{"id":6009,"date":"2015-06-25T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-25T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mention.com\/blog\/?p=6009"},"modified":"2025-01-06T16:04:47","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T16:04:47","slug":"monitoring-for-newsjacking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mention.com\/en\/blog\/monitoring-for-newsjacking\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Newsjacking: 5 Steps to Get Started"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Did you catch that breaking story? Somewhere (anywhere), an opportunity for your brand just landed online. What did you do about it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you wrote a blog post, created a video, or launched a campaign and got press coverage, you\u2019re already newsjacking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More and more, inbound marketers are using newsjacking to create a tidal wave of traffic around their brand. The secret to their success? A powerhouse media monitoring tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newsjacking is impossible to completely prepare for, and relies on reacting as soon as possible. That means newsjacking teams need to know where to look for opportunities, and get updated on them before they\u2019re old news. Not really possible when you\u2019re manually searching for stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Newsjacking?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNewsjacking<\/a>,\u201d a term made popular by David Meerman Scott, is when you piggyback off breaking news and add your own spin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point is to get media and social attention for your brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may be familiar with the idea; PR pros have been newsjacking for ages. But the advantages have grown in the past few years. With social media making stories go viral, and Google indexing content seconds after it\u2019s published, it\u2019s never been easier for your newsjack to land in the right hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best part? As long as you\u2019re sticking to best practices, almost anything is fair game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Do It?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the thing about newsjacking: to do it well, you have to be quick and understanding. Success is both about the amount of traction your story gets, and how well it\u2019s received. Done well, newsjacking can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Draw Attention to Your Brand<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When people view your newsjack, they may stick around on your site for awhile afterward. They\u2019ll browse your site, discovering more of your content, and possibly subscribe to or follow you for more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increase Social Reach<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pretty much every event has a hashtag these days. Many outlets turn to Twitter to catch reactions and context. Promoting content using hashtags<\/a> others are tweeting with will maximize your reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Add Variety to Your Content Strategy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Even the best of us get writer\u2019s block from time to time. Monitoring trends will help keep you inspired. It\u2019s easy to write about your company or industry, but focusing on news happening around the world may provide a number of other ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep Your Brand Involved in Current Conversations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Monitoring what\u2019s being said online is an opportunity to react and engage. Commenting on relevant articles in your industry or answering questions from other commenters is a quick way to stay involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entertain Loyal Readers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Not all newsjacks are serious! Brands have done a great job with funny images or comments on trending hashtags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the 2013 Super Bowl had a power cut, Oreo was quick to respond with this iconic Tweet, that made them a reference in the domain. The Tweet went viral because it was timely and funny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Build Your Online Reputation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Publishing your version of a breaking story can establish your brand as relevant and a thought leader. This is especially useful for smaller business who don\u2019t have the resources to compete against the bigger players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Use Monitoring for Newsjacking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In order to find newsjacking opportunities while there\u2019s still time to react, you need to have a strong pulse on what\u2019s trending. That requires listening closely to the web and social for opportunities you\u2019ve identified as relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s how to build a monitoring strategy to fuel a successful newsjack:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: Choose Topics to Monitor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Using a monitoring tool like Mention<\/a>, create alerts for important keywords or topics in the news or on social media. Starting out, you\u2019ll want to choose a handful of different topics to watch, like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n