Much like any other special day, Valentine’s Day poses a good opportunity for companies to convert leads into customers and improve sales. Of course, making the most out of this opportunity requires the help of some smart Valentine’s Day marketing ideas.
Drive Sales This February With These Valentine’s Day Marketing Ideas
Brands would be wise to take advantage of any holiday or special occasion. While Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s are popular options, Valentine’s Day can also be an equally fruitful event. Here are some of the best Valentine’s Day marketing strategies you should use.
1. Hold a Special Sale
Valentine’s Day shopping is no longer confined to physical retailers. Online is where it’s mostly at these days, and a good way to exploit this is to hold an online sale. Offer special discounts and deals such as giving 10% off on the first purchase or including a freebie if customers reach a certain dollar amount at checkout. “Buy one, get one free” deals are also popular at this time of the year.
Of course, in addition to offering the discount, you need to market the sale properly. Make sure you email your subscribers about the sale ahead of time. You may also want to consider extending your sale beyond just a single day. For instance, you might want to start the sale two days before February 14 and end it a day after. This way, you can cater to early shoppers and late shoppers at the same time.
2. Promote Appropriate Products
Marketing is all about relevance. You need to offer a relevant product to the theme to really catch customers’ attention. For instance, if you run an online clothing store, you might want to feature couple outfits or lingerie instead of socks and scarves. People tend to look for something specific during this special day, so offering it up to them on a silver platter makes the process infinitely more convenient. Plus, it boosts the chances of a sure sale.
3. Publish Gift Guides
One of the best Valentine’s Day online marketing ideas you can execute is to publish a gift guide. Some people just don’t know what to get their partners until they see it with their own eyes. So, they turn to the Internet for inspiration.
They search for Valentine’s Day gift ideas, which you can use to your advantage by writing and publishing an article full of them. Include some of your own products on the list and link to them for easier checkout. Don’t underestimate the power of content marketing.
4. Appeal to Their Sense of Urgency
Plenty of brands use this tactic — and you can, too. To complement your Valentine’s Day sale, consider driving urgency by installing a countdown timer on your website. This tells customers that they only have until a certain date or time before the sale slips away from their fingers. You may also want to advertise that you only have limited stocks of something. In doing so, you trigger their sense of urgency, which can compel them to buy the item before it runs out.
5. Offer Limited Edition Products
Nothing says exclusive like limited edition. If your brand is more luxurious, this is one of the Valentine’s Day marketing ideas that will work best. High-end brands do this all the time. They offer limited edition products that push customers to want to buy. It’s because limited edition products spark people’s need to own something that not everyone can have.
That being said, this marketing strategy is not something you can put together in a few days. It requires time and proper planning. After all, you have to make sure your limited edition product is of high quality. Otherwise, you will lose the trust of your customers and, the next time you put out another limited edition product, you’re not going to get any sales.
6. Launch a Social Media Campaign
Who says a Valentine’s Day marketing campaign can’t be fun? In fact, fun is a driving force behind a lot of social campaigns. Take advantage of social media and its millions of users by launching an interactive campaign. You can start a giveaway contest that requires users to follow your page and share your posts. You can also create a hashtag of your own to really boost awareness. The more you get your brand name out there, the better your reputation will be. And, when people trust your brand and associate it with something positive, they are more likely to buy from you.
7. Aim for Last-Minute Shopping
A lot of shoppers procrastinate and end up scrambling for a gift to buy at the last minute. This is where you should focus your energy. You can write content that taps into their guilt, telling them how sad their partners or loved ones will feel if they don’t buy them a present. But, a better way to appeal to last-minute shoppers is to offer fast delivery.
Last-minute shoppers don’t want their partners to know that they didn’t put time and effort into choosing their gifts. If you can ship items to customers in less time than your competition, then you’ve got the advantage.
8. Target Holiday Shoppers
If you did your holiday promos well, then you probably already have a list of customers who purchased from your company over Christmas and New Year’s. Chances are, these are the very customers who will buy from your store again once presented with an offer. Use their past behavior to tailor your emails. You can also ask them to leave a review and, in exchange, they can get a discount on a future purchase. Sometimes, re-engaging customers who have already bought from you is the best way to drive up sales.
9. Offer Free and Fast Delivery
In today’s fast-paced world, people expect equally fast service. No one wants to buy from an online retailer that takes weeks to deliver their orders. This is especially true around Valentine’s Day when gift purchases hinge on on-time delivery.
But, even if you do offer fast delivery, shoppers won’t know it if you don’t advertise it. As such, make sure you clearly indicate delivery dates on your website. Another plus is to offer free shipping as a way of encouraging shoppers to make that last click at checkout.
The Right Marketing Plan for You
As you can see, there are many Valentine’s Day marketing ideas you can utilize this Heart’s Day. Not all of them are made equal, though, and some tactics are better suited to certain brands than others. Knowing your business and target customers inside and out is the best way to choose the right strategies for you.
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