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Newsjacking: Why & How We Do it (+ Our Top 5 Examples)

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Date

Oct 23, 2024

Read Time

min read

Category

PR

Date

Oct 23, 2024

Read Time

min read

Category

PR

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What is newsjacking? Why is newsjacking an effective PR strategy? Our guide to successful newsjacking (with tools) Favourite newsjacking examples Using newsjacking to build your brand

What is newsjacking?

Newsjacking (sometimes referred to as ‘reactive PR’) is when brands use a breaking news story or developing trend to promote themselves.

Whilst the term ‘newsjacking’ emerged in the early 2010s, brands have been piggybacking on hot topics to gain media coverage and reach audiences for decades – and we’ve been helping them.

There are a few ways to successfully ‘newsjack’ within the media. The most common tactics are providing reactive comments on the original story or creating additional news stories that link to the topic or trend.

As the channels available to marketers have expanded, so too have the opportunities for newsjacking. Now, we see brands jumping on breaking news across social media, their own websites, and even advertising.

Why is newsjacking an effective PR strategy?

Newsjacking is a popular marketing tactic for a reason. When done successfully, it offers huge benefits to brands:

  1. Raise brand awareness – The media want to cover trending topics, and audiences want to read about them. So, tapping into these stories is an effective way to secure media coverage and satisfy search intent on the subjects people care about. This all results in more people seeing your brand and listening to what you have to say.
  2. Build brand authority – Responding quickly to breaking news and new trends that impact your target audience will demonstrate that your brand is relevant and informed on the issues that matter to them. Plus, if you can offer meaningful advice or extra information on the subject before anyone else, you’ll effectively cement yourself as a go-to resource amongst these communities.
  3. Strengthen relationships with media – Being able to react to breaking news stories quickly, with valuable insight or contributions will also be effective in building relationships with media. Journalists are always looking for timely, well-informed comments. If you can provide this consistently, you’ll become top of the list when journalists need comments in the future.
  4. Benefit SEO – Providing timely, insightful comments or stories to the media will help to secure backlinks in high-authority publications. This is the cornerstone of digital PR and will benefit the long-term impact of your sitewide SEO performance.
  5. Quick wins – PR campaigns can be time-intensive, requiring extensive planning, research, data analysis, and asset creation. Newsjacking is much more fast-paced, meaning it’s a time and cost-effective way to secure media coverage (and one of our favourite tactics to deploy for clients).
  • newspaper, doughnuts and iced coffee
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  • newspaper, doughnuts and iced coffee
  • phone taking photo of colourful wall
  • an interview being filmed

Our guide to successful newsjacking (with tools)

Effective newsjacking is an art. You must have your finger on the pulse and prepared to react at a moment’s notice. Here are our top tips for successful newsjacking within the media, and the tools that will make your job easier.

  1. Monitor the news (constantly) – By the time a news story has been covered widely by mainstream media, it’s often too late for brands to get in on the action. So, you’ll need to monitor the media and socials closely for the breaking news on the topics that matter to your brand. The best way to do this is using media monitoring tools. We’re big fans of Meltwater for media monitoring and social listening here at Energy. I recommend turning on instant alerts for high-priority phrases so you’re always up-to-date.
  2. React quickly – Time is of the essence when it comes to newsjacking, particularly if your aim is media coverage. The press moves fast, so, once you’ve spotted a story breaking in the media or on socials, you have a finite window to reach the media with your brand’s reaction before it becomes old news. That means you don’t have time to make that quick cup of tea before pitching your reactive comment – but it will taste all the better afterwards.
  3. Create pre-prepared statements and responses – To speed up this process, I recommend building up a bank of pre-drafted quotes and key messages on the subjects your brand cares about. Get these approved by relevant stakeholders ahead of time so you can provide valuable comments quickly when called upon.
  4. Identify relevant media – Once a story has broken and you’re ready to respond, you’ll need to identify the journalists who are likely to be looking for commentators and relevant stories. A straightforward Google news search will be effective in helping you identify the journalists covering a certain topic. But, journalist databases like Meltwater and Vuelio will help to speed the search up and provide you with relevant contact details, saving you valuable time.
  5. Don’t spread yourself too thin – Once you’ve caught the newsjacking bug, it might be tempting to try to react to every interesting developing news story you identify – after all, the rush of achieving a fantastic piece of newsjacking coverage is unbeatable. But this isn’t appropriate or an effective use of your time. Instead, be clear on where your brand can add value to discussions, and invest your resource in becoming an authority on this topic.
  6. Be sensitive – Whilst newsjacking is a powerful PR tool, it’s not without its risks. Jumping on tragic or upsetting news stories to promote your brand looks tone-deaf at best and downright heartless at worst. Capitalising on other people’s pain or misfortune isn’t a good look for any brand. So, I’d always recommend steering well clear of any news that’s tragic, sensitive, or controversial unless you’re offering genuine help to those affected.
  7. Measure the impact – As with any PR activity, it’s crucial to measure the results of your newsjacking efforts to determine the impact it’s having on your brand. I love Releasd for clear and concise media relations reporting. For a more comprehensive understanding of the results, be sure to integrate your Google Analytics. This will help you identify the impact of your newsjacking work on direct traffic and organic searches.

