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Conversion driven digital marketing agency, focussed on creative content.

Search Results for: newsjacking

Finding relevant news for newsjacking

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Here’s a little (not so) secret. Newsjacking.

If you’d like to make your content more entertaining, this is a superb tactic.
Find the news of the day that’s relevant to your subject, and have a comment or analogy that fits.

In 2020, Will Lamont and I started a fun talk show called Thirsty Thursday – The 4 pm Aftershow

In it, we  recapped the episode of the week from our podcast The 4 am Report – why we thought it might be relevant – and we each also talked about a thing that week that was “thirsty” from a marketing/personal perspective. 

This led to a legendary love affair with what we like to call ‘the post pandemic million dollar marketing strategy’ ie: newsjacking. (Hint: it’s always worked. It works better now with the speed of the virtual environment.)

Quite quickly we tapped into the entertainment value of it. We enjoyed the research  – reading about something more joyful than doom-and-gloom-headlines related to the death of people and the economy. 

This marketing property went down well with our audience.

We’d hear from people.
First our team.
Friends.
Clients in ongoing meetings.
Even prospects in discoveries and such. 

Many people started to shoot us notes with other articles we might want to cover. Some regular ‘reporters’; others with one-off things they discovered in their evening news browsing. It is awesome 👏

What do we use to find stories?

Easy for you, I hear you say. How do we find stories that are relevant to our marketing? 

  1. Buzzsumo.com – this is great to uncover what’s trending. We search by a few industries; we look at entertainment news, marketing news, and general news.
  2. Good ole Google – what’s news in your  geography from the mainstream publications is always a good idea to keep in mind.
  3. Social media – many people spotlight news and have intelligent comments. Curating a set of voices you like to hear from is always a good idea.
  4. Notice we did not say alerts. That’s a choice that can make for overwhelming clutter by the way of push-notification, which no one needs. And it can create blindness that might make you miss something important anyway. We are not alert fans around here! You can try if you like.
  5. A curated set of ‘reporters’ – a lot of our news comes to us because people see what we’re doing and send us more. Curate a set of people with a good research eye who can help you.

Go forth and newsjack!

It’s ridiculously effective.

If you’d like to read the full story of how we apply it and how we’ve collected over 200 stories that we use for various market reports, read this piece. 

Why marketers should be thirsty for newsjacking

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We continue this week with our episode arc around what we can learn from winning examples of marketing in the last year as we head into 2022. 

If there’s one thing that you can do (that you’re probably not doing very well right now) it’s to take a look back; take a look at who’s done it well and what you can learn from it. 

The categories and channels of marketing have changed.
Where’s your innovation going to come from? 

Today, we wanted to dive deeper into the subject of newsjacking. 

If you listen to episode 149 of The 4am Report (if you haven’t heard it yet, go back and listen to that before this one) you will know that the way in which marketing is deployed is significantly different. 

One of the things that has proved successful for brands over and over again during the pandemic is newsjacking. 

Marketing is no longer a one-way, broadcast-only model.

V V Technology GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

What really gets noticed is agility – being able to get involved in conversations, and do it fast. It’s certainly the only thing that stands out on social media! 

In 2021 brands excelled at newsjacking.
It’s easy to assume that the brands in question are always like the big enterprises and the B2C brands – like the fast food chains certainly do it. 

That said, those are not the only brands that have newsjacked effectively; that have made it their purpose to get out there and get social. 

This year for the Marketing Thirst Awards, we had with us an impressive panel of judges.

Andrea Henry, founder of Henry Business Law,
Darien Kovacs, founder of Jelly Marketing.
Megan O’Neill, founder of MeganONeill.ca and performance coach.
Martin Waxman, instructor in digital education and PR expert,
Mohit Rajhans, media commentator and founder of ThinkStart
And Rohini Mukherji, Vice President at Narrative PR and 

We looked at marketing across 10 categories. 

In the newsjacking category obviously, there were some of the bigger names. 

There was Bernie Sanders and the mittens from the US presidential inauguration. Every brand used that meme eventually!
Senator Sanders’ own team got involved and used the traction to raise funds for charity.

