Watch Phoebe Netto, founder of Pure Public Relations, explain the art of newsjacking and why it’s an invaluable tool to have in your PR strategy.
If you’ve ever worked with a PR agency or attempted your own PR, you might have come across the term ‘newsjacking’. But what does it actually mean?
Newsjacking is one of the most effective ways to win media coverage, because it’s tapping into stories that journalists already want to write about.
Newsjacking leverages the news cycle to gain your business awareness or viral attention, and it can be an effective way to get media coverage.
Newsjacking is a great way to get into bigger media outlets than you would normally qualify for, because your appeal increases when you can very quickly leverage a story that is already big and topical.
Although newsjacking is effective, it isn’t always easy. At Pure, we monitor the news at 5am and again several times throughout the morning so we can have a first-mover advantage in contacting the media with comments or an interview opportunity that adds interest, expertise, depth, or more colour to a topical story.
We’re looking for relevant news, on an issue or subject matter where they can confidently add expertise, case studies or data.
We contact the journalist with some comments already written, with an offer for them to also interview the client, or a case study, and a photo op where appropriate.
The key to fast and effective newsjacking is to prepare a lot in advance. We pull together the background information ahead of time and identify those key areas that our clients are confident in commenting on. We keep this updated as new trends emerge, and maintain a bank of comments that allow for a quick response.
Once a story has been published, we make sure we know the client’s availability for further media requests, as we find that newsjacking stories can often snowball. Certain media outlets tend to take ideas from other publications – the breakfast radio and TV shows, for example, get some of their timely content from newspapers.
If we miss out on commentary for the news story itself, we can still leverage that piece of news and use it as a hook for advice and opinion pieces elsewhere. Although this still needs to be quick – ideally the same day.
Some of our client’s best pieces of coverage, or the way we broke them into bigger media outlets, is through newsjacking. It’s an incredibly useful tool to have in your PR box.
If you’re wondering whether newsjacking can help your business land the media coverage you’ve been dreaming of, the team at Pure Public Relations are here to help. We have our finger on the pulse of the news cycle and know how to use it to your advantage. Get in touch with us today to find out more!
