Awesome newsjackers can find a news item somewhat or barely related to their companies and turn it into a massively popular blog post, press release or even a social media campaign. An inbound or content marketer needs to be such a newsjacker. Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing shadowy and murky about newsjacking. Newsjackers are online marketers who are able to capitalize on the popularity of any news story and direct web traffic in their direction by being able to look at unrelated but popular breaking news items from a completely different angle that is relevant to the industries they are in.
Definition of newsjacking
Newsjacking is the process of riding on the success of another news story and using it to increase your marketing success. This term “newsjacking” gained immense popularity among inbound/online marketers after David Meerman Scott released his book on this phenomenon. As a consequence of social media channels, news stories are being published every minute and are gaining immense popularity. A newsjacker must be able to capitalize on the success of news stories as soon as possible – preferably just after the news has broken.
How to newsjack
As a content marketer, inbound marketer, social media marketer, etc., you must learn the ability to newsjack successfully. It is a very simple process that any marketer can master quickly.
•Create alerts
To newsjack, you need to find stories first. Instead of trolling the net all day long to find worthy news items, set up RSS feeds from all the major publications and blogs and even from websites you really like. Do not stop just at RSS feeds, social media platforms are the new outlets for breaking news stories. There are various social media monitoring tools you can use to find news on Twitter, Facebook, etc.
•Research the news topic
It is quite obvious that you must read and understand the news item that you are trying to use for newsjacking. Find different sources for the news story – especially the primary source of the article. Moreover, research will help you figure out if any other marketer or business has already newsjacked that story and how they have done so. Once you know how others have used the story for their benefit, you can spin another, completely unique angle on the story. Imagine the consequences if you unwittingly newsjack a story the same way someone else already has.
•Write fast
The key to newsjacking is to do it fast! Write your article as soon as possible and publish it for your audience. However, the content must be completely accurate. Instead of wasting time looking for pictures and changing the format – read the article many times, proof-read it and check all the facts again. An inaccurate article can land you in hot soup instead and make you infamous and not famous.
•Identify yourself
You need to re-write the news story in such a way that it shows how it has affected you and your company and why this news is important to you. You need to bring out your point of view, which makes the newsjacked item original and relevant. For example, a programmer or developer can take the Facebook Edgerank story and write an article about how he/she thinks this code was written instead of its effect on users and social media marketers.
•Publish quickly
The whole point of newsjacking is to get your story out there before your competitors. Share the newsjacked article on your social media pages, blogs, website, guest blogs and any other channel you use to communicate with your followers. The faster you get it out, the more the article will be shared.