10 Best Valentine’s Day Marketing Strategies to Get More Sales

Depositphotos is a content marketplace with headquarters in New York, USA. The Depositphotos library has over 230 million files, including royalty-free stock photos, vector images, video clips, and editorial files. With more than 28 million clients, Depositphotos really knows marketing. And they are today’s blog guest on a very “sweet” topic: Valentine’s Day marketing campaigns.

Like any other holiday, Valentine’s Day is an excellent opportunity for brands to increase sales and make existing clients buy again. This year the total spending is expected to reach $22 billion in the US alone. So, you need to get the most out of this romantic holiday for your business.

However, Valentine’s Day is difficult for marketers because it is quite a delicate topic, and you need to be careful with all of your marketing tactics. Not every marketing idea works in eCommerce. 

 

Valentines’ Day Marketing Statistics

So, if you are planning the Valentine’s Day marketing campaign this year, it can be helpful to look at some statistics.

• During this holiday, the most active category is people from 35 to 44 years during this holiday. On average, they spend $300 on their best halves.
• 50% of all marriage proposals happen on Valentine’s Day.
• Single men spend $71 on average, and single women spend $40 on average during this holiday.
• 34% of people prefer eating out on this holiday.
• 51% of people will congratulate their loved ones on this Day.

Keeping that in mind, consider the following marketing strategies to give your business a tremendous boost this time of the year. No fluff, no assumptions – just proven tips based on the examples of real-life brands. 

 

10 Winning Valentine’s Day Marketing Tips For Your Business

Creating Valentine’s Day buzz is about understanding your audience and finding a good way to engage customers with your relatable content. There are a variety of marketing strategies you can use to delight, surprise, and increase sales during this holiday.

 

1. Target last-minute shoppers

According to this research, most people don’t plan to shop a week or less before the holiday. Instead, they prefer buying gifts till the last minute. So, part of your Valentine’s Day marketing strategy is apparel to last-minute shoppers. 

The best way to do it is to combine a scarcity-driven copy with a countdown timer. The key is to do that without making people feel guilty. You can offer to get their gifts in time by Valentine’s Day. 

Another way to capture last-minute shoppers is by offering digital gift certificates or print at home. For example, Curioos recommends electronic gift cards with a discount as a great option on Valentine’s Day. Here is how they engaged last-minute buyers without breaking the bank:

 

2. Run Valentine’s Day Sale

There is no doubt that the best way to attract customers to your online store is to launch a Valentine’s Data sale and other promotions. So, offering compelling discounts is vital for a successful sales campaign. 

To promote your products, ensure to combine your sales popups with promotional emails. Fortunately, different email marketing tools like MailChimp run your professional marketing campaigns. 

Remember to consider free shipping along with your Valentine’s Day deals. You can also provide your loyal customers with exclusive discounts by using a unique code for shopping. For example, Kate Spade adds a personal touch to its email by calling out subscribers as “hey valentine” and giving an extra 10% off its sale styles to show some love for them:

To strengthen your sale, you can also offer free gift-wrapping as an additional benefit to save shoppers from trouble.

 

3. Offer Gift Guides

Buying gifts for many people, whether the best half or a friend, can be challenging, especially if you want to present something extraordinary. Proving your shoppers with gift guides can help them make better buying decisions and offer your products excellent gift ideas.

You can offer gift guides in different forms, such as emails, landing pages, social media posts, or popups. For example, Wendell August Forge, a prominent merchant, display a wide range of Valentine’s Day gifts linking from their homepage:

Another great idea is collaborating with other local businesses to create a great community gift guide that includes products from each store. That will help everyone attract new customers.

To create fantastic Valentine’s Day gift guides, VistaCreate (ex-Crello) is an excellent fit for your needs. It includes many unique templates for this occasion. 

 

4. Promote Self-Love

Everyone knows that Valentine’s Day is not just for couples. You can buy gifts for anyone special in your life, even if you don’t have romantic relationships with yourself. For example, it can be your friend, colleague, family, or teacher. 

