Valentine’s Day has become one of the biggest opportunities of the year for digital retailers, with queries like ‘same day delivery’ and ‘romantic dinner’ showing massive growth. In 2021, Valentine’s Day spending in the UK was estimated to total approximately £926 million. This figure could rise to a whopping £1.37 billion in 2022, according to projections from Finder.
So, how can your business make the most of this profitable holiday? We’ve compiled a list of our top Valentine’s Day marketing strategies for 2022 that will help you to reach your target audience and drive sales.
Run a Valentine’s Day sale
With millions of customers gift shopping online, there’s one definite way to make your brand stand out from your competitors: running a Valentine’s Day sale. Offering a compelling discount is key to increasing profits, but what’s more important is how, when, and where you promote your sale.
You need to make sure you’re reaching customers who are celebrating Valentine’s Day and actively shopping at this moment. This can be done on Google through in-market audiences. You should figure out exactly who your demographic is, so that you can target the most relevant audience through your paid social and PPC marketing campaigns.
Use targeted popups
The days leading up to Valentine’s Day offer the perfect opportunity to grow your email list through site popups. You could offer a Valentine’s Day discount, a giveaway, or even something as simple as early access to your sale.
When it’s time for the big Valentine’s Day sale, you can then create a promotion popup that guides customers to the relevant landing page. This is a must-have to make sure visitors to your site can easily find the discounted products in just one click.
Make your delivery dates visible
Delivery time is always something that online shoppers take into consideration before making a purchase. However, it becomes an even more prominent concern during gift shopping periods. In order to gain the business of Valentine’s Day shoppers, make sure your delivery dates are clear and visible across your website, as well as in your paid social and PPC marketing campaigns.
Create urgency
Creating a sense of urgency is key to making sure shoppers complete their purchase with you. One excellent way this can be done is by including a countdown timer on your website and in your paid social and PPC ads. This could show potential customers exactly how long they have left to get their items in time for Valentine’s Day, or until the sale ends.
Your copy should include calls to action that remind online shoppers that they need to hurry if they don’t want to miss out. You could emphasise that stock is limited, for example, or that they only have one day left to order in time for the big day.
Promote relevant products
Valentine’s Day gifts differ from Christmas or birthday gifts by nature. After all, Valentine’s Day is all about love, hearts, and glitter - something you wouldn’t necessarily associate with other holidays. If your brand sells products that could fit the Valentine’s theme, it’s the perfect time to push these as ideal gift options.
Even if your products don’t fit the Valentine’s Day theme in a conventional way, you can find ways to make them fit. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box to create your Valentine’s Day campaigns.
Target last-minute shoppers
Even the most organised of us are guilty of leaving gift-buying until the last minute from time to time. While many online businesses chase after last-minute shoppers by triggering a sense of guilt, there’s a more effective way to convert procrastinators into customers.
If you can offer fast delivery to last-minute Valentine’s Day shoppers, you’ll be a step ahead of the majority of your competitors. What’s more, you could offer next-day or even same-day delivery, but only when the customer spends over a certain amount. If the last-minute shopper wants their gifts in time, they’ll end up spending more to reach this price threshold. This way, your business doesn’t just capture last-minute shoppers, but also upsells them.
Redefine Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day isn’t for every brand, or every person for that matter. However, you can still take advantage of this special day by redefining it for your brand.
Depending on the nature of what you sell, you can take an anti-Valentine’s Day position or support singles on this day with your products. A lot of brands choose to lean into the Galentine’s Day theme instead, for example, which focuses on women celebrating their love for their friends rather than a romantic partner.
By doing this, you not only successfully take advantage of this profitable holiday, but also approach it from a unique perspective that makes your brand stand out from competitors.
We hope some of these strategies prove useful to you and help your brand to see increased profits in the run-up to Valentine’s Day. If you need a little help creating the perfect Valentine’s Day campaign, we would love to help! Get in touch to find out more about dmt’s services in paid social, PPC, email marketing, and more.