Love it or loathe it, Valentine’s Day is a milestone calendar date in many PR comms plans.
However, it’s a saturated time with so many brands all competing to get the attention of busy journalists and cash-strapped consumers.
So how do we do it? In this blog, we’ll share our expertise and top tips to secure coverage for this romantic time of year and how we get journalists falling head over heels for our content.
All good love stories are about timing
As with all PR activity, timing is everything. For long lead titles, getting ahead of the game and sending over the content months in advance is imperative – many will feature Valentine’s Day in their February issue, which can often hit shelves in January.
Likewise for mid lead publications, they will be aiming for Valentine’s Day content to feature in the issue the week before the big day (or often the week before that), and whilst the lead times aren’t quite as long, pitches need to be sent out a couple of months beforehand.
Online media’s lead times aren’t as extensive, with many outlets putting their Valentine’s Day content live towards the end of January or the beginning of February – but it’s still worthwhile getting the pitch in the journalist’s inbox first thing in the New Year as they turn their attention to the next big calendar moment after Christmas.
Sweep them off their feet with gorgeous images
We all know that images can make or break a pitch – strong images are essential to help secure standout coverage and it’s no different for Valentine’s Day.
In fact, with an instantly recognisable colour palette featuring pinks and reds, the Valentine’s Day content needs to feature these romantic hues to seamlessly tie into the overall theme of this calendar date.
For product placement, a standard cut out image is always going to be needed but to really grab the journalist’s attention in your pitch email and show off the product, specific lifestyle images are a great addition.
To achieve this, it’s worth investing in a dedicated photoshoot to capture this content and a backdrop of romantic pinks and reds is a must – nothing too garish, but strong pastels and small accessories work well. Rose petals as an additional prop or heart shaped candles to fill any dead space in your frame will help to set the scene even further.
The importance of being relevant
It goes without saying that the most important thing to consider with any Valentine’s Day content is assessing whether the product or attraction is relevant – there’s no point trying to convince a journalist that a family day out is a great option for this romantic time of year.
Think about what people may wish to do during Valentine’s Day too and think how this can be advantageous from a PR point of view.
If there is a food or drink product to champion, focus on the cosy night in and celebratory home-cooked meals many may be creating to celebrate the day – and producing recipe content to coincide with this is a great additional avenue to explore, not forgetting the indulgent desserts and celebratory cocktails too.
Recipe and serve content can be a great additional asset to place with media, rather than just product placement, and maximise this opportunity by using romantic-themed names for the dishes and cocktails.
Don’t forget about Galentine’s Day
The popularity of Galentine’s Day doesn’t seem to be fading, so it’s one to keep in mind for PR activity in February – and is a great way to avoid competing with the overflowing suggestions for Valentine’s Day.
It’s also worth remembering that media are now creating multiple gift guides, particularly online, which provides even more ways to get a product or experience noticed. These don’t just focus on ‘gifts for her’ but including him, luxury and budget – so if there is a product that best suits one of these, it needs to be made clear in the pitch to make things even easier for journalists and show to them that you know their audience
Get in touch
We hope you’re feeling the love after reading this blog – there’s lots to consider but with the right know-how, it’s possible to achieve some amazing coverage for Valentine’s Day.
If you’re interested in working with us to create a strategic PR campaign, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.