Favourite newsjacking examples

1. The British Geological Survey and Taylor Swift

One of my favourite recent examples of newsjacking in the media came from the British Geological Survey (BGS). The organisation, which monitors earthquakes across the UK, released the news that Taylor Swift fans ‘made the earth move’ by cheering at the Edinburgh leg of her Eras tour, after spotting the unusual trend.

The BGS maximised media appeal by calculating the songs which caused the biggest commotion, declaring Cruel Summer, Ready for It? and Champagne Problems as the star’s most earth-moving songs.

2. Reiss’ viral TikTok moment

Clothing brand Reiss spotted an opportunity to engage its target audience on TikTok by jumping on a viral trend that aligned perfectly with the lifestyle the brand promotes.

The brand wasted no time jumping on the trending ‘Looking for a Man in Finance’ sound on TikTok, hiring a troop of professional dancers to create a ‘Finance Bros’ flashmob in Leadenhall Market (a hotspot for those working in finance and, indeed, Reiss’s target customers).

The activity was successful in reaching hundreds of thousands of social media users. Plus, it generated a host of user-generated content from passers-by.

 

3. Wellers and tax hikes

We’re always looking for opportunities to build our client Wellers, a leading accountancy firm, as an authority on all-things tax amongst its core target audience of business owners, sole traders, and high earners.

So, when the Government announced that it was cutting the winter fuel payment, we spotted the perfect opportunity to place relevant expert commentary within high-authority media. We pitched Wellers’ spokesperson to offer predictions on what else Labour might have in store, including increasing taxes.

The angle piqued the national media’s interest, landing exclusive comment in The Daily Express the very same day.

 

4. Uber and COVID-19

Uber’s reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that brands can respond to sensitive situations successfully – as long as they’re acting as a force for good. Its ‘Thank You for Not Riding’ advertising campaign actively encouraged users to stay home, demonstrating the brand’s strong commitment to doing the right thing by its customers and staff.

The reactive campaign might have lost the business revenue in the short term, but it was a powerful way to build trust with customers in the long-term.

5. My Nametags and Boris Johnson’s baby

When the then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced the arrival of his son in April 2020, we spotted a perfect newsjacking opportunity for our client, My Nametags.

With media speculation about the baby’s name reaching fever-pitch, we released a story predicting the Prime Minister’s name of choice. The response was pulled together quickly using existing My Nametags’ data on the UK’s most successful names and stereotypes around names. And it worked – successfully securing 134 pieces of media coverage and thousands of social shares.

Using newsjacking to build your brand

Newsjacking opportunities don’t come around every day. But when they do, they offer a powerful opportunity to reach engaged audiences, build your brand’s reputation, and strengthen relationships.

Want to find out more about how newsjacking could supercharge your brand? Get in touch!

We're always interested in a new PR challenge

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