So you’ve finally finished the rush of the holiday season sales and campaigns... And just like that, in the blink of an eye, Valentine’s Day is right around the corner.
It’s a day that’s both loved and hated around the world, that’s for sure, but whichever side you’re on, Valentine’s Day is still one of the biggest holidays of the year and a great opportunity to boost sales, especially if marketed correctly. It’s so great, in fact, that some retailers claim Valentine’s Day is their most profitable time of the year. It’s no surprise then that it’s been predicted that consumers in the UK alone could spend a whopping £1.37 billion for Valentine’s Day in 2022.
With this in mind, what is your Valentine’s Day marketing strategy, if you have one at all? And what marketing tactics are effective for eCommerce businesses?
Here are a few ways your eCommerce business could cash in on Valentine’s Day this year, just in time.
Tactics to increase your eCommerce sales on Valentine’s Day
Be inclusive of everyone on Valentine’s Day
Here is something to consider: not all of your customers and potential customers are loved up at the moment. For this reason, Valentine’s Day isn’t only celebrated by couples and there are a number of different ways to be inclusive.
But most of all, Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love, in whatever shape or form that might mean to your customers. There are couples, yes, but also singles, pets, family, friendships and long-distance relationships.
Why not integrate other days leading up to Valentine’s Day, such as Galentine’s Day? Galentine’s Day, set on the 13th of February, is a day dedicated to celebrating friendships, and it’s another opportunity to include everyone. When being inclusive, it’s also important to be thoughtful, including carefully picked out products that might appeal to this audience in such a specific campaign.
At the end of the day, it’s all about your audience. Think about what will appeal to them and do some research on the buying trends of Valentine’s Day .
Create an irresistible offer
According to Neil Patel, 50% of consumers only make a purchase when there is a promotion involved. Yikes!
So, once you have decided on your inclusive messaging, it’s time to create an irresistible offer. Here are a few thought starters:
- Run a limited-time discount offer.
- Add in a free high-value gift with every purchase.
- Include free shipping and guaranteed delivery by Valentine’s Day.
- Offer free gift wrapping.
- Give a higher percentage off, the more that is spent.
- Think about AI-driven promotions.
Whichever offer you decide to go for, post it across your social media channels and utilise your email list to create hype around your upcoming campaign a few days before it begins. Perhaps you could even offer an exclusive sneak peek sale to your loyal email list?
Add a stand-alone Valentine’s Day page on your website
Having a page dedicated to your Valentine’s Day offers can create excitement and make it easier for your customers to search for what they’re looking for, as well as encourage more spending.
You can get creative and include stories, images and compelling marketing designs with catchy Valentine's Day headlines. Create categories, themes and include header images and site banners that are themed for Valentine’s Day to encourage click-throughs to the page.
Create a Valentine’s Day gift guide
Another fantastic way to boost your Valentine’s Day sales is to create a visual guide for those who are not sure of what to buy for the occasion. Here you can be inclusive again, including pets, friends and more. Explain each product, what they’ll love about the gift and combine your messaging with your unbelievable offer and your customers will be more than convinced.
Show off other products with AI-integrations
Your shoppers may or may not have landed on your site looking for a Valentine’s Day gift. You can use an AI Shop Assistant to understand the buyer’s intent and adapt your offers or share newly added products according to their unique journey on your website. You don’t get a more tailored online shopping experience than that!
Using a tool like Shopbox also allows you to upsell and cross-sell too. Dynamic products can be suggested, depending on what the customer’s unique browsing history is, what’s new that they haven’t seen yet and what is relevant to their shopping experience. This will work well for smaller, additional Valentine’s Day gifts that are low in price and easy to add to their carts.
Team up with the right influencers
If you want to go the extra mile to boost Valentine’s Day sales, teaming up with the right influencers can really put your brand in front of the right eyes.
It’s important to remember not to just use those with a large following, you need to find the right ones that suit your brand, and have the followers you are looking for. Before entering into a campaign with an influencer, always ask for a demographic breakdown of their followers to gain a better understanding of whether they will be a right fit for your brand. Once you’ve found your match, share your offer to the world using influencers to help drive more traffic to your website and encourage more sales.
Everyone loves an urgent “last-minute” sale
As a final grand finale sales push, don’t forget about the procrastinators… There are always a few that forget all about Valentine’s Day and are in need of a solution, and fast! Create a sense of urgency with a spur-of-the-moment flash sale on your smaller Valentine’s Day gifts. Email marketing is a great tool for this type of campaign, but include it across other channels too.
A few brilliant Valentine’s Day marketing campaigns we love
Sometimes all you need is a little inspiration to get you started. Here are a few Valentine’s Day marketing examples and ideas we love.
Hotels.com – Anti-Valentine’s Day
Talking of inclusive, this is a great example of thinking out of the box when it comes to what audience you’d like to target. Hotels.com received a lot of attention for this campaign that focused on singles only, flipping Valentine’s Day right around.
The company asked their audience to share why their ex deserved a holiday in a trashcan. All entries stood a chance to win a $300 gift card to use at Hotels.com and enjoy a holiday with someone else.
Reference: Outbrain
Herbivore - Bundling products
Here is an idea that’s most practical and not over the top. In this example, Herbivore bundled their existing products together and added a little Valentine’s twist. A big marketing splurge may not be possible for all eCommerce business owners right now, and if that’s the case, bundling your existing products together to give your audience a value-add, could be the perfect push to boost your Valentine’s Day sales.
Reference: Privy
Get ready for Valentine’s Day, now!
It is estimated that over 40 million people (76% of the population) will be joining in on the Valentine’s Day celebrations in the UK. With that being said, time is of the essence.
There’s still time to make it a very profitable Valentine’s Day for your eCommerce business. To start, let’s get your business up and running with our AI-generated tool that can radically improve your customers’ shopping experience. We can help you get up and running with Shopbox as soon as possible.
Focus on your marketing campaigns, and allow us to transform and hyper-personalise your Valentine’s Day shopping experience, and beyond – simply get in touch with us today for a demo.
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