Social sharing is an increasingly powerful force. “People share things that make them look clever and cool. They are building their own personal brands,” Wiedlin said. That’s why they come to BuzzFeed: to find this content, and this is something that advertisers should try to take advantage of.

Banner ads are disruptive and can’t be shared: subsequently they are ignored and hated, Wiedlin said. “If you’re an advertiser, stop interrupting people and create content that they actually like,” he advised. “For the first time you can do word-of-mouth marketing.”

Social ads have much higher engagement: BuzzFeed’s sponsored content has a 2 to 3 per cent click through rate, Wiedlin said. And the fact that this ad content can be shared, and often is, means that advertisers often end up getting more exposure than they pay for.

To be successful, however, the content must be engaging. Social ads should tell a story, involve people emotionally and not be heavy handed, Wiedlin advised: treat it like a TV ad.

He urged people to think “Does this content pass the Facebook test?” In other words, would you want to see it in your Facebook feed? If the answer is no, then don’t do it.

BuzzFeed creates content for its advertising clients: it has a creative team that works separately from its editorial team. Many clients come prepared with ideas, but often these need to be changed as brands are used to talking at people, rather than getting them to engage and share, Wiedlin said.