Newsjacking, a term coined by David Meerman Scott in his book titled ‘Newsjacking’, refers to a marketing strategy that has been employed by various businesses all over the globe for years. Some attempts to newsjack a story prove unsuccessful, but those companies that get their content and timing perfect can reap huge rewards for brand awareness. So, what is newsjacking and how can it help to improve an SEO strategy and boost backlinks?
Newsjacking refers to the practice of piggybacking on trending news stories to share your brand in a creative manner. Through this process, visibility and awareness for your brand can increase significantly, with many other sources providing backlinks to your original content. This helps websites to rank higher with stronger domain authority.
Keep reading to find out more about what newsjacking is, how it works and how it can help to boost an SEO campaign.
What Is Newsjacking?
First coined by David Meerman Scott, a marketing expert who published the book ‘Newsjacking’ in 2011, the term Newsjacking refers to a form of marketing that takes advantage of trending events or breaking news stories to help businesses develop their brands. By targeting trending stories, content producers can deliver a fresh angle or provide a new take on a story, helping to promote their brand at the same time. Newsjacking can be as simple as providing an ‘expert take’ on a trending topic, or it can be as complex as a multi-channel marketing strategy targeting a newsworthy story.
Leveraging newsworthy topics allows these businesses to produce timely and relevant content which appeals to their target audience, helping them to overtake their competitors by staying up-to-date with recent news.
Take a look at our dedicated PR services to help boost brand recognition here.
How Does Newsjacking Help SEO?
When done correctly, newsjacking will result in the production of fresh content that provides an original take on a trending story. As stories become trending and gain popularity, so too do the keywords relating to that topic. Just think of X (formerly Twitter); every day there are many different stories and hashtags displayed in the ‘Trending’ section, providing a seemingly never-ending pool of newsworthy narratives.
If you are fast enough to be one of the first people to produce a fresh take on a trending story before it peaks, it is possible to participate in the fierce competition and produce content that other sources will use as a reference.
Each time your content is referenced, you will earn a backlink, giving your website’s backlink profile a boost and helping you to rank higher in the SERPs. Furthermore, with the increased brand awareness and visibility, you can drive organic traffic to your website and help to improve conversions.
Find out more about how backlinks impact SEO in our detailed blog: What Are Backlinks and Why Are They Important?
What Are Some Examples of Successful Newsjacking?
Below are some examples of newsjacking strategies that have been carried out successfully.
Aviation Gin
In response to an advert that the company Peloton released in 2019, Aviation Gin released a follow-up which took advantage of various criticisms of the original Peloton advert. Aviation Gin’s newsjacked advert went viral and received over 7.2 million views on YouTube. This helped to develop Aviation Gin’s brand awareness and visibility.
Original Peloton advert – Peloton bike Christmas advert | The Gift That Gives Back
Newsjacked Aviation Gin advert – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2t7lknrK28
Burger King
After McDonalds lost its exclusive trademark for the Big Mac in 2019, the Burger King marketing department quickly took advantage of the legal slip to launch their own line of Big Mac-like products. This gave the brand publicity and helped to establish further market share.
Oreo’s ‘Blackout Ad’
When power was lost during the American Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans, the Oero marketing department were quick to deliver their take on the matter within a few minutes, causing their content to go viral. Their Blackout tweet received over 10,000 retweets and over 18,000 likes in one hour.
Budweiser
As one of the Football World Cup’s official sponsors for over three decades, Budweiser released a post on X: “Well, this is awkward,” after it was confirmed that alcohol would be banned at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. While they lost tens of thousands of dollars in sales, Budweiser was able to capitalise on the situation long term by developing their brand awareness.
Our Top Tips to Newsjack Successfully
To perform a successful newsjacking strategy, there are a number of steps to follow. It can be particularly challenging to identify potential stories at the peak of their interest. Our top tips for newsjacking include:
- Story selection – Ensure that you are staying up-to-date on developments within your industry, and that any emerging stories are noticed as soon as possible.
- Target audience – When producing content for the story, consider your target audience and make sure you are appealing to them with your narrative.
- Tread carefully – You may end up harming your brand’s image by releasing a story that is met by your audience with dissonance, so consider the message that is conveyed by your content.
- Fresh take – To stand out from the other sources which will be producing content on the same topic, it is important to provide a narrative which is fresh, and provides a new angle on the same story.
- Measure success – Track engagement in your published content to measure its effectiveness and refine your strategy for the next publication.
Top Newsjacking Resources
If you want the best way to find fresh and trending news stories, take a look at some of the resources below which should point you in the right direction to get started:
- X (Formerly Twitter) – X (and other social media platforms like it) provide areas to show trending news stories which are updated frequently, allowing you to identify any relevant stories before they reach their peak.
- News Aggregators – There are many news aggregators available to access online such as Apple News, showing collections of stories that are breaking and trending.
- Industry-Specific Websites – To find highly-relevant news stories, try searching for a website that exclusively publishes content relating to your industry. You can also follow journalists and bloggers who cover stories in your industry to catch a trending story.
- Google Alerts – Similar to Google Trends, Google Alerts provides you with information relating to a certain topic or keyword and how popular it is. Google Alerts will also alert you when new content emerges relating to your chosen topic or keyword.
Build Your Backlink Profile with Professional SEO Services
Developing a backlink profile which benefits your website’s SEO can be challenging without professional help. At Wildcat Digital we have a range of expert SEO services available, tailored to meet your unique requirements.
Contact our team today to arrange a consultation, and start your SEO campaign with us to reach for higher rankings and conversions.
Andy Blanchard
Senior SEO Executive