Bernie Sanders Meme GIF by patternbase - Find & Share on GIPHY

That was the newsjacking effort that won the award.

That said, special mention to one of the Canadian geniused in this category!
Ottawa Public Health! 

They created the character ‘Bruce’ And it went viral. Even Ryan Reynolds got involved!

If you don’t know that story, listen to this episode with Kevin Parent of OPH.
They are small municipal level government account, and they’ve done some amazing work in newsjacking. 

Take a look at that example and think about it the next time you feel like you’re coming up with nothing on a content creation front.
Take a look at the headlines.
Take a look at what other people are saying.

Join a conversation!
Newsjacking is definitely here to stay and learning how to deploy it is an excellent idea for 2022. Good luck!

EP151 Why marketers should be thirsty for newsjacking

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We continue this week with our episode arc around what we can learn from winning examples of marketing in 2021 as we head into 2022. 

The categories and channels of marketing have changed.
Where’s your innovation going to come from? 

Today, we wanted to dive deeper into the subject of newsjacking. One of the things that has proved successful for brands over and over again during the pandemic is newsjacking. 

Marketing is no longer a one-way, broadcast-only model. What really gets noticed is agility – being able to get involved in conversations, and do it fast. It’s certainly the only thing that stands out on social media! 

In 2021 brands excelled at newsjacking.
It’s easy to assume that the brands in question are always like the big enterprises and the B2C brands – like the fast food chains certainly do it. 

That said, those are not the only brands that have newsjacked effectively; that have made it their purpose to get out there and get social. 

There was Bernie Sanders and the mittens from the US presidential inauguration. Every brand used that meme eventually! 
Senator Sanders’ own team got involved and used the traction to raise funds for charity. 

That said, special mention to one of the Canadian geniused in this category! 
Ottawa Public Health! 

They created the character ‘Bruce’ And it went viral. Even Ryan Reynolds got involved! They are small municipal level government account, and they’ve done some amazing work in newsjacking. 

What can you learn from those examples? 

Take a listen!

Knitting Banxy, Sexiest Man Alive, Trees for Pet posts, Newsjacking in the comments

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This week Susan was joined by Angelique Binet, social media marketing consultant specialized in paid traffic and client acquisition for 6-figure women entrepreneurs and founder of Social Media Love.
We’re now taking story submissions. Hit reply and let us know your take on a story that caught your attention this week. We may even ask you to join us on our weekly Linkedin Live chat show, #ThirstyThursday. 
***
Marcus Rashford’s MBE

Manchester United star Marcus Rashford has made the Thirst List before, unfortunately because of some horrible racism he suffered after the World Cup loss. We’re happy to report some great news, however, as he has just been awarded the MBE for his work with underprivileged children during the pandemic. This honour was awarded by Prince William and Rashford has since created a taskforce working with supermarkets and food banks to make sure kids across the UK are fed.
Knitted Tribute
For Remembrance Day, London’s anonymous Knitting Banxy (not to be confused with London’s anonymous graffiti artist Banksy) created a life sized knitted soldier and surreptitiously dropped it off at the War Memorial Clock Tower in honour of the day. As Angelique says beautifully, “bringing softness to something that is not soft”.
Sexiest Man Alive – we’re still doing this?
Paul Rudd was recently announced as People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2021.Now we do think he most certainly is an attractive man, and are fascinated by his apparent lack of aging. However, as Susan says, aren’t we past the times of judging someone’s merit based on their appearance? We’ve made so much movement towards knowing that there’s more to people than just how they look, so let’s move on to better things, People.
No, nobody is planting trees because you posted a picture of your pet (and why that went viral)
If you were on Instagram in the past few days, you may have seen a post telling you to share a picture of your pet using their new feature Add Yours stickers. In return, for every pic the poster, Plant a Tree, would plant a tree. This would be a fairly normal post looking for engagement for a small business, but the unexpected virality of this post to the tune 4 million stickers before the post was quickly taken down has left the company in a bit of a quandary, since it can’t actually follow through with its promise. Scrambling ensued, making for a good lesson in social media and accountability.
Newsjacking in the comments
Sometimes it doesn’t take an expensive advertising campaign to get noticed. All it really takes is as little as a witty and entertaining comment on someone else’s post. The smartest companies are using young, TikTok-loving and savvy social media teams to use their brand voice to hijack posts via clever comments.
Remember, one powerful comment on someone else’s post can be worth more than countless pieces of your own content.
For these stories and more, including TikTok’s dropped ball on the Astroworld Tragedy and Reese’s Puffs partnership with Kaws, listen to the whole episode here.

