Valentine’s Day Marketing Made Simple
Every year, consumers spend more than $13 billion on Valentine’s Day. Further, more than 61 percent of consumers join in on the romantic occasion. No matter what kind of small business or internet site you have, you should figure out how to gain some of the Valentine’s Day market share.
Where consumers are spending their money
You’re in luck if your business sells candy, flowers, jewelry, apparel, specialty gifts, movies, or operates a restaurant or salon/spa. These were the top spending categories for Valentine’s Day in recent years. However, it’s not just people that are receiving gifts. Pets are a huge category in and of themselves on Valentine’s Day. On average, Americans spend about $700 million on pet gifts such as dog collars, pet treats, costumes, and hair bows.
How to capitalize on the holiday
Get inspired
Companies that cash in on Valentine’s Day have “figured out some creative ways to leverage the warm and fuzzies (or unadulterated rage and crushing loneliness … whatever) that Valentine’s Day instills in people,” advises Corey Eridon of the HubSpot marketing blog. If you’re stuck on Valentine’s inspiration, get some ideas from successful campaigns such as Uber’s “Romance on Demand” or Scribbler, a greeting card service based in the UK.
Make an offer
Brick and mortar stores can benefit from creating a special offer. For example, a restaurant with a special Valentine’s Day menu can entice new customers to visit the establishment. Alternatively, your restaurant can add a few Valentine’s specials to the daily menu, or offer special pricing for a dinner for two.
Reach out even further
On the other hand, anti-Valentine’s Day rituals are cropping up, too. Valentine’s Day pub crawls bring together people who don’t have a significant other. Your bar, salon, restaurant or diner can advertise a special “crawl” that features special drink prices, giveaways or a swag bag.
Use email marketing
Email marketing on Valentine’s Day offers businesses a unique advantage. Consumers are amenable to email offers, and don’t mind if you ask them to click-through. They’ll either click or they won’t. No harm, no foul. On social media, however, offers are a no-no.
You can use social media to drive the campaign, however. Before proceeding, make sure your email lists are segmented to the right audiences, create a campaign that adds value for customers, partner with another business to create an even more enticing offer, and then set up the email schedule.
Make it worthwhile year-round
No matter what promotion you decide upon for Valentine’s Day, Shortstack, a social media company, recommends thinking ahead. “Make sure you’re collecting email addresses from your entrants and you have a follow-up email marketing strategy set in place to continue to communicate with entrants after the promotion ends.” This way, the traffic you gain from the holiday will continue to bring in revenue over the course of the year.
Will this be the year that you rock Valentine’s Day marketing? To ensure success, get inspiration from other successful campaigns, come up with killer offer, know that you can also appeal to people who won’t or can’t share the day with someone special, consider email marketing and capture leads. With the right marketing recipe, your small business will carve out revenue from this lucrative holiday and set the stage for an even more successful campaign next year.
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