Avoiding the news is nearly impossible in today’s always-on world. However, for PR professionals, staying on top of the news is key to understanding what’s happening in the world and finding opportunities for SaaS clients to share their perspectives on timely topics via newsjacking. But, have you ever thought about using the same strategy with your competitors’ news?
By monitoring your competitor’s social media, blog posts and other channels, you can proactively look for upcoming announcements, allowing you to offer your thought leaders’ reactions, secure coverage and further solidify your company as an industry leader.
Here are three tips on how you can use competitor newsjacking to your advantage.
1. Consistent Competitor Monitoring.
You aren’t the only one making announcements, especially in the SaaS space. From product launches to acquisitions to new hires, the announcements for a SaaS company can be frequent. Don’t miss out on the news. Similar to how you monitor who mentions you or your company, you should do the same for competitors.
Some easy ways to do this include:
- Set up Google Alerts for your top competitors.
- Follow/monitor their active social media channels.
- Check to see if they have a newsroom or pressroom on their website. Consider bookmarking this page to keep an eye out for future announcements.
By following the tactics above, you can stay on top of your SaaS competitors, allowing you to take swift action should an opportunity arise for you to provide your perspective and news jack their announcement.
2. Have a Plan.
While some companies have a regular announcement cadence, you will often not have advance warning of a competitor’s news release. Competitive newsjacking requires speed, so what should you do?
Have a plan in place! Whether there is an announcement or not, work with your team ahead of time to understand who will lead the effort, what the responsibilities of all individuals involved are and gain buy-in from thought leaders you plan to leverage.
Having a strategy is crucial because of 24-hour news cycles; you’ll want to get in front of reporters immediately to successfully news jack the story. Once the news drops, work with your team to quickly develop a statement or perspective that can be sent out to reporters covering the news.
3. Speak with your CEO.
Sometimes, your CEO will hear rumblings within the industry that help them know an announcement is coming from one of your competitors. However, more often than not, you won’t find out until the day the news is live. In either situation, connect with your CEO to secure their perspective on what it means for existing customers and the impact on the overall marketplace. If you can’t gain this information from the CEO in a timely manner, see if another thought leader within the C-suite can share their thoughts. Remember, for successful newsjacking, timing is everything.
While we often think of newsjacking for timely national news opportunities, the same strategy and mindset can be used to jack your competitors’ news, providing opportunities for your company and thought leaders to further showcase themselves as industry leaders. For advice on keeping up with reactive opportunities, check out “The Reactive PR Playbook for SaaS Brands.”
