioners with nothing to sell lean 10 to 1 that it works.
Viktor Surkov
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How Dog Accessories Brand Got 139% Increase In Their Revenue
How dog accessories brand turned their business into a money-making machine.
Viktor Surkov
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