The Art of Newsjacking: Why Timeliness is Key

Do you ever wonder what it takes to land that perfect front page story? Some might think it’s as simple as just telling a reporter how great a product or service is and why it should be featured over competitors. But that’s almost never the case.

In journalism classes, professors generally boil it down to seven factors that make a story interesting:

• Impact
• Proximity
• Timeliness
• Prominence
• Conflict
• Human interest
• Novelty/oddity

Now, not every news story needs all seven to make the front page. In today’s 24-hour / 365-day news cycle, newsjacking can be one of the most effective tactics when addressing the timeliness factor.

Newsjacking can be described as commenting on or being a resource about a topic that is prominent in the current news cycle and doing so as quickly as possible. The goal is to read and react to breaking news with supplemental information or a strong opinion on the topic, which would be useful for reporters to use in upcoming stories. The key to unlock effective newsjacking in this case is timeliness.

When news breaks around a topic that one of our clients might be impacted by, there are a few ways to initiate newsjacking efforts, and they depend on the speed of the news and what we can offer reporters.

• Source – If we know a thought leader from one of our clients is a subject matter expert (SME) on the topic, we can quickly reach out to reporters and offer them as a source for their story, whether that means jumping on a quick interview or answering questions via email.
• Quote – If we can get our SME on the phone quickly to answer a couple of questions or provide a quote, we can send that directly to reporters for inclusion in their story.
• Commentary/Data – If our SME has commented on the topic previously or the company has produced a report/data on the topic, we can send that directly to reporters as supplemental information for their story.

In those scenarios, our goal is to get reporters what they need as quickly and easily as possible. If we don’t get them what they need until hours later or if the material is too complicated to understand, reporters have already moved on to the next source, and we have lost the opportunity.

For B2B companies, effective newsjacking could land you that top-tier media hit you dreamed of. Uproar utilizes the tactic across various industries, and we are constantly securing new opportunities.

• Our pharmaceutical clients have been featured in prominent outlets such as CNN, NPR, and WIRED, where the experts discussed how recent FDA changes are restricting patient access to essential medications.
• Our trucking/logistics clients have been included in the Wall Street Journal when talking about rising fuel prices.
• Our financial services clients have been covered in Forbes and leading financial trades like American Banker, to discuss policy changes with the Small Business Administration.
• Our automotive tech clients were featured on CNBC and in the New York Times talking about EV battery challenges in cold weather and again when tax credit changes made it easier to buy used EVs.

These are just a few examples; newsjacking can be one of the most effective tactics for any company’s PR campaign when deployed in a timely manner, targeting the right audience.

If you have something timely to get in front of reporters or just want to learn more about newsjacking, contact us and let’s talk about how to implement a newsjacking strategy for your company.