According to a survey, 14% of women buy flowers for themselves on Valentine’s Day. Therefore, you can significantly increase your audience by promoting self-love to those who don’t have relationships. As a result, anyone can purchase a gift for themselves.

 

5. Create a Limited Edition Product

This strategy isn’t for any business, and especially it’s not for last-minute shoppers. Creating an exclusive product on Valentine’s Day This approach can perform miracles. People with FOMO can help you generate sales.

It’s a great and safe way to tie this holiday to your products without making people buy them. For example, Dior promotes its limited-edition Valentine’s Day collection, including Rouge Dior lipstick, eye palette, and perfect couture cushion:

 

6. Showcase Customer Photos

Valentine’s Day is a great chance to engage with your customers. Creating a consistent user-generated content (UGC) marketing campaign will encourage customers to share photos using a specific hashtag or contest. Then you can share their photos on your website or social media as social proof. 

UGG allows customers to feel that your brand is authentic and they are a part of your brand’s community by showing their photos. In addition, you can use their social reach for this holiday by getting customers involved in your activity. 

For example, people can participate in an Instagram contest, use Snapchat geofilters, or stream on Facebook Live. Here is the example from Dunkin’ leveraging UGG on different channels on this special day:

 

7. Produce Heartwarming Video Content

Valentine’s season can be the biggest revenue generator for many online businesses like dating platforms and flower delivery. So planning a video marketing strategy is essential to spread the positive vibes of the season and show customers some love. 

You can make lovely video e-cards or personalized videos to show appreciation and friendship with your audience. Another video idea is to create “behind the scenes” videos. For example, if you are in a food-related niche, you can produce educational or tutorial videos. Make sure to keep them short, sweet, and evoke emotions. 

To create original videos for your audience, you can get started with InVideo. It is an easy video editor with 5K professional templates, filters, music library, and transitions. In addition, with its unique voiceover feature, videos can sound realistic. Furthermore, you can use Videvo’s green screen footage without royalty to enhance the visual appeal of your videos.

 

8. Launch Thematic Email Marketing Campaigns

Start sending out Valentine Day’s-themed emails and show some love this say. Many eCommerce businesses use this approach to thank their subscribers and offer their products for a better price. 

Before launching your email campaign, ensure to create an eye-catching subject line and copy to make your customers engaged with your brand. Try to schedule your emails before Valentine’s Day to keep your products on the brink of customers’ minds. 

Through email marketing, you can give exclusive offers for loyalty program members. For example, you can offer double points for purchases or a gift with purchase on Valentine’s Day. 

Your loyal customers will feel appreciated and satisfied with exclusivity and urgency on this special day. For example, Tarte Cosmetics evokes curiosity by promoting its rewards program with this secret email:

9. Run the Classic “2-for-1” Promotion

This promotion is a classic for valid reasons. Valentine’s Day is about couples that want to get a great deal for two. So, for example, it can sound like “Buy one, get one free.” That is excellent for businesses that sell physical products. But you should be more creative to promote your special deals.

Ensure to provide a great deal and thematic visuals. If you are looking for some inspiration, you can find more Valentine’s Day image collections on Depositphotos. Try to choose images that are emotional, and that send out authentic vibes. 

 

10. Create Love Themed Polls and Fun Tests

Social media is a great place to show your creativity behind your brand and attract more new customers. The best way to do it is to conduct different fin tests and themed polls. 

Try to keep people engaged with your polls, like choosing “the worst Valentine’s Day gift” or “What is the best gift for you on this special day.” Ask people to give their reactions to such kind of social activity.

You can also create different tests related to your business to catch the customers’ attention. The main idea is to do it for fun and engagement without any marketing purpose. For example, BuzzFeed published a great post last year with Valentine’s Day opinions through polls: 

Wrapping up

Valentine’s Day is a great niche opportunity for brands and merchants to increase sales and attract new customers during this romantic holiday. You will create a love-filled campaign for your business and people with the right marketing strategies. Take these marketing tips as a good starting point for an uptick in sales.