At Stacker, we’ve created thousands of feature news stories since 2017 and distributed them out to our proprietary newswire, including sites like MSN, Newsweek, SFGate, and more. We’ve also done this on behalf of brands to help them earn more authority. In my session for SearchLove 2022, I discussed the elements of our most successful content. You’ll be able to take these insights and tweak your content marketing approach to earn more brand coverage (and thus brand authority and links). I revealed: - What headline structures seem to gain the most traction - What angles/approaches seem most engaging - Insights regarding the performance of national vs. localized content This information can help SEOs, marketers, and content creators to better understand what makes content interesting to journalists so they can incorporate the learnings into their own editorial plans.

1. What syndicating 4,000+ stories
revealed about the content
publishers love

2. In our top-performing content,
nearly 40% of the stories
met at least one of these criteria:
SearchLove
Stacker Studio 3
Location-Focused Service Journalism News Pegs

3. Search Love
Stacker 4
Location-based content
has high ROI.
SearchLove
Stacker Studio
Insight #1:

4. Stacker
If you can tie the topic into a
localized angle, like sorting
data by city/state/country, your
potential for coverage can
5
grow exponentially.
Stacker Studio SearchLove

5. Stacker 6
Stacker Studio SearchLove

6. How to create localized content:
Stacker 7
● Does your target audience reside in a particular
location you should focus on?
● Is there a data set available?
● Can you customize the angle or pitch?
Stacker Studio SearchLove

7. Stacker 8
Stacker Studio SearchLove

8. Stacker 9
Stacker Studio SearchLove

9. Stacker 10
Stacker Studio SearchLove

10. Stacker 11
310 national + 639 local
= 949 total pickups!
Stacker Studio SearchLove

11. Search Love
Stacker 12
Service journalism has a
prominent place in media.
Stacker
Insight #2:
Stacker Studio SearchLove

12. Stacker
Of our top 10 most-picked-up
stories, 3 of them are examples of
service journalism.
13
Stacker Studio SearchLove

13. Stacker 14
482 pickups
Beyond star ratings:
10 things consumers should look
for in product reviews
10 tips to beat your to-do list
Here’s how to know if you should
buy or sell your car after leasing it
463 pickups
451 pickups
Stacker Studio SearchLove

14. Stacker 15
Brands are highly capable of
creating service journalism for
both on-site and off-site content.
Stacker Studio SearchLove

15. How to create service journalism:
Stacker 16
● Make a list of the challenges faced by those in your industry
● See what resources already exist
● Write a piece to solve the problem for readers
● Get inspiration from:
● Sales/customer service teams
● Keyword research
● Reddit/Quora/other forums
Stacker Studio SearchLove

16. Search Love
Stacker 17
Always consider
news pegs.
Stacker
Insight #3:
Stacker Studio SearchLove

17. “News peg” - a general topic you know
the news is already going to cover
Stacker 18
Stacker Studio SearchLove

18. Stacker 19
Stacker Studio SearchLove

19. Stacker 20
Stacker Studio SearchLove

20. Stacker 21
Stacker Studio SearchLove

21. How to create content around news pegs:
Stacker 22
● List of all events that are relevant to your industry in any
way
○ AP Planner
● List of all the stories that usually run about those events
● Brainstorm what tangential topics you can cover related
to the typical coverage
○ Searchresponse.io
Stacker Studio SearchLove

22. Search Love
Stacker 23
Elizabeth Miller, founder and editor
of the Auburn Examiner
“Much of Stacker's content can tie directly to current issues
we are covering, bolstering our original content. For
example, our state legislature is considering a bill related to
the use of Narcan and the broader issue of opioids in our
communities… A recent Stacker article listing 10 opioid-related
documentaries will be an ideal companion to that story, and
I expect the conversation to heat up again. ”
Stacker Studio

23. Industry-
specific
insights:
Stacker 24
Politics/Government:
Entertainment:
Business & Economy:
Sports:
Nearly half of the top-performing content
was location-based
“Year In Review” content did well for TV (440 pickups), film
(323 pickups), and music (278 pickups)
Service journalism particularly popular
Heavier emphasis on news pegs
Stacker Studio SearchLove

24. Search Love
Stacker 25
Headline structure can
make a big difference.
Stacker
Insight #4:
Stacker Studio SearchLove

25. Stacker 26
Headlines are your first chance
to capture the attention of
readers and reporters.
Stacker Studio SearchLove

26. Headline
Structure
checklist:
Stacker 27
Challenge preconceived
notions
Lead with an interesting
statistic
Call out data source
Make sure it sounds
human
Stacker Studio SearchLove

27. Challenge preconceived notions
Stacker 28
Stacker Studio SearchLove

28. Lead with an interesting statistic
Stacker 29
Stacker Studio SearchLove

29. Call out data source
Stacker 30
Stacker Studio SearchLove

30. Make sure it sounds human
Stacker 31
Stacker Studio SearchLove

31. Stacker MSN Traffic
Stacker 32
.PVs.
.Month.
Stacker Studio SearchLove

32. Stacker 33
ORIGINAL
10 potential early signs
of dementia
10 potential warning signs
of dementia you need to know,
according to the CDC
UPDATED
165% increase in pageviews on MSN
Stacker Studio SearchLove

33. Stacker 34
Most humid cities
in America
This is the most humid city in
America, according to data—
and no, it's not in Florida
856% increase in pageviews on MSN
ORIGINAL UPDATED
Stacker Studio SearchLove

34. Stacker 35
Here’s how much home
prices have risen since 1950
Prepare to be shocked:
This is how much the typical
home cost in your state in 1950
7,166% increase in pageviews on MSN
ORIGINAL UPDATED
Stacker Studio SearchLove

35. Thank you!
amilligan@stacker.com
@millanda
studio.stacker.com