Newsjacking: A Guide to Leveraging Trending Topics

Last Updated March 11, 2024

Newsjacking is a powerful strategy that can help you quickly gain attention and drive traffic to your content. By piggybacking on trending topics in the news or on social media, you can add your unique perspective and commentary to the conversation.

What is Newsjacking?

Newsjacking involves leveraging current events or popular topics to create timely and relevant content. This could be in the form of a blog post, video, or social media update that ties into the trending story. The goal is to ride the wave of attention surrounding the topic and attract viewers who are already interested in it.

Benefits of Newsjacking

Quickly gain attention: By tapping into a trending topic, you can quickly capture the interest of a large audience already engaged with the subject matter.
Establish thought leadership: Adding your unique insights and analysis to a trending story can help position you as a thought leader in your industry.
Drive traffic: Newsjacking can lead to a surge in traffic to your website or social media profiles as people seek out additional information and perspectives on the topic.

How to Effectively Newsjack

Monitor trends: Keep a close eye on news outlets, social media, and industry publications to identify trending topics relevant to your niche. A great resource is Google Trends or Exploding Topics to find what is trending.
Act quickly: The key to successful newsjacking is to move fast. Create and publish your content while the topic is still hot.
Add value: Don’t just regurgitate the news. Provide your own insights, analysis, or unique angle to make your content stand out.
Optimize for search: Include relevant keywords in your content to improve its visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Promote your content: Share your newsjacking content across your social media channels and email list to maximize its reach.

Long-Term Benefits of Newsjacking

While newsjacking is often seen as a short-term tactic, it can also have long-term benefits, particularly on platforms like YouTube. If you create an entertaining or informative video related to a trending topic, it may continue to attract views and engagement long after the initial buzz has died down.

Conclusion

Newsjacking is a powerful tool for bloggers and content creators looking to quickly gain attention and drive traffic. By adding your unique perspective to trending topics, you can establish yourself as a thought leader and attract a larger audience.

While newsjacking may not be a long-term strategy on its own, it can be an effective way to supplement your regular content and expand your reach.

What is newsjacking in content marketing?

Newsjacking is creating content that connects to a trending news story or social media topic.

You publish while people are already searching and talking about it. That way, your post, video, or thread can ride the wave of attention.

The key is to add your own take, not just repeat the headlines. A helpful angle, quick analysis, or a clear opinion is what makes people stop and read.

How do I find good topics for newsjacking fast?

Start by watching what is trending each day in your niche, then pick stories you can connect to your audience.

Check major news sites, social platforms, and tools like Google Trends or Exploding Topics. Look for topics that match your blog themes so your content feels natural, not forced.

Once you spot a trend, move quickly and outline your angle right away. If you need ideas for angles and headlines, the RightBlogger Blog Post Ideas tool can help you brainstorm faster.

How quickly should I publish a newsjacking post?

Publish as soon as you can while the story is still hot. For many trends, the best window is the first 24 to 48 hours.

Speed matters because early content gets more shares, more clicks, and more chances to rank in search. Waiting too long usually means you are competing with bigger sites that already covered it.

To move faster, draft a simple structure first: what happened, what it means, and what your reader should do next. Then publish and update later if the story changes.

How do I newsjack without being spammy or insensitive?

Be respectful and focus on helping people understand what is happening. If the story involves tragedy or harm, it is often better to avoid it unless you have real expertise and a useful message.

Add value with facts, context, or practical advice. Avoid wild guesses, clickbait, or jokes that could offend readers.

Also be clear about what you know and what you do not know. Linking to sources and sticking to your niche helps your post feel trustworthy.

How can RightBlogger help me create newsjacking content that ranks?

RightBlogger can speed up your workflow so you can publish while a trend is still peaking. You can go from idea to draft quickly, then polish it before you share.

Use the RightBlogger AI Article Writer to draft a timely post with your key points and a clear structure. Then add your real opinion, examples, and any updates as the story develops.

After publishing, check your on page improvements with RightBlogger SEO Reports. This helps you catch missing keywords, weak headings, and other quick fixes that can improve visibility in search.