The Internet has changed marketing efforts and strategies for businesses in a number of ways. From blog posts and search engine optimized text on your business website to back-linking and more, the opportunities for online marketing are significant and often cost-effective and beneficial. One of the more modern techniques that is increasingly being used is newsjacking. By understanding more about what newsjacking is and how you can use it to your benefit, you may be able to capitalize on it with your own marketing efforts in the near future.
What Is Newsjacking?
Newsjacking is the act of implementing a current, relevant news story into your marketing efforts. For some, newsjacking may be something as simple as making a tweet on Twitter or a post on Facebook that ties your company or brand to a hot news story. It may also be a more detailed blog post on your website that is carefully drafted.
The purpose of newsjacking is to create a buzz about a news story so that your brand gets some of the attention from that story. Some efforts at newsjacking have had viral results, but not all of these results have been positive.
A Word of Caution
Newsjacking can result in the viral passing of your content between hundreds, thousands or more people in a very short period of time. Current news stories are often trending, so they get a lot of online attention as well as chatter between private parties and attention from the media. Because of the amount of attention your blog posts may generate when they include relevant news story ties, it is important that you ensure that they are positive and will be well-received.
For example, you may create a blog post after a severe weather event that shows the volunteer efforts or financial contributions your company is making to assist in relief efforts. Taking political stances or being controversial may create a buzz, but this is not always the right kind of buzz for your business.
Taking advantage of the popularity of news stories by newsjacking can be highly beneficial, but you should pause to consider the overall impact that your own blog posts related to news stories may generate. You should put thought into your message in order to ensure that the reception of your message is truly beneficial and that it creates the positive buzz that you desire.