The first time I heard the term Newsjacking I was a bit taken back. Newsjacking? What the heck is that? It brought up images of criminal activity.
But upon a bit of research, I realized that Newsjacking is a powerhouse way to get noticed by the media AND potential clients.
According to the official site for Newsjacking it is the art and science of injecting your ideas into a breaking news story and generating tons of media coverage and social media engagement.
That’s quite a mouthful to basically say, “Newsjacking is a way to utilize trends in the media to enhance traffic to various locations including your social media channels and your blog posts.”
Finding Trends
So how do you find trending stories? It’s actually as close as Twitter, Google, and virtually any search engine.
According to David Meerman Scott, who wrote the book on Newsjacking, “When there is news in your marketplace reporters and analysts are looking for experts to comment on the story. Newsjacking gets you media attention.”
As a story develops in real-time, people, who could be potential clients, are interested in what’s happening right now.
With all the forms of social media including blogs, podcast shows, videos and social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and so many others, this is one strategy that can be absolute game changer for you and your business.
Specifics to Finding Trends
There are quite a few ways you can find what’s trending in an up to the minute fashion.
A simple Google search with the key words, “Trending news stories” will bring up lots of locations you can get ideas for how to position your message.
Every major news outlet stays on top of trends. You can also go to Twitter and find out what is trending for Twitter users.
For example, let’s say you are a company that provides storm protection insurance. At the time of me writing this post, there was a trending topic about a huge storm brewing off the coast of the United States.
What about those who deal with ethics in fundraising. With the Donald Trump situation about his fundraising practices, you could get a lot of mileage from Newsjacking the topic.
Then there is the trending topic of National Boyfriend Day. If you are a relationship coach, what better than to Newsjack this epic day.
If you have a book launch coming up, be aware of any holidays or celebration days you might be able to position a story around. As you get closer to your launch, check for hot trends.
During your launch, keep an eye out for anything trending that would allow for your book to have a connection to. This is Newsjacking at its best.