Marketers rejoice, it’s just become a lot easier for your high quality social media content to get picked up my local and 
national press! Both Facebook and Instagram present their latest tool for journalists, Signal.
Signal
Facebook and Instagram’s newest tool for journalists, Signal, allows them to discover, filter and embed content found on the social media platforms in order to be able to incorporate them into new stories and other news-related content. The launch of Signal is another significant step by Facebook to grow as an even bigger competitor to Twitter, a social platform well-known as branded and designed to be an effective media niche. The launch of Signal is also an attempt to aim for greater engagement on Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram.
Special Facebook Services for Journalists
Signal is not the only special tool recently released by Facebook to benefit journalists and other media sources. Their most recent rollouts include Mentions, Instant Articles and FB Newswire. Mentions is a press clippings tool allowing verified profile owners to be aware of all of their mentions on the social media site benefitting media as well as celebrities. Instant Articles is a tool that was created in conjunction with The Guardian and The New York Times. It allows for articles to be published directly on the Facebook mobile platform. Finally, FB Newswire is just as the name suggests providing headlines from a selection of curated and verified editors to be picked up by other press.
How to Benefit from Signal
Signal presents the opportunity for journalists to discover content more easily but it’s also a great benefit to marketers and brands. The latter may enjoy the potential for greater reach and exposure for their content on social media.
Signal is yet another reason to take the time to use the data you receive from Facebook and Instagram including and maybe especially for the purposes of Signal, trending topics. Go through the latest trending topics for your demographics, geographical location and/or niche and tailor the content you upload to Facebook and Twitter accordingly. Signal is also a nod to the importance of taking advantage of the opportunities presented by hashtag marketing. Use hashtags that accurately represent the uploaded content that also tie into trending topics and important keywords where you could get picked up by the journalists relevant to your market or field.
