It’s harder than ever to reach your consumers’ hearts and minds on social media.
Enter “newsjacking,” the practice of gleaning from pop culture references to break through the clutter.
Capitalising on cultural trends can have huge payoffs, especially if you strike the nail at the perfect moment.
Doing this allows you to ride on the reach of other brands in a fun & relatable way, just as long as you’re not infringing on any copyright or intellectual property laws!
Pop culture makes for shareable content, and people love to engage with what they love, find funny or relevant. It could be something in current events, a meme, popular TV show or movie, basically anything that’s talked about by your target audience.
OREO is a great example of a brand that integrates ‘pop’ culture topics in their social media in a creative and refreshing way.
Riding on the hyped-up finale to the world’s most popular TV series, Game of Thrones, they created their own parody in tribute to the series’ famous opening titles.
To take a local example…
99.co, a real estate portal came up with a social post about the viral story about a spat between a condominium resident and a security guard.
The post was an old meme, but it was effective in garnering response from their audience because it was timely and resonant.
You have have also noticed that there’s not really a call to action, or any mention of the product.
While some might see this as just a waste of money, in reality, it helps to form a casual, relatable brand image that their audience will appreciate. Don’t forget, your consumers are part of a culture. Your brand can come off as out of touch if you’re simply operating in silos.
That’s why it pays to keep a finger on the pulse of society and align your content with your audience’s favourite interests!
For example, you can glimpse popular hashtags in Twitter’s trending section, or keep a lookout for popular topics that surface on Buzzfeed and Mashable.
Online communities like Reddit are also responsible for more trends that you think, being a melting pot for all kinds of topics and people.
