Valentine’s Day is likely one of the greatest business alternatives for entrepreneurs.
With spending anticipated to succeed in $22 billion this 12 months within the US alone, you might want to leverage this romantic ecommerce vacation for your enterprise.
Not each Valentine’s Day advertising and marketing concept works in ecommerce, although. Nor do they work for each enterprise.
On this information, you’ll discover 11 actionable Valentine’s Day advertising and marketing methods that work for ecommerce companies. No fluff, no assumptions—solely confirmed concepts primarily based on real-life manufacturers you’ll be able to mannequin, this 12 months and past.
1. Use Focused Popups
Whether or not it’s for Black Friday, Christmas, or Valentine’s Day, each vacation sale wants a focused e mail checklist, stuffed with subscribers.
Whatever the time of the 12 months, popups are the best option to accumulate high-quality emails in your website with out hurting the person expertise (offered you’re following finest practices).
The times main as much as Valentine’s Day gives the proper alternative to develop your e mail checklist with early entry, a giveaway, or a reduction popup.
When you don’t wish to promise further advantages in your e mail popup—an additional low cost code, free transport, and so on.—providing early entry to the sale, just like the above, works simply positive.
When it’s time for the massive Valentine’s Day sale, you’ll be able to then create a promotion popup, guiding guests to the product classes the place the sale is going on:
A popup just like the above is a must have particularly in case you have a devoted touchdown web page for the sale, or discounting solely sure merchandise for Valentine’s Day.
2. Run a Valentine’s Day Sale
With tens of millions of shoppers reward buying on-line, there’s one option to deliver your on-line retailer to the forefront of the competitors: operating a gross sales marketing campaign.
Whereas providing a compelling low cost is vital to a profitable gross sales marketing campaign, what’s extra, vital is how, when, and the place you promote your merchandise.
The easiest way to realize that’s by combining gross sales popups with promotional emails.
Take a look at this topic line Kate Spade makes use of to announce its Valentine’s Day sale:
By calling out its subscribers as “hey valentine,” Kate Spade provides an informal and private contact to its e mail:
Kate Spade appreciates its prospects by giving them an additional 30 p.c off its sale types. An e mail like this can be a good option to present some like to your e mail checklist and interact them after they’re about to buy items.
Whereas Kate Spade frames its sale marketing campaign as their reward to you, Misfit takes a special method:
The corporate needs you to reward your self for a easy purpose: to deal with Valentine’s Day blues. That is what their e mail seems to be like:
Versus most manufacturers that ask you to spoil your Valentine, Misfit cleverly reframes Valentine’s Day right into a day of self-love.
The corporate invitations you to deal with your self above others and recommends merchandise that will help you try this:
It’s a sensible tackle Valentine’s Day advertising and marketing, particularly in case your merchandise aren’t essentially giftable.
3. Provide Extra Advantages
Whereas nearly each model gives Valentine’s Day reductions, different incentives, comparable to free transport, can differentiate your retailer from the competitors. In any case, free transport is one of many high components that affect on-line shoppers’ shopping for selections.
When you can’t afford to supply free transport all 12 months spherical, nevertheless, think about presenting it as a limited-time provide and including a way of urgency, like Madsen Cycles:
Whereas cargo bikes aren’t typical Valentine’s Day items, Madsen Cycles finds a degree that ties its merchandise to at the present time. On this e mail, they provide their subscribers free transport “now through Valentine’s Day.”
It’s a compelling incentive that may work with any vacation, particularly for merchandise with larger supply prices.
Estee Lauder, however, makes use of free transport to upsell throughout Valentine’s Day:
To assert your free 2-day transport and to get your good reward in time, Estee Lauder asks you to spend over $75. This manner, the corporate neatly takes you to a better value level and will increase conversions by guaranteeing supply by Valentine’s Day.
If you wish to strengthen your hand additional, you’ll be able to provide free gift-wrapping as an additional profit to avoid wasting prospects from further hassle.
4. Make Your Supply Dates Seen
Whatever the time of the 12 months, supply is all the time a smooth spot for web shoppers. Nonetheless, it turns into an much more delicate concern throughout the reward buying season.
When somebody’s about to purchase a present for the particular particular person of their life (to be given at a particular date), the very first thing they test is supply occasions.
If you wish to convert Valentine’s Day customers into prospects, make your supply dates clear and visual throughout your web site, in addition to in your popups and emails.
What’s extra, keep in mind to put in writing the final date prospects can place orders for Valentine’s Day or after they can anticipate to get their objects delivered.
Take inspiration from Calvin Klein, who does that efficiently in its emails:
After inviting you to purchase a timeless reward on your Valentine and recommending just a few merchandise, the corporate provides a sentence to the underside of this e mail:
It’s a easy addition that makes a distinction for prospects who’re contemplating buying from the corporate.
