Remington BeggThere’s been a lot of exciting changes on Facebook and Instagram lately, so not to be outdone- Twitter has released a new update as well. “Moments” is a new tab in the top navigation bar alongside the existing “Home,” “Notifications,” and “Messages”. Clicking the Moments lightning bolt gets you to Twitter’s curated list of what’s important on Twitter at that exact point in time. Within Moments are several tabs including “Today”, “News”, “Sports”, “Entertainment”, and “Fun”. With the integration of this new tab, Twitter is going back to it’s “real-time” roots. Now, if you’re looking for up-to-the-minute breaking news, this Moments tab is where to get it.
This feature is great for digital marketers and small business owners for one big reason: newsjacking. Newsjacking is a marketing strategy where you inject your own ideas, and therefore brand name, into a breaking news story to reach people directly and generate name recognition. Essentially, it is capitalizing on the popularity of a news story to amplify your sales and marketing success.
One of the most difficult aspects of successfully newsjacking a hashtag or online story is that you need to hear about it early enough to capitalize before it becomes completely flooded. With Twitter’s new Moments tab, you have a better chance of hearing it first. You only need to follow a few easy steps to capitalize on a Moments breaking news story:
Step #1: Regularly Check Your Moments Tab
To find stories to newsjack, you have to monitor the news, so regularly check your Moments Tab. You don’t need to be obsessive about it, just whenever you’re logging into Twitter anyway (which is probably already pretty often). If you are already a HubSpot user, it offers a social media tool that will alert you for given keywords to make the whole process easier to begin.
Step #2: Check Keyword Search Volume
Once you find a story you think may be good to newsjack, you'll need to create some content around it. As with all inbound marketing-related content, before you can get writing you must take a few moments to research the search volume around variations of the keyword phrase you'd like to target. Implementing the correct keywords and phrases are crucial, even if you’re one of the first publishing about a topic.
Step #3: Read About Your Topic
Find the primary source of the news story, and what others have already written about the news story. This is important for two reasons: it allows you to maintain originality, and credibility. Remember the recent Facebook hoax? Learn from it and don’t make that mistake (again). Getting out ahead of a false news story is not the kind of newsjacking you are looking for. Just a few more minutes of research will go a long way towards your online reputation.
Step #4: Create Quick, but Remarkable Content
Finally, it’s time to create your content! You want to get your blog post up as soon as possible, without losing your quality, so be careful. Newsjacking is not the time for finding the perfect stock photography, trying a new blogging platform, or experimenting with your tone of voice. You want to be the first to respond to a news story, after all! As long as your content is accurate and has been read through once by a trusted editor, the creative things many writers typically do before publishing content should be saved for a more evergreen piece.
You should always inject your own angle when you're newsjacking. Ask yourself “what makes this story interesting to my audience, specifically?” For example, a graphic designer may break down exactly what is different about 
the new Google logo, and why that matters.
Step #5: Share, Share, Share
The last step to a successful newsjacking is actually marketing your content. You may get some natural traction from organic search, but that slow rise in traffic isn’t the point of newsjacking. Begin sharing on the place that gave you the story in the first place: Twitter. Other people are finding the story now as well and looking for more information on it. Share the story on Facebook, LinkedIn, and any other appropriate social media platforms as well. Want to create an email campaign with the story? Go for it!
Twitter Moments is more than just mainstream media. The great potential is finding popular stories being discussed on Twitter even before mainstream media figures out to even start reporting. If you want to find out more expert tips for using Twitter and other social media platforms for your benefit, download our free eBook Mastering Social Media for Business.
