Want to know the cure to get a story newsjacked? Whether you have read the new book “Newsjacking: How to Inject your Ideas into a Breaking News Story and Generate Tons of Media Coverage” by David Meerman Scott, the term and topic of newsjacking have been all the rage lately.
Read on to discover the basics of newsjacking, and how to turn your story into a social media phenomenon, leading to engagement, buzz, credibility and SEO benefits.
What is Newsjacking?
Newsjacking is the practice of capitalizing on the popularity of a news story to boost traffic to your own blog or website.
The term “newsjacking” became popular by David Meerman Scott’s book (currently only available as an e-book). The idea is when something is breaking in the news, if you are clever and fast enough to get something into the marketplace, journalists and story editors are looking to write about, your company could become part of the story… If your article does get picked up, your business could be gaining tremendous amount of news coverage all over the media. One thing to mention here is newsjacking applies to all levels of news: from national news stories (general public) to industry specific topics , and even local news.
What’s the point of newsjacking? The goal of newsjacking is to get inject your business’ personality into the stories that are being written about anyway. This is very different from regular PR stories. With newsjacking, you aren’t pitching your story; instead you are actively creating a story angle for journalists on a subject that writers are ALREADY planning to cover. This is essentially taking the ‘cold calling’ like a traditional press release.
In a podcast with Meerman Scott, David explains how newsjackers can “own the second paragraph” in an article. It is very easy for a journalist to give the facts about a particular story – however, they want to differentiate the story, always seeking out an intriguing new angle that has yet to be featured– going to search engines, Twitter, going to other social media that other reporters haven’t picked up on yet. Naturally, this angle begins to surface in the second paragraph.
Here are some easy steps you can take to newsjack and the huge benefits you could reap if your article gets picked up!
- Start Blogging your articles. Blogging is a great way to establish trust and authority around your personal or professional brand. Since journalists may be turning to your blog already looking for information, having a credible piece of digital real estate can be a major boost. Make sure to blog continuously with unique and compelling content. In addition, be sure to leverage the power of keywords – every article you write should contain keywords and phrases that journalists will be looking for when writing their spin on a breaking news story!
- Share your blog article through all social media channels. (Instead of the traditional methods where journalists are sifting through press releases to write about a trending topic, writers are actively searching for articles and angles to write about. They are going on Google and tapping into social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and blogs to find this unique information. As a result, your blog articles will have a greater chance of being picked up by reporters when promoted through the appropriate social media channels. From the creative perspective, social media is also invaluable for staying connected to articles that are surfacing- this can help you stay current with the latest topics, trends, and conversations. TIP! Twitter is becoming an essential social media tool as journalists are scouring this social media outlet researching the topic they need to cover. When you’re roaming the Twitter-sphere, be certain to share your article while including the topic’s trending hashtags. Also, find the writers that would be interested in the article.. mention the writer (i.e. @username) in the Twitter feed so they are instantly connected to your story.
- Take an Active Approach to Newsjacking! Most importantly, jump on the story fast! If you are interested in newsjacking, you only have a few minutes or at most, few hours to create your story and possibly get it newsjacked.
How is Newsjacking Valuable for SEO?
If your story gets newsjacked, you can gain tremendous pickup from a lot of credible sources. If it is an industry related breaking story, you could get on a ton of industry sources giving fantastic visibility for your brand, excellent trust – both inbound lead generation, and credible, trustworthy backlinks which search engines absolutely love.
Remember, in today’s non-stop world of blogging, real time social media, and constant streaming of news, we can all reap the benefits of media companies – so realize that you DO have the capability of newsjacking! Think clever, understand what kind of content journalists are going to be looking for, be fast out of the gate, and reap the countless rewards you could achieve if your story gets newsjacked!
>>> Have a great example of a newsjacked story? We would love to hear your examples as well. Comment below!
Find out how to improve your newsjacking skills today by meeting with our team of internet marketing experts today!
>>> Call Mannix Marketing at 518-743-9424 to get started or use our form here.
We’ll help optimize your social media profiles, and start generating higher publicity around your company’s website!