‘Tis the season of love, a time when the UK hunts for the best gifts and occasions for their significant other and even their pals. The celebration has become a renowned day for spending, whether it’s buying a card, grabbing some flowers, or going out for a meal.
According to Finder, an estimated £1.37 billion was spent on Valentine’s Day in 2022, with 76% of Brits celebrating. So, it’s no surprise that marketing specifically for this day of devotion is worth it. Here are some of our top tips for marketing during Valentine’s Day this year.
1. Target last-minute shoppers
How many of us have waited until the very last minute to purchase a gift for our significant other? It feels like the days just fly by and all of a sudden the day is here – this is a marketing sweet spot for businesses.
Targeting last-minute shoppers is particularly effective through email marketing. You could utilise a countdown timer to the big day as well as offering a discount for those slow shoppers with the promise that their product will arrive in time for Valentine’s Day.
2. Create gift guides
Sometimes, finding the perfect gift for your partner on Valentine’s Day is like finding a needle in a haystack. It’s hard to wade through all the products available to find ‘the one’. That’s where gift guides can come in handy.
By researching the most popular Valentine’s gifts, brands can align this with their own products to put together a gift guide that allows their customer’s to feel like the thinking has already been done for them, streamlining the gift-giving process.
3. Valentine’s Day themes and visuals
Nothing screams “Happy Valentine’s Day!” quite like bright red hearts and cheeky puns. If brands want to stand out during the Valentine’s season, then they’ll need to create unique visuals and theming that align with their brand and the general loving spirit. Give your brand an affectionate makeover by theming your website, social media and email campaigns.
Theming can also include the phrases used when promoting a product, the subject lines used for email marketing and even discount codes.
4. Engage with customers
Holidays such as this one provide an excellent opportunity to engage with your customers on social media. Brands can create a specific Valentine’s Day hashtag that customers can include in their posts.
Take Body Shop for example, in 2021 they released a self-love campaign for that made use of the hashtag #SelfLoveUprising alongside #ValentinesDay to encourage their followers to post about their own self-love.
This is also an excellent way to track your campaign’s progress as you’re able to see how many people have used the hashtag on social media apps such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
5. Inclusive marketing
Not everyone has a significant other on Valentine’s Day and for some it can be a sore topic. Inclusive marketing can help a brand reach numerous people who are looking for ways to make the most of Valentine’s Day without a partner.
Increasing in popularity over recent years are celebrations such as ‘Galentine’s’ or ‘Palentine’s’ – days when people meet up with their friends and share the platonic love they have for each other. Other non-romantic celebrations of love could be with pets and family, or you could take a leaf out of Body Shop’s book and honour self-love too.
By being inclusive to these audiences within your Valentine’s Day marketing, brands open themselves up to larger audiences with the potential to expand their customer base.
Bottom line
Valentine’s Day presents a wealth of opportunities for brands to expand their reach and customer base through romantic storytelling and marketing strategies. We hope these ideas hit you like Cupid’s arrow and spark some inspiration for the loving season.
For more marketing tips, head to the It Works blog. Alternatively, get in touch to learn more about our services.