If you're a digital marketer, you're probably aware that you can – and should – take advantage of every holiday, special occasion, and event as a marketing opportunity. One of the most overlooked occasions to take advantage of is Valentine's Day.
Because Valentine's Day is a consumer-centric holiday, you can use your digital marketing tactics to build consumer interest in your product and drive them to purchase. While it's a popular consumer holiday, it's not nearly as crowded with ads and promotions as Black Friday or Christmas, making it a great time to stand out from your competitors and ramp up sales in Q1.
But with Valentine's Day just a few days away, you may not have thought about how to promote your business with a digital marketing campaign. However, there are some last minute ideas that you can pull off in just a few days to make the most of the holiday. Here are some marketing tips that can help you ramp up business on Valentine's Day.
1. Themed landing pages or microsites
Landing pages or microsites can be a great way to promote Valentine's Day specials. Since the holiday is geared toward people buying gifts for loved ones, many retail brands curate products specifically for user groups. Consider making pages for the groups that make sense for your brand, like boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives and "galentines" (a term that references female friends celebrating the holiday by exchanging gifts).
If you're not an e-commerce company, don't worry. You can develop another creative campaign for the holiday; share how much employees love your company to recruit new hires, or donate money to charity for every new email subscriber. The options are endless; find out what's best for your business and what your consumers will respond to.
2. Email valentines
You may not have time to coordinate a direct mail campaign, but email valentines can do the trick. Come up with a fun theme that's relevant to your customers like this ad agency did two years ago, write a punny poem or love letter to your customers, or design a fun play off a traditional valentine as an extra touchpoint with your customers this month. Take the hassle out of distribution by sending them to an email list you already have ready to go.
3. Surprise flash sale
Valentine's Day is a celebration of love, and nothing says you love your customers like a good deal. Why not surprise them with a flash sale? This idea can be executed quickly and promoted with display advertising or existing channels you're already using to communicate with your customers.
Consider putting a time limit on your sale, giving deep discounts on a few popular items for a limited number of customers, and following up with remarketing. This can help incentivize buyers to make the purchase.
4. Guerrilla marketing
Guerrilla marketing stunts can earn tons of positive publicity and don't have to take long to plan and execute. On the more simple, affordable end of the spectrum, one grocery store used their PA system to share loving messages with customers without much cost. They captured those moments on video to share in other media outlets.
As a larger initiative, one year Doritos sold a limited number of custom chip bouquets to their biggest fans. The positive Return on Investment (ROI) was two-fold: they quickly sold all the Doritos bouquets they had and also earned publicity on several major news outlets. Whether it's conservative, outrageous, or somewhere in the middle, a guerrilla marketing stunt might be just what you need this year.
5. Social media
If you're really short on bandwidth this month, social media can be a great place to earn engagement and have some fun with your customers. One Australia-based company created a short and simple video ad creative that asked users to choose between a rose, strawberry or bacon bouquet. The simple concept earned 1.9M views, 55K likes and 5.7K comments on Facebook – not bad for a single graphic.
When brainstorming for your Valentine's Day social media post, take a look at your analytics to determine what kind of posts your followers react to the most. Replicate that success by giving them what they're already more inclined to engage with.
6. "Drop a Hint" features and Wish Lists
One year for Valentine's Day, Tiffany and Co. added a "Drop a Hint" button to their product pages, letting women send notes to their significant others that they'd been eyeing a certain product. The button was such a success, they kept it around indefinitely.
Another company that does this well is Amazon, where users can create Wish Lists for friends and family to see. If your business is centered around e-commerce, consider adding a feature that helps users communicate that they'd love to see your product wrapped up on Valentine's Day.
As you're planning your Valentine's Day promotions, consider pairing multiple elements to create your ideal campaign. A flash sale could be promoted through email blasts that drive users to a custom landing page, or a guerrilla marketing stunt could be promoted on social media to earn more likes and engagement.
Whatever you do this year, make sure you can execute it well. It's better to have one or two thoughtful, strategic touch points on Valentine's Day than several poorly planned touch points that turn off your customers and diminish your brand value.
