If you want to succeed with your marketing strategy, you can't lag behind. You have to stay up to date, find out what's going on around you and translate it into your actions .
has something important happened in your sector, or in a related sector? Or maybe in any sector, anywhere. Take advantage of it to create content! That's what newsjacking is all about. Haven't you heard of it? Do you want to know how it can benefit your brand? Well, read on..
The keys to newsjacking
Hubspot defines newsjacking as the practice of capitalising on the popularity of a news story to amplify its sales and marketing success. Apparently, the term became popular thanks to a book written by David Meerman Scott, in which he wrote about this technique that is so effective for brands.
The world is full of news, which is constantly emerging in all areas. According to Hubspot, marketers have unique opportunities to benefit their business. If something is popular, use it to gain popularity for your brand. That's what newsjacking is all about.
However, when applying newsjacking, you must bear in mind that fame is sometimes momentary and that something that is popular today may not be popular tomorrow. It may happen that the effort you invest in achieving certain popularity does not correspond to the time that this popularity lasts.
That is why it is important to take advantage of the exact moment when people are talking about the event in question and not let the opportunity pass you by, because when it is too late, it will not have the same effect.
Newsjacking can be translated as "news hijacking", which involves taking advantage of news events unrelated to your brand (and not necessarily related to it) to increase popularity with actions related to or based on the news that is causing a stir.
Hubspot gives as an example one of the actions of the London fire brigade. When the news broke that Kate Winslet had saved her mother-in-law from a fire in the house where they were staying, the London fire brigade took the opportunity to invite Kate to their training centre to become one of them. Thus, simply by taking advantage of the opportune moment, they managed to considerably increase traffic to their website and a multitude of media echoed the news. That action was an example of a good use of newsjacking.
how to benefit from newsjacking?
In order to carry out one of these newsjacking strategies and, above all, to do it effectively, you must take into account the keys to the process :
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Stay vigilant
Hubspot recommends constantly monitoring the news. However, doing this manually could become an eternal process, so it recommends automating this monitoring through a FEED RSS (a tool that allows you to sort information from a multitude of websites and blogs that publish content daily).
You should keep an eye on news related to the sector in which your brand operates, in related sectors and in the rest of the world, in case a profitable opportunity arises. Of course, you can't forget about social networks and all the stories that are created around them through influencers, trends and viral content.
2. Check keywords and keyword searches
It won't be enough to find a story to start writing something about. Before that, you will have to dedicate time and effort to research the search volume around that story and the keywords that identify it. Google will value the use of keywords positively and will position your brand better in search engines if you use the words that users have used to find information related to the story you are interested in.
3. Find out about the topic you want to write about
First and foremost: feed your information with reliable sources. Go to the main source and research the content generated around it. According to Hubspot, this is important to maintain originality and credibility.
Make sure you are not doing something that others have just done. You will stop being original and not only that, it will look like you are copying. Don't jump into creating content without testing the waters first.
4. Be the first, but do things right
It is essential in the practice of newsjacking to be first. Probably, if it is an important news that you want to take advantage of, there will be many other brands trying to do something similar. The speed of your actions is essential. However, doing things fast and wrong leads to a guaranteed failure .
Think of it this way: we don't have time to be overly perfectionist, but we should focus on reviewing what we publish and getting it right. Balance the balance between speed and quality .
5. Make a difference
Perhaps by the time you want to take advantage of a story, it has already been exploited in various ways. This does not mean that there is no opportunity left for your brand. Has the story you wanted to tell already been told? Turn it around, do something different or simply do things better. Many ideas come from improving on the ideas of others. Differentiate yourself from the rest and, above all, do something that will make users prefer your story.
6. Get them to see and talk about your story
Once the content has been launched, we need the public to see it. Post it on your social networks, launch press releases, contact journalists directly and try to adjust the content so that it is easy to share and can go viral.
Remember that the news you have used is on everyone's lips, so it will be easy to generate interest around it if you do it right. If your story is good, the media and the rest of the users will echo it .
Tips on how to do newsjacking right
To help you apply newsjacking effectively, here are a few tips to keep in mind:
> Timing is of the essence
David Meerman Scott developed a chart showing the perfect time to use newsjacking to get your story ideas off the ground. Doing it when the news is no longer topical loses its meaning and won't have the desired effect.
> Try to match your buyer persona
When choosing interesting news, you should make sure that your buyer persona is also interested in it. After all, it is this target audience that you want to approach and with whom you hope your story will succeed.
> Don't choose topics that could generate controversy
Before choosing a news item and writing a story, ask yourself a few questions: is it a sensitive subject, can it harm any group, avoid, for example, that the choice of your topic positions you politically or ideologically. In this sense, the more neutral the subject to be dealt with, the better.
You already know what it consists of and what its advantages are. Now, start focusing your efforts on staying on top of what's going on around you, look for the hot topics and start creating content based on them. What are you waiting for to start succeeding with newsjacking?
