Is newsjacking still relevant if nobody wants news?

This talk is for anyone involved in growing brands in risk free creative ways. It may be helpful for those in the YMYL looking for long-term, valuable content ideas.

This talk presents a new spin for digital PRs, many of whom have used the very reliable tactic of trendjacking or newsjacking in the past to secure links and coverage.

With sources like Reuters reporting that people are switching off from the news, plus the general state of the world, is this still the best way to get coverage? Plus, with the recent abandonment of fact-checkers, can we trust what we read and indeed, base campaigns around them?

Here we present alternative techniques that foster long-term trust rather than going for short-term virality.

2. Hello!
•Founded ‘Katie Lingo’ in 2016 to help
agencies outsource content writing
•Trained with the CIM and the NCTJ
•Regular BrightonSEO speaker
•Writes for global brands
•As seen on BBC World Service, The
Times Higher Education and The
Comedy Store…
@katielingoyork katielingo.co.uk

3. What are we
covering today?
•Newsjacking vs. trendjacking
•Why would we newsjack?
•Why wouldn’t we
newsjack?
•Alternative methods to secure
long-term trust
•Final takeaways
Bernard Buck, TVNZ (Television New Zealand)
News Anchor for the DNTV-2 News Team
(c.1965 - c.1980) Archives New Zealand
Reference: AAAA 21431 D569 7 / e
https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/Deliv
eryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE40600675

4. What is
newsjacking?
“Newsjacking is immediately reacting to
a news story with expertise to gain
attention, achieve PR coverage and
capitalise on a developing trend.”
- Cision

6. What is
trendjacking?
“Trendjacking is when a brand
joins in on a trending
conversation to capitalise on
its exposure and boost
profitability.

“This may be bite-sized digital
content, such as a quick text
post, image or video.”
- BuzzSumo

@taylorswift

8. News and trendjacking: what’s the difference?
“Newsjacking stays in
the news lane.It focuses
on breaking news
stories, such as a major
weather event or a
corporate scandal.
“Trendjacking sticks
mostly to cultural
themes. These are things
that trend over time, not
just in the moment.”
-Meltwater

9. Why now?

10. Why would we
newsjack/trendjack?

11. Great for brand
awareness

12. Trends are
memorable
•Memes are particularly memorable
– deriving from the terms
‘phoneme’ and ‘morpheme’
•They are ‘self-replicating chunks of
information’:
•Inside jokes
•Popular culture references
•Advertising jingles

13. Trending topics are relatable
•Trending
topics
evoke
feelings
that we can
convey with
relatable
references
•‘Même’ in
French
means
‘same’

14. Why wouldn’t
we newsjack?

15. Budgets

16. Will it even show up
on time?!
•Your trending topic might get lost
in the noise – or not show up at all
•LinkedIn caused frustration in June
2025 when it began surfacing
content in feeds that was two or
three weeks old, studying what
truly ‘relevant’ content was
•The platform relies less on
‘breaking news’ than others

17. It can be…
incredibly
insensitive.

18. …which can cause a backlash.
“The classic
‘quick, be funny
before the
algorithm moves
on’ energy. This
isn’t a reality show
plot. It’s people’s
real lives.”
- Rachael Balmforth,
Senior Social &
Influencer Manager, AO

19. Is the news even true?
Think twice if you read it
on social media…

20. In January 2025, Meta
announced the end of
independent fact-checkers
on Facebook
They wanted to move to a
new crowdsourced system,
similar to Community Notes
on X
YouTube is testing this
system and TikTok has
announced ‘Footnotes’

21. And while we don’t
want the burden of
fact-checking…
Is anybody even reading the news?

22. In the UK, almost half (46%) of us avoid news

23. Are we tracking
vanity metrics?
Viral content soon goes stale.
•Burger King’s ‘mouldy burger’
campaign generated 8.4
billion impressions in 2020
•BUT in-store sales dropped by
7.9% in February 2021,
compared to a pandemic-
projected 4.5%.
McDonald’s went up
•Weetabix’s viral ‘baked bean’
content was soon old news

24. So, what can we do instead
of newsjacking?
Alternative methods to secure long-term trust

25. Create new angles
for trending topics
•Bottled Imagination put
a new spin on Black
Friday for a campaign
with Protein Works
•The hook was a chilling
statistic: 80% of us don’t
understand food labels
•Traffic to key products
surged by 460%
•The brand gained not
only sales but crucial
insights

26. Create previously
unheard-of collaborations
•Bowel Cancer UK teamed up with
Andrex to display the symptoms of
bowel cancer on toilet roll packaging
•Higher bowel cancer rates in
deprived areas = messaging needed
to be clear and accessible
•Secured £2.3 million in funding to
promote awareness at a crucial time
when screening ages were lowered

27. Awareness days
•These are topical but they’re
repeatable – giving you a hook
without flash in the pan virality
•Chance to explore new
collaborations – ideal for charity
content
•Promote a strong message,
particularly around YMYL
•Can provide the foundations
for repurposing

28. Repurposing
content
•Content doesn’t need to be one
and done. Ask yourself:
•Did we post this at a time when
it got lost in the noise?
•Could we turn larger pieces
into bitesized content?
•What are we using it for?
•One charity fundraising campaign
was still relevant six years later…

29. Remember: newsjacking
is largely about top-of-
funnel content
•Build on your pre-existing
communities
•People who are already aware of
your brand will be ready to convert
– don’t ignore people farther down
the funnel!
•For example, Martin Lewis has a
podcast and repurposes this into
newsletter content

30. Collaborate,
collaborate, collaborate
• Work with experts to instil trust –
those with first-hand experience
• The person can become the hook,
and they can share it with their network
• This is especially true for YMYL

31. Set the trends!
•This might be something silly like the
Curry’s viral ad or Lovehoney’s social
ads
•It could also be primary research
such as Flo’s Reproductive Health
Survey
•You can create the news and be the
source people refer back to, e.g., MIT
study showing how 95% of
businesses have not seen ROI on AI

32. Ask your customers.
•Social media users are
increasing their use of
Reddit more than any
other channel
•Scrape relevant
threads to find
questions your
customers might be
asking
•Use other tools such
as Meltwater, Answer
the Public and People
Also Asked
YouGov surveys, April 16 2025-May 2025. Screens, streams, and scrolls:
Media consumption in Britain in 2025

33. The takeaways
Newsjacking Trendjacking
Reacting to a news story to gain
coverage with your
expertise/thought leadership
Reacting to trends to gain coverage,
mainly through social media rather
than breaking news
Great opportunity to contribute to
the conversation and showcase the
value of your brand
Great opportunity to get more eyes
on your brand as thousands of
people engage on multiple social
networks
You’re responsible for making sure
news is true
It may be insensitive if you get
involved in every trend
Your prospects might not be
following the news
Trends don’t always translate to
sales

34. The takeaways
DO DON’T
Create new angles for relevant
topics
Jump on the bandwagon for
virality’s sake – it may backfire
Collaborate with experts,
including less obvious
partnerships
React to a story or trend
without checking the facts
Repurpose content to get extra
value out of everything your
produce
Forget about your existing
communities
Use primary research to come
up with new content ideas
Fall for vanity metrics – we want
to foster long-term trust

35. Thank you!
Stay in touch…
@katielingoyork
katielingo.co.uk
Slideshare.net/KatieThompson74137
07447 233 094