I like Valentine’s Day. But, not for the reason you might think.
We all know that heading out with a loved one on Valentine’s Day is nothing more than an excuse to observe couples who have completely run out of conversation. But, as a marketer, it’s an excuse to prey on a captive market.
And that’s why I like Valentine’s Day.
The following tips are best suited to retail businesses. However, any firm can use this time of the year to whip up a bit of anticipation among potential customers.
The best news? Valentine’s marketing is about as simple as it gets.
Here’s what you need to do.
Remember the singletons
Valentine’s isn’t always that great when you’re single. Well, some would argue it’s even better when you don’t have to find something… anything to buy your better half.
Single people probably get fairly fed up with emails containing love hearts and soppy messages. Therefore, you’ll have a much easier time catching their attention as a marketer.
Among that sea of wishy-washy emails, yours could stand tall by offering an ‘anti-Valentine’s’ wish or suggestion that the recipient should splash some cash on themselves for a change.
It’s the one time of the year where more run-of-the-mill marketing messages might just get heard.
Forget gift promotion
No, you read that right – even if you’re a retailer.
People celebrate Valentine’s Day in lots of different ways, therefore if you’re running a coffee shop, theme park or subscription service, you too can grab lots of engagement at this time of the year.
Equally, if you work in a business-to-business environment, you can have some fun during Valentine’s season by talking about ‘connections’, ‘relationships’ and ‘the start of something beautiful’.
You don’t need to be a retailer of gifts or romantic experiences to take advantage of Valentine’s Day.
Think about all those last minute buyers
Because, let’s be honest – there’ll be shed loads every year.
People (ok, men, mainly) will often leave things until the last minute, and that means they’ll be susceptible to the most obvious, teeth-grindingly desperate marketing campaigns.
In the days leading up to February 14th, don’t be afraid to really crank up the desperation level with your subject lines and calls-to-action (CTAs). There’s no better time of the year to elicit a sense of urgency or FOMO (fear of missing out).
Nail your audience segments
It feels like this tip features in every mailingmanager blog post, but there’s a good reason for that: you can’t conduct a successful email campaign without decent segmentation.
This is particularly the case come Valentine’s Day, because even that audience is made up of an incredibly wide variety of people.
Look at demographics, location and past buying history to get an idea of how you should carve up that romantic audience for the biggest impact.
Don’t go overboard with the design
It’s tempting to really go over the top with Valentine’s email marketing design, but the busier that message gets, the less likely it is to be engaged with.
Keep the design and layout of your Valentine’s emails as simple as possible. A simple header image, single CTA and punchy, suspense-filled copy will do the trick.
Wrapping up
Hopefully I’ve given you plenty of inspiration to make Valentine’s Day 2020 a successful one for your business.
If you need to get cheesy, get cheesy. If you think the singles market is a far hotter prospect for you, target it.
Whatever you do, just get cracking now, because it’ll be February before you know it!
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