Tips for effective newsjacking in social media marketing

Companies are using social media marketing practices as well as social media management tools in order to promote their products and services. One of the many advantages of using social media as a marketing tool is that it defies the limitations and restrictions of space reaching audience members worldwide.

However, social media marketing has to be used effectively in order for it to be successful. Content, for example, has to be relevant, entertaining and informative in order for it to be noticed or shared. One way to ensure this is the case is to be effective at newsjacking in social media marketing.

Newsjacking is the practice of incorporating breaking news stories in one’s content. This is one of the largest trends in social media marketing. Not only does this enable a company to receive increased brand exposure and visibility, it also has the potential to generate increased sales leads and additional customers for the company.

To achieve effective newsjacking in social media marketing one has to pay close attention to the news and latest trends incorporating cutting-edge hashtags and keywords in content displayed. In social media, good practices would be to follow news groups and noteworthy people in order to stay abreast on important news topics.

It is imperative that newsjacking is practiced in line with breaking news events considering that some media topics are only relevant for a short period of time. Content will only be noticed if fast reactions to important media events are practiced. Content must be relevant and unique so that it stands out. In order to help create positive exposure for a brand, content must be tactful and topic sensitivity must be practiced. Events that are relevant to a brand have a better chance of achieving the best results. Significant keywords must be incorporated in the content in order to increase search rankings.

So, to recap:

Act quickly. Speed is essential. It’s not every day that a country breaks the record for having three finance ministers in five days. Use it to your advantage. I know of offshore investment companies that did it. You could too. Another good one was this:

Remember traditional PR tools. Newsjacking is one tool among many. One arrow of many in the quiver.
Be relevant. The product needs to be linked to the event. There’s nothing worse than a confusing, or worse, annoying ad.
Be tactful. There are still rules. Not everything goes. Remember Nando’s apologising after the blind lady ad? Sure, they got even more traction afterwards, but be careful.
Monitor news. News isn’t just for nerds. It matters to all of us and people do sort of care – if it’s interesting. So make it interesting – and relevant.