One of the biggest challenges of a PR campaign is to generate coverage when the client has no product or service to be announced during a given period of time. In this case, working with newsjacking opportunities can be a great solution. For those who are unfamiliar with this expression, newsjacking is a strategy that consists of using ephemera such as national celebrations, commemorative dates or major events to generate coverage for our clients. We have compiled some tips to create effective newsjacking strategies:
Working with newsjacking opportunities in PR
1. Plan a long term calendar identifying key dates
To illustrate this, let’s consider a company that works with renewable energy. Key dates for this company would include days like the World Environment Day, Global Wind Day and the International Day of Climate Action. Include these dates in your content calendar. For each one, you may want to create a listicle – i.e. “Five global trends that are driving wind energy” – or a media alert that will help you pitch interviews around this topic.
2. React quickly to breaking news
A good PR professional must have the discipline to read the news every day, always looking for opportunities which might help generate coverage for their clients. It’s not a rule, but reading the newspaper in the morning allows you to react quickly, formulate a pitching strategy and reach out to the journalists that may be interested in the story you want to tell.
3. Prepare canned statements
Timing is crucial when working with newsjacking opportunities in PR. You should always try to reach journalists before the news cycle peaks. Clients often take time to respond to a PR request. Preparing canned statements and predetermined responses will save you time. By guaranteeing quick approval of your media pitch, you are more likely to be in the “pole position”, grabbing the attention of the journalists ahead of the competition.
Newsjacking is one of the most interesting and effective strategies in public relations, and it tends to yield a high return on the time and energy invested. Keep that in mind when planning your next PR campaign.
