Last Thursday, Facebook launched Facebook Newswire. In partnership with Storyful, a social media content verifier and aggregator, Facebook has entered the business of delivering news to its community. This service is designed to identify hot news topics and articles. It does this based on social media interaction through publicly shared content on Facebook that is then verified by Storyful. The service is also designed as a resource for journalists to help them identify newsworthy stories on which to report.

While not many small businesses generate stories that create enough interaction to be deemed newsworthy, this service does offer the possibility of brand exposure through strategically written blog articles and commentary on trending news. Keep in mind that a user who clicks on a “Trending topic” doesn’t just see one article pertaining to that topic; but rather an aggregation of articles. This opens up opportunities for clever brands to leverage industry-relevant topics that are already being shared and/or trending.

As the program is in its infancy, it’s too early to tell if it will impact public relations or content marketing as a whole. However, PRNewswire offered some tips on how PR professionals and brands can increase the chances of their content being included.

The primary advice that they give is; “if you want pickup on FB Newswire, social interactions are an outcome your PR content MUST generate.” To accomplish this, they suggest that you analyze the content that most resonates with your fans through scrutinizing your Facebook Insights and then creating content designed to interest your fans. PRNewswire adds that “Doing this will ensure the content you post on Facebook is more aligned with your fans’ interests, and increase the likelihood that they will start a cycle of sharing and interaction that will increase the message visibility and traction on social networks.”

They warn against the straight posting of press releases, although there is some opportunity for their exposure when related to a newsworthy article included in the FB Newswire. Public relations professionals and brands can leverage this by following these tips:

• Act fast! When creating unique content or commentary on industry-related events, the sooner you can produce and post it, the better the odds that your article will be included in FB Newswire.
• You don’t have to be writing the news. Many companies and brands aren’t in a position to break stories. You can, however, be on top of what’s going on and be ready to share articles with commentary from an industry point-of-view. Being first to market as far as content sharing is concerned is critical to engagement. Facebook users are more likely to interact with content that relays a news story for the first time, than they are by the time they’ve seen it multiple times.
• PR Newswire suggests the use of public relations techniques in crafting and posting your content including compelling headlines, bullet points and bold fonts, multiple visual images and embedded social sharing buttons.

The basics best practices of both public relations and content marketing obviously still stand. However, this opens up a whole new world of additional chances to gain exposure and position your company as experts in your industry.