EP145 Knitting Banxy, Sexiest Man Alive, Trees for Pet posts, Newsjacking in the comments

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Attention thirsty readers everywhere! Do you have a story that’s got you absolutely parched? A news item, a marketing hit or miss, something from the world of entertainment and pop culture? This week Susan is joined by Angelique Binet, social media marketing consultant specialized in paid traffic and client acquisition for 6-figure women entrepreneurs and founder of Social Media Love.
 
We’re now taking story submissions. Hit reply and let us know your take on a story that caught your attention this week. We may even ask you to join us on our weekly Linkedin Live chat show, #ThirstyThursday. 
 
***
 
Marcus Rashford’s MBE
 
Manchester United star Marcus Rashford has made the Thirst List before, unfortunately because of some horrible racism he suffered after the World Cup loss. We’re happy to report some great news, however, as he has just been awarded the MBE for his work with underprivileged children during the pandemic. This honour was awarded by Prince William and Rashford has since created a taskforce working with supermarkets and food banks to make sure kids across the UK are fed.
 
Knitted Tribute
 
For Remembrance Day, London’s anonymous Knitting Banxy (not to be confused with London’s anonymous graffiti artist Banksy) created a life sized knitted soldier and surreptitiously dropped it off at the War Memorial Clock Tower in honour of the day. As Angelique says beautifully, “bringing softness to something that is not soft”.
 
Sexiest Man Alive – we’re still doing this?
 
Paul Rudd was recently announced as People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2021.  Now we do think he most certainly is an attractive man, and are fascinated by his apparent lack of aging. However, as Susan says, aren’t we past the times of judging someone’s merit based on their appearance? We’ve made so much movement towards knowing that there’s more to people than just how they look, so let’s move on to better things, People.
 
No, nobody is planting trees because you posted a picture of your pet (and why that went viral)
 
If you were on Instagram in the past few days, you may have seen a post telling you to share a picture of your pet using their new feature Add Yours stickers. In return, for every pic the poster, Plant a Tree, would plant a tree. This would be a fairly normal post looking for engagement for a small business, but the unexpected virality of this post to the tune 4 million stickers before the post was quickly taken down has left the company in a bit of a quandary, since it can’t actually follow through with its promise. Scrambling ensued, making for a good lesson in social media and accountability.
 
Newsjacking in the comments
 
Sometimes it doesn’t take an expensive advertising campaign to get noticed. All it really takes is as little as a witty and entertaining comment on someone else’s post. The smartest companies are using young, TikTok-loving and savvy social media teams to use their brand voice to hijack posts via clever comments.
Remember, one powerful comment on someone else’s post can be worth more than countless pieces of your own content.
 
For these stories and more, including TikTok’s dropped ball on the Astroworld Tragedy and Reese’s Puffs partnership with Kaws, listen to the whole episode below.

Pick a newsjacking lane

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I’ve been rewatching Game of Thrones 👑 Yes, all of it.
And it got me thinking about newsjacking.

In the HBO fantasy saga’s 8th and final season in 2019, there was a major boo-boo in episode 4, titled “The Last of the Starks”. 

In front of Emilia Clarke, the actor who plays Daenerys Targaryen, during a victory party, nestled amongst the flagons and chalices, was a coffee cup. What eagle-eyed fans spotted, and declared to be Starbucks.

It sparked jokes.
Oh, it sparked jokes!

“Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms, the Mother of Dragons, the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, the Breaker of Chains, and Drinker of Pumpkin Spice” – said one Twitter user (Ira Madison III (@ira) May 6, 2019)

Source: https://www.945bayfm.com/starbucks-is-raking-in-the-dough-over-got-gaffe/

Starbucks appeared to be late to the party, jumping on the train on the afternoon after the episode aired, appropriately flagging a drink fortuitously named ‘Dragon Drink’ (it’s unconnected to the series)

Theories abounded that Starbucks would’ve been genius (and likely in an expensive lawsuit) to have engineered this sort of thing. That turned out to be conspiracy theories for the most part. Starbucks did however gain from the GoT blooper. Reportedly up to $2.3 billion in free advertising from the gaffe. Perhaps the best part of it all is that the offending cup in question wasn’t even a Starbucks cup! (It’s since been established the cup was from a small local coffee shop).

“PR subscriptions service Critical Mention, tallied 10,627 mentions of Starbucks and ‘Game of Thrones’ online and on TV and radio around the world.

Social media analytics and monitoring platform Talkwalker counted more than 193,000 mentions within 48 hours that cited both Starbucks and “Game of Thrones,” or a variation of the series’ hashtag, on Twitter, in social forums, blogs and news sites.”

How to approach newsjacking if you’re NOT Starbucks

So you’re not Starbucks.  You’re a small business team barely finding the time to stay afloat. Is there still a piece of the pie for you?

I’d vehemently debate that there IS! David Meerman Scott quite literally wrote the book on Newsjacking. It’s called “Newsjacking: How to Inject your Ideas into a Breaking News Story and Generate Tons of Media Coverage”

Here, he illustrates the sweet spot for newsjacking, which is between the time a piece of news breaks, and the time that the journalists ‘scramble for additional information’ to build more detailed analysis pieces.

Being that fast is NOT EASY.

Fear not, folks. Meerman-Scott has you covered in this uber-clear infographic 👇

Staying on top of the news

If you try to jump on all the bandwagons, you’ll tire, become basic, and likely fail. 

Set yourself some key topics that form the foundation of your newsjacking strategy. 

  1. Link this back to your brand’s key messaging pillars (stick to no more than 3)
  2. Pick a series of dates/milestones/events/hashtags that forms the basis of your following of news (look beyond the obvious like Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day. Think more along the lines of “Earth Day” if you’re a car firm making efforts at planet friendly things. This will give your plan a skeleton and some training wheels to practice with.)
  3. Master the segue – what is the connection between you, and the news you’re jacking? 

Like with learning to ride a bike, trust me, the training wheels will come off. You’ll get better at it, and venture further and further out of your comfort zone.

Newsjacking truly is a million dollar marketing strategy. Made MUCH MUCH easier with social media and listening tools. It’s worth mastering.

We at c+p digital are obsessed with the power of newsjacking and its applicability to almost anyone. Like Meerman-Scott says, news breaks every second, 24/7. There’s got to be something in there for everyone.

This very column, and the book I’m writing called The Other EQ: Brand Entertainment quotient – how to find it, keep it, and use it, was born from our podcast, and our 10-minute weekly talk show “Thirsty Thursday”. In the show we take a look at the week’s news at the intersection of marketing and entertainment. (That alone – using hashtags like #freebritney and multiple sporting, acting and inclusion hashtags – has increased our visibility on a channel like Instagram, from which traffic comes to our site. If you see our vanity metrics, they’re small, but our distribution is obviously solid because people are finding our content and consuming it.)

I began a practice of breaking down some of the coolest stories and interviews around the subject of making content less boring in marketing – et voila! A book was born.

Please consider helping me pay for the self-publishing of my book?

Yes! I’ve been writing for 20+ years, for myself and countless others, and finally summoned up the nerve to write a BOOK. It will be ready in the fall, and I will send a copy to everyone who contributes, regardless of amount. Please note that I chose Patreon for the creator platform to raise these funds. It’s been set up as a monthly $10 fee, if you sign up, you can cancel at anytime including after your first month. Any amount you choose is appreciated!). 

 

Support my self-publishing goal for $10