When you think of ways to boost lead generation, newsjacking may not be the first tactic that springs to mind.
But newsjacking — combined with superior media outreach — what Bospar calls our “politely pushy” approach — has helped us drive visibility and lead generation to boost awareness and sales for our clients.
How, you ask?
Capturing media attention
Newsjacking strategically inserts a brand’s narrative into breaking news stories to capture coveted media coverage and attention. This tactic — which can include online media placement and social media — helps generate leads for companies by leveraging the increased public and media interest surrounding current events to create brand visibility and engagement.
When a company successfully ties its narrative to a trending topic, it can attract the attention of new audiences already engaged with the story. This increased visibility can lead to more interest in the company’s products or services, ultimately driving lead-generation efforts. Moreover, media coverage boosts a company’s credibility and authority in its sector, further enhancing lead acquisition.
That’s why a multi-pronged integrated marketing strategy that extends beyond traditional lead gen methods and includes digital content creation, social media, targeted media pitching and newsjacking can do wonders for your lead generation.
Newsjacking efforts helped Ware2Go, a UPS subsidiary offering on-demand fulfillment, capture 50% of the industry’s share of voice. It secured coverage in high-impact publications like The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The New York Times and CNBC. This media visibility helped Ware2Go drive lead generation and sign one of its largest clients.
Boosting lead gen with newsjacking
To boost lead generation using newsjacking, keep in mind these practices:
- Monitor the news religiously, staying on top of new regulations, announcements, events and breaking news that will impact your company, category or industry.
- Be prepared to respond quickly to news relevant to your solution, category or industry with commentary that builds on what’s being covered in the media and offers a unique perspective. Try to avoid jumping on the bandwagon – and remember, spicy sells.
One more tip: Consider Forrest Gump, the 1994 film starring Tom Hanks.
Forrest aligns with pivotal cultural moments, elevating his visibility and status by inserting himself (albeit unwittingly) into critical historical moments, from the Vietnam War to Watergate — just like brands look to insert themselves into trending topics. His continual involvement — like newsjacking — makes him a trusted authority. His commentary – such as “Have a Nice Day” — becomes part of the cultural zeitgeist. He also successfully creates awareness of his “brand.” By capturing the hearts and minds of his audience, he achieves a following, influence and fame.
Granted, this is a fictional story. But perhaps it can offer inspiration on how actively participating in the cultural conversation at key moments can create a legacy.
How can nonfictional brands achieve exemplary results?
Here are a few real-world examples of how newsjacking has driven lead gen for our clients:
When the CrowdStrike outage — the most significant IT outage in history — occurred on July 19, Bospar saw a chance to position Parametrix — a pioneer of parametric technology downtime insurance — as a leading voice on the event’s financial impact. We quickly connected with journalists, explaining the implications of the outage and offering media the client’s commentary and perspective, including this data point: the total direct financial loss facing U.S. Fortune 500 companies is $5.4 billion.
Media outreach included tailored messaging for diverse verticals such as airlines, banking, insurance, cybersecurity and healthcare.
The results: Media placements skyrocketed. Within one month, we secured 762 stories, over 1,000 for the campaign, including outlets like Axios (Sam Sabin), BBC News (Chris Vallance), Bloomberg News (Evan Gorelick), CNN (Brian Fung), Reuters, USA Today (Bailey Schulz) and The Washington Post (Joseph Menn and Aaron Gregg).
As for our lead generation, the client’s sales pipeline has surged. The coverage enhanced the client’s credibility and spiked their website’s traffic metrics — new users jumped 283%, page visits 5,700% and CrowdStrike-related analysis 25,000%. Social media engagement followed, with LinkedIn comments up 250% and reposts up 171%.
GRIN, a leading creator management platform for influencer marketing, sought greater visibility to reach brands and creators, aiming to introduce more people to its unique benefits. However, the company faced two key challenges: an inconsistent news flow and the need to establish its vice president of marketing as a credible media source.
The results: Bospar’s newsjacking efforts didn’t just earn mentions within larger stories but also led to exclusive articles spotlighting the client. Relevant commentary on social media marketing, influencers and the creator economy helped generate over 80 media placements, resulting in more than 505 million impressions and coverage in top-tier publications like Adweek (Maria Monteros), Bloomberg, Digiday (Julian Cannon), Marketing Brew (Katie Hicks), Mashable (Christianna Silva) and Modern Retail (Maria Monteros).
The impact has been transformative. Reporters seek the client’s insights for timely stories, underscoring the success of Bospar’s strategy and the credibility of the client’s leadership.
Most significantly, the client has met its goal of attracting more creators to its platform and growing its community due to our targeted media efforts, including newsjacking.
Plume is a Silicon Valley company providing cloud-managed, adaptive WiFi services to over 55 million smart spaces worldwide — small businesses, individual homes and the service providers that power them. Its mission is to make connectivity work for people, enabling seamless interactions. Leadership is also deeply committed to strengthening local and global communities through corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts.
Our social media campaign focused on its #PlumeStrong initiative, which links fundraising with action to drive positive social change. For #PlumeStrongCyclingChallenge, we were tasked with maximizing awareness, surpassing last year’s fundraising and showcasing the CEO as a goodwill ambassador.
The results: We executed 215 posts across LinkedIn and Instagram, resulting in 1.77 million impressions, 104,356 video views and 41,480 engagements. By targeting cycling trades and consumer outlets, and leveraging our partnership with world champion cyclist Tadej Pogačar, we secured significant media coverage and interviews with 30 different media outlets, including CNN (George Ramsay), The Sunday Times (Andrea Nagel) and Cyclist Magazine (James Spender), which we further amplified across the client’s social channels.
The heightened PR and social activity led to a significant increase in donations, with contributions rising from $594,214.50 in 2023 to an impressive $659,037.90 in 2024, marking an 11% increase in funds raised.
Additionally, our partnership with influencer Matt Stephens to provide real-time, on-the-ground updates via social media generated over 45,000 engagements and reached 849,429 people. Matt captured behind-the-scenes YouTube footage with the client’s CEO, the famous cyclists, and other riders and ambassadors.
Adding newsjacking to your lead gen toolkit
Newsjacking helps you seize timely opportunities, gain visibility and build credibility. While traditional lead-gen strategies are essential, incorporating newsjacking can help you take advantage of breaking news and turn it into valuable brand-building moments.
At Bospar, we know how to seamlessly weave your message into the news narrative and pinpoint the right media outlets for maximum impact. Our pitches answer reporters’ “Why now?” questions and give them the fuel they need for compelling stories. Let us help you leverage the power of newsjacking to elevate your brand and drive lead generation.
