Increase Website Traffic: Newsjacking + User-Generated Content

Updated April 2023

Want to find the perfect blend of fresh and reusable content?

Sounds hard, right? Not at all. And the best part? You don’t have to sacrifice quality and you can offload some of your efforts onto your audience.

WHAT? What is this sorcery you speak of?

With a little planning, you can ignite your content, readership and engagement: Repurpose existing material and look to trending healthcare topics to help inspire new content.

Aha Media uses this approach with client projects. When we worked with UCLA Health System (UCLA) on strategies to increase their website traffic, they saw significant results:

• Blog pageviews increased 69%.
• Search engine referrals grew by 189%.
• Website visits from social media increased 99%.

“It’s great working with a strategic and tactical partner who helps us evolve and experiment with different ways to grow and connect with our audience,” says Ashley Anderson, social media manager at UCLA Health. “The project management and ideation is a huge plus for our team.”

How To Use Newsjacking and User-Generated Content for Fresh Content

Why start from scratch when there is so much content out there already? Current events, your doctors, patients … they all have something to contribute.

Hop on the news cycle with newsjacking. Take a current event or news story and use it as a starting point to create engaging content for your blog or social media.

Similarly, user-generated content (UGC) can be a source of inspiration. It allows your audience and stakeholders to contribute content and ideas.

By combining newsjacking and UGC, you can create unique and compelling content that resonates with your audience. Not only does this approach help you create content more efficiently, but it allows you to engage with your audience and build a sense of community around your content. Here’s how:

Newsjacking

Use newsjacking to create timely and relevant healthcare content. Your organization can build trust with its audiences and establish itself as an industry leader by staying on top of what’s hot. Plus, distributing this content across multiple channels, such as social media, email newsletters, and press releases, can help drive traffic to your website and increase your visibility. Especially while a topic is trending. Here’s how:

1. Tie in current events. Monitor news and social media to find relevant topics. Example: When is the best time to publish content about colds and the flu? During cold and flu season, of course!
2. Leverage industry news. Keep an eye on industry changes. Create content that highlights your healthcare organization’s response and impact on patients.
3. Participate in awareness campaigns. Join or highlight national health campaigns to create relevant content and promote your healthcare organization. Example: During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, educate people on early detection, treatment options and support services.

Physician Interviews

You have real-life experts on staff. Tap into that expertise! Get your phone out or hop on a Zoom call to record an interview with your physicians. Then turn those interviews into content your audience will love. Promoting this content through social media and email marketing can increase visibility and reach. Here are 3 examples:

1. Answer common patient questions. Ask physicians about frequently asked questions or concerns patients have about their health. Examples: Are certain vitamins or supplements beneficial? What are the common symptoms of a particular illness? How can patients manage their chronic condition?
2. Discuss current healthcare trends. Interview physicians to get their views on the latest healthcare trends and innovations. Examples: Telemedicine, personalized medicine, healthcare technology and healthcare policy changes.
3. Highlight medical specialties. Physicians have expertise in specific medical specialties. Ask them about their specialty to provide informative content for patients.

Patient Stories

Your hospital can use patient stories as a powerful form of UGC. When patients share their experiences, they help others going through similar situations and humanize your hospital’s brand. Here are 3 examples of how you can use patient stories:

1. Share patient success stories. Highlight patients who have recovered from an illness or overcome a difficult medical situation. These stories inspire and provide hope for other patients going through similar experiences. We did this at UCLA using stories submitted voluntarily by patients via the secure UCLA Health Connect portal.
2. Educate others. Patients can share their stories to educate others about a particular medical condition, procedure, or treatment. This helps others become more informed and empowered when it comes to their healthcare.
3. Celebrate patient milestones. Celebrate patient milestones like anniversaries of successful procedures or recoveries. This can help showcase your hospital’s commitment to patient care and support.

How To Repurpose Content for Greater Impact

You did it! You came up with great, fresh content! But don’t stop now. Make a plan to reuse it!

Repurposing existing material is a great way for your hospital to create multiple forms of content across many channels. You can turn long-form content into a blog or repurpose a blog into a series of social media posts. Here are some ways you can repurpose the content created using newsjacking, physician interviews, and patient stories:

1. Newsjacking content: If you create content based on current events, repurpose it into a series of social media posts. Current issues also make great newsletter content.
2. Physician interview content: Record your physician interviews! Then you can repurpose it into video clips or audio clips. After transcribing, write blog and social media posts and create infographics. This will help you reach different types of audiences and provide value in different formats.
3. Patient story content: Repurpose your UGC into a blog post, social media post, video or podcast. You can also use quotes or excerpts from the patient story to create social media posts or graphics that highlight the key takeaways.

The formula for repurposing content is simple. Turn long-form content (like an article, webpage or video) into a blog. Then turn the blog into a series of social media posts, a podcast, graphics, emails, or SMS messages. You can get the most out of your hard work and reach a wider audience. But be advised: It’s important to provide value in each format and not just duplicate content across channels.

If you’re looking to develop an efficient process for fresh and repurposed content creation, Aha Media can help with all your content marketing needs.