There are so many ways to bag some free media coverage for you or your business. While this sounds fantastic, having too much choice and no structure/clue as to what to do can be confusing.
Have you ever found yourself wondering “why would the media feature me?” or “what on earth do I have to say?”
You’re not alone.
I still have some PR consultancy clients (basically ‘doing’ PR for you) and even if they’re highly regarded in their industry, it can be challenging to pitch a PR idea when you don’t have anything particularly new to say.
Enter a new tactic. And way of thinking!
And it’s called…
In essence, newsjacking is hijacking the news where you jump in on someone else’s news story. It's about taking a topical news story and providing a fresh angle or comment that will help you get media coverage.
So when a celebrity created a media stir recently in an industry one of my client’s is in, I knew this was a BIG opportunity.
In case you missed the last post…
Acted fast… checked with my client they were ok to run with this mini campaign idea and ask for a bunch of quotes about their views on the story and how they’re doing similar in their own business
Draft a press release including all the info on my client’s views on the celeb’s tv show and the best extracts from the quotes they sent me
Sent out a ‘pitch’ email to local media (about the story and why my client is the right person to talk on the topic) and copied the press release below it (not attached so doesn’t go into junk folders!)
Boom.
Within one week of my beginning this mini local media campaign, the story had appeared in…
2 newspaper stories - in print
2 online local newspaper stories - on their website
4+ online news websites picked up and ran the story too
All with my clients headshot photo, her business named, and her expertise showcased!
One editor even replied ONE MINUTE after I pitched them the story. This will go down as the fastest ever reply (and a ‘yes’) to a pitch in my 15 years of working in PR!
Another ‘newsjacking’ example from last year…
In short, maybe.
Sometimes it is too noisy and you need something unique to standout. But a noisy national story, there can be space for you on a local level.
Like my client recently, there were too many reviews of the show we wanted to talk about and other celebrities sharing stories.
So… I took it local.
I knew it’d be newsworthy locally because it had such national media presence and we could make it relevant to their local area.
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