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In our latest blog post for The PR Insider, Lau Miguez, a Freelance International Digital PR expert, shares her insights on crafting effective campaigns for the Spanish market. Drawing from her experience running successful international PR campaigns, Lau breaks down what makes Spain different and how you can tailor your strategies to resonate with Spanish journalists and audiences.
What you’ll learn in this blog post:
Expanding your PR efforts into a new country is like landing in a new city with no battery and trying to find your Airbnb in another language. You’ll get there, but planning ahead makes the difference between a smooth arrival and a £50 taxi panic.
PR in Spain (and in any other country) is different not because the PR principles are different, but because the context is. What makes Spain unique is its rich blend of cultures and subcultures, meaning there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for success. Instead, it’s about adapting to a market with its quirks: fewer overall publications, fewer niche outlets, less sensationalism, and a slightly more traditional media landscape compared to, say, the UK.
But if there’s one key difference with Spain (and most Spanish-speaking countries), it’s that you’ll get more results by creating and distributing broader topics with wider appeal rather than hyper-specific angles. This approach works because Digital PR hasn’t yet saturated the Spanish market the way it has in the UK, so topics that might feel overdone in the UK can still feel fresh here. Plus, Spanish journalists tend not to be so niche-focused. You’ll often see them covering multiple sections or writing across various publications.
From what I’ve seen, the most effective PR campaigns in Spain are those that offer unique data, tap into current conversations with a fresh, unexplored angle, and address issues that resonate across the regions—even when the topic itself isn’t strictly regional.
Let’s look at a campaign example that took on a topic close to many young people’s hearts in Spain: the financial impact of having a child in Spain.
Spanish Digital PR Case Study: The cost of having a child in Spain
Objective: With this campaign, we wanted to highlight the rising costs of starting a family in Spain, a topic that resonates both financially and emotionally with many young people. Our goal was to address Spain’s declining birth rate by shedding light on the financial barriers young people face when considering having children.
Why it worked: Spain faces specific economic and social issues compared to other EU nations. Young people often struggle with limited job prospects, and high housing costs make property ownership feel out of reach, which naturally impacts decisions around starting a family. In 2020, Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) reported a sharp drop in birth rates, with only 23,226 births recorded in December—the lowest monthly figure on record—showing the financial pressures on young families.
While most conversations around birth rates focused on societal changes or women’s roles in the workforce, we aimed to highlight the often-overlooked economic burden of raising a child in Spain.
Strategy: We created a detailed, data-driven breakdown of the costs parents face from birth to adulthood, covering essentials like food, clothing, education, and even celebrations.
The campaign was distributed to regional and national online media and quickly gained traction, eventually reaching major national TV channels and radio. Seeing its success, we adapted the campaign the following year to include targeted broadcast outreach.
Results: So far, the campaign has earned over 50 links and more than 100 media mentions, with coverage across nearly all of Spain’s top publications, from financial outlets to national and lifestyle media. It also aired on major news programs, including Spain’s equivalent of Sky News and El Intermedio, a popular show with 1.2 million viewers.
On social media, the response was huge, with Instagram and TikTok videos with over 1,000 comments and 3,000+ shares, showing just how much this issue resonated.
So, what should you do when launching a Digital PR campaign in a different country?
1. Read the room: Know your audience and the different cultures within it. Who are they, what do they care about, and what are they talking about? Get a feel for the media landscape and the unique cultures and subcultures you’re working with.
2. Research, research, and more research: Study the media landscape, identify relevant journalists, gauge the breadth of your topic’s appeal, and assess whether it fits the current conversation.
3. Include unique content: Add elements that are less easy to find, like a quality infographic, survey-specific insights, or fresh data.
4. Keep your emails straightforward: Don’t over-explain. The press release should already perfectly summarise your message. A simple intro like, “Hey, here’s a study that reveals the cost of having a child in Spain,” can work perfectly.
5. Use regional angles whenever possible: If you have regional data or insights, make sure to leverage them effectively.
6. Limit follow-ups: Don’t follow up more than once. If you haven’t heard back after two emails, sending a third (or fourth) will likely only get a “please stop emailing” response.
7. Don’t be afraid to push for a link: It’s getting harder to secure links organically, so make your case for why they should link to your story. Having a dedicated landing page helps; rather than just asking for a link, you can ask them to link to the data, the source, or more information on the story or study.
Launching a PR campaign in a new market, like Spain, comes down to preparation and adaptability. Understand the local context, craft stories that truly resonate, and focus on delivering value. If you’re unsure where to start or need a sounding board for your strategy, reach out—I’d love to help make it a success.
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