Newsjacking: What It Is, Examples and How to Do It in 5 Steps

Newsjacking means tying your brand, or your point of view, to a news story while it is still breaking, so you join a conversation that has already started. The word blends news and hijacking, so it literally means "hijacking the news". David Meerman Scott popularized it with his book Newsjacking, published in 2011. He describes it as the process of injecting your ideas or angles into breaking news, in real time. Whoever shows up first with a relevant comment gets a share of attention they could never have bought.

That sounds easy. In practice newsjacking works when the story is the right one, the angle makes sense for whoever is speaking, and you get there in time. If one of those is missing, the result lands somewhere between irrelevant and embarrassing.

Newsjacking, real-time marketing and instant marketing

People often use the three terms as synonyms, and in Italy "instant marketing" is by far the most common. They still describe slightly different things.

The practical difference is the kind of attention each one is after. Newsjacking aims to get quoted by the people reporting the story, so it also works with serious topics and professional audiences. Instant marketing aims to get shared, so it runs on irony and images. They are two different jobs. The first is close to public relations, the second to social media management.

The window lasts a few hours

The value of content tied to a news story drops fast, and after a while it collapses. In the first hours the story is still looking for an interpretation, and whoever offers one gets picked up. After a day everyone has commented and each extra take is noise. After two days posting backfires, because it shows you arrived late.

If a story is already viral when you find it, the window has closed. Newsjacking happens earlier, when the story exists but isn't everywhere yet.

That is why newsjacking depends on monitoring more than on creativity. People who watch the sources in their industry see stories as they surface. People who only watch social media trends see them once they have already blown up.

The five steps

1. Watch the news before you need it

Newsjacking starts with a list, ready every morning, of what is moving in your industry. If you only go looking for a story when you need a post, you are already late. It is the same work that feeds an editorial plan, on a different clock, because here the hour matters too.

The bare minimum is a news feed built on vertical sources. Stories show up first in trade publications and only later in general news outlets. Tools range from simple automated alerts such as Google Alerts (which has clear limits) to a feed built around your needs. We compared their strengths and weaknesses in our guide to media monitoring. Scova AI, for example, monitors more than 150,000 online news outlets and blogs on a scope you describe in plain words, and alerts you on Slack or Telegram.

2. Decide whether the story is for you

Not every story deserves a hook. Three questions, in this order, settle almost every case.

• Do I have something to say that others can't? If not, the post will be a generic comment and nobody will notice it.

• Does the tone of the story fit mine? Using irony on a topic your audience is worried about is the fastest way to cause damage.

• If the story turns ugly over the next few hours, will my post age well? Breaking stories change. If you comment too early on facts that aren't settled, you can end up tied to a version that gets denied.

3. Find the right angle

The angle is the reason you, specifically, are talking about this story. Four of them work almost every time.

• The explanation. Translating for your audience something the media describe in a technical or confusing way.

• The practical consequence. What actually changes for people who do your clients' jobs.

• Your own data. If the story touches a topic where you have first-hand numbers, you have the strongest contribution there is.

• A position. Saying what you think, when the topic calls for it and you are ready to defend it.

The joke is a fifth angle. It is the most imitated and the hardest to defend. It works for brands that have built a recognizable voice over time, much less for someone trying it once.

4. Check before you publish

Almost everyone skips this step, and it is often what separates a successful campaign from a correction. Fast-moving stories are also the ones most likely to be inaccurate in their first hours.

Two minutes are enough. Go back to the original source, check the date and make sure at least one other independent outlet reports it. The full method is in our guide to checking whether a news story is true. In Scova AI, the fact-check compares a story with authoritative sources and returns one of four verdicts (true, partly true, false, unverifiable). Tying your brand to a false story does damage that outlasts the story by a long way.

5. Publish where the conversation is already happening

The last step only looks obvious. An industry story lives on LinkedIn, a pop culture moment lives somewhere else. Posting the same thing everywhere means getting three channels out of four wrong.

If the topic also matters to the journalists covering it, let them know directly. This is the part of newsjacking closest to public relations, and the one with the longest-lasting results.

flowchart TD
    A["Story spotted"] --> B{"Do I have something others don't?"}
    B -->|"No"| X["Let it go"]
    B -->|"Yes"| C{"Does the tone fit?"}
    C -->|"No"| X
    C -->|"Yes"| D{"Is the story verified?"}
    D -->|"No"| E["Wait for confirmation"]
    D -->|"Yes"| F["Pick the angle and publish"]
    E --> D

Newsjacking examples worth studying

The textbook case is still Oreo's tweet during the blackout at the 2013 Super Bowl. The stadium had gone dark and the brand posted "Power out? No problem." with a minimal image and the line "You can still dunk in the dark". In Digiday's oral history, told by the people who made it, the creative director at the agency 360i says the post was ready in under a minute. There were ten people in the room, including a brand manager from the client. The final call belonged to Lisa Mann, then the client's VP of cookies, who was watching the game at home. They had an approval system agreed in advance, and when the email reached her she answered "Yes, send". The product was also the real subject of the joke.

Two Italian cases help explain the method. Taffo, an Italian funeral services company, has made irony about current events part of its identity. In a 2023 interview with Bologna Business School, its social media manager Riccardo Pirrone says the key is to express the brand's values and the battles it is willing to fight. He also accepts that people who don't share those beliefs will stop following you.

In 2015 Ceres, a beer brand made by Royal Unibrew, had a digital strategy focused on instant marketing. Simonluca Scravaglieri, brand manager at Royal Unibrew, explained it in an interview with Buzzoole. Topics were chosen based on mentions on social channels. To avoid missteps, he said, it was enough to know your tone of voice well and what Ceres can and cannot say.

The most useful lesson for an agency comes from the Oreo case. The post was ready in under a minute, with the team already in the room and an approval system set up beforehand. If your approval chain takes a day, no idea gets there in time.

When not to do it

For some kinds of news a commercial hook is almost always a mistake: deaths and tragedies, crime stories, ongoing emergencies, divisive political issues, and stories about identifiable people going through a hard time.

If building the hook means using someone's pain as a backdrop, that is opportunism, and the audience notices right away.

A second rule covers unconfirmed news. Commenting on a rumor turns it into news, and if it is later denied, your post stays online as proof that you were careless.

The bottom line

Newsjacking rewards teams that are organized. You need a news feed that arrives every day, a quick way to discard what doesn't fit, an angle only you can offer and a short approval chain. Creativity comes in on the last mile, and without the rest it has no room to work.

FAQ

What does newsjacking mean?

Newsjacking means inserting your point of view into a news story that is already circulating, to catch the attention that story has generated. The word blends news and hijacking, so it literally means "hijacking the news".

Who popularized the term newsjacking?

David Meerman Scott, with his book Newsjacking, published in 2011. He defines it as the process of injecting your ideas or angles into breaking news, in real time.

What is the difference between newsjacking and instant marketing?

Newsjacking aims to get into the media coverage of an event, including with serious content for a professional audience. Instant marketing, the term used in Italy, is the more visual and ironic version, made to be shared on social media. The first is close to public relations, the second to advertising creativity.

How much time do I have to newsjack a story?

In practice a few hours for pop culture topics, and one or two days for industry topics, where the cycle is slower. If everyone has already commented on the story, the moment has passed.

Do I need a budget?

No, and a big budget often backfires because it slows things down. The most effective newsjacking content is simple, and it is published by someone with the authority to decide quickly.

How do I spot news before everyone else?

Watch the vertical sources in your industry instead of general trends. Stories appear first in specialist publications, regulators' announcements and company blogs, and only later reach the places where everyone sees them.