Social Media Newsjacking – The Next Level of Brand Marketing?

The term “newsjacking” may suggest the idea of hijacking the news, but in reality, it can significantly enhance your search engine optimization strategy by moving it beyond the confines of isolation. Newsjacking involves leveraging a current news story to capture your audience’s attention and drive engagement with your own content or advertising.

Here are a few tips to get you started on your own newsjacking campaign:

Be Quick

The concept of newsjacking is to get people to engage with your content by connecting it to widely shared or breaking news. When done well, people will react to your story across various social media platforms, giving them a chance to interact with your brand. However, it’s important to be respectful and cautious when posting newsjacking content. Since social media can greatly impact your brand’s reputation, focus on sharing non-controversial or positive news stories.

Keep it Respectful and Relevant

The purpose of newsjacking is to tap into the buzz around trending or breaking news to drive engagement with your content. By tying your message to a popular news story, you can encourage people to interact with your brand on social media. However, it’s crucial to approach this strategy thoughtfully. In today’s digital landscape, where social media can quickly influence public perception, it’s wise to choose non-controversial or uplifting stories that align with your brand’s values.

Plan Your Newsjacking Moment

When it is possible to do so, create a plan! Identify which news stories are relevant to your brand, and come up with some ideas after doing some brainstorming. Events like the World Cup, elections, and large celebrations can give your brand the time needed to think about how you can get involved and how you can add some value to the internet-based discussions. Large events can create the opportunity to make the best use of hashtags on social media and to engage with your audience. The more you plan, the more likely you are to start interesting conversations.

Measure the success of the newsjacking

What is the goal you have in mind for a newsjacking feature? Is your aim to make more people buy your products or simply make them sign up for your newsletters? Also, make sure you work out how you would be measuring the success of your newsjacking campaign and find out which will give you the opportunity to learn before you launch your next newsjacking campaign.

Don’t push it

Don’t try to push newsjacking by trying to form an unnatural connection of the news story to your brand. Your newsjacking campaign can backfire on you if you try to push it too far. While creating a newsjacking feature, make sure you raise a flag, but do it respectfully and without making the wrong impression on people. There have been many cases, where people have tried to show their patriotism or their pride by trying to relate it to their brand and had their campaigns backfired, despite their having a good intention.

Our Paradux Media team can help you get creative with newsjacking.

We’re always on top of the news, from world sports to holiday happenings in our local hometowns. If you’re interested in finding ways to enhance your visibility with newsjacking features, give us a call. We can brainstorm opportunities with you and devise campaigns to help you share in the attention these events create.