When you’re providing a number of transport choices, it’s additionally vital to let your prospects understand how they’ll work throughout this season. Take a look at this instance from MeUndies to see how that may appear to be:
The primary a part of this Valentine’s Day e mail seems to be like another. But, once you scroll down the e-mail, you attain this half the place MeUndies explains what these totally different supply choices imply for you:
This helps the corporate make it simpler to know your choices and clearly talk when you must anticipate to obtain your objects.
Discover how the corporate goes into element and even writes down the final hour you must place your order to get your supply in time.
If you wish to inform your web site guests in an identical manner, you’ll be able to create a popup that solely exhibits in your product pages:
Utilizing a countdown timer in your popup, just like the above, can assist you create a way of urgency and enhance conversions.
5. Promote Related Merchandise
Valentine’s Day items differ from Christmas or birthday items by nature. In any case, Valentine’s Day is about love, hearts, and glitter—one thing you wouldn’t affiliate with different holidays.
When you promote merchandise round that theme, Valentine’s Day is the proper time to advertise them as best reward choices. Check out this e mail by Cotton Bureau selling its coronary heart print t-shirts for at the present time:
After that includes an unique t-shirt design for at the present time, the corporate curates its merchandise with a love theme in a single e mail:
Though their merchandise aren’t essentially Valentine’s Day materials, Cotton Bureau finds a sensible option to hyperlink the 2.
Even when your merchandise don’t affiliate with this idea, you’ll be able to nonetheless use Valentine’s Day as an excuse for product promotion, similar to Sunski does:
With this e mail, despatched round Valentine’s Day, Sunski merely leverages an affiliation, and promote its rose-colored glasses.
If you wish to promote your Valentine’s-themed or discounted merchandise in your website, you’ll be able to create a product advice popup, the place you showcase your bestsellers or high picks from the sale:
It’s a simple technique to copy, whether or not you’re operating a sale or not.
6. Provide Present Guides
If there have been ever an ideal time to information prospects with related and useful reward guides, it’s within the days main as much as Valentine’s Day.
By providing reward guides within the type of emails, popups, or touchdown pages, you’ll be able to assist your prospects make a greater shopping for determination and place your merchandise as nice reward concepts.
You possibly can take the simple street with gender-based classes or go deeper into character and pursuits. On this e mail, Huckberry does each:
The corporate sends its reward guides in a protracted e-newsletter format, the place they arrange items, first, by class after which, by gender:
With this method, the corporate makes its content material straightforward to skim by. In case your Valentine is, say, an adventurer, you’ll be able to shortly begin shopping from this class.
In case your merchandise are already concentrating on a particular passion or gender, you’ll be able to increase your reward guides even additional, as Man Crates does:
With a benefit-driven headline that reads “Get him a present that will get him,” Man Crates highlights that persons are totally different, and so are their tastes in items.
On this reward information e mail, Man Crates curates totally different reward choices primarily based on character varieties of their signature humorous tone:
When you’re inquisitive about any of those classes, you’ll be able to click on by and study extra about every product kind or go to a touchdown web page the place you’ll be able to filter and type totally different reward choices.
7. Drive Urgency
Combining scarcity-driven copy with a countdown timer is an effective way of driving urgency in last-minute patrons.
The secret’s to do that with out making folks really feel responsible. Take a look at how Man Crates does that in a enjoyable manner:
On this e mail, the model merely informs you that as we speak is the final day to ensure your Valentine’s Day supply.
Man Crates cleverly communicates urgency with humor by saying “Real love would possibly wait, however our supply crew can’t.”
Marc Jacobs, however, chooses one other option to suggest urgency with out stressing prospects out:
On this topic line, the corporate merely suggests putting your order in good time as a way to get their items by Valentine’s Day.
Once you open the e-mail, that is what you see:
An unusual promotional e mail with supply info. However once you scroll all the way down to the rest of the e-mail, you see this:
Marc Jacobs repeats their CTA with refined urgency and helps it by displaying totally different supply choices, following Technique #4.
Relatively than vaguely saying “Get it earlier than Valentine’s Day,” the corporate backs up its claims for urgency and shortage with precise supply dates.
If you wish to create the identical feeling amongst your web site guests, keep in mind so as to add an identical popup to your product pages with a countdown timer, seen supply dates, and an urgency-driven CTA.
8. Goal Final-Minute Buyers
A few of us are continual procrastinators, and purchasing for last-minute items, for a lot of, isn’t any exception.
Whereas many e-tailers chase after last-minute customers by triggering a way of guilt, there’s a simpler option to convert procrastinators into prospects.
When you can provide quick supply to last-minute prospects, you’re ten steps forward of the competitors. Violet Gray is one such model and makes use of quick supply to promote extra on Valentine’s Day:
First, the corporate targets procrastinators with a curated checklist of “last-minute magnificence items.” What’s extra, they provide in a single day and same-day transport—however solely once you spend over $150.
If you wish to get your items in time, you find yourself shopping for costlier objects. This manner, Violet Gray not solely captures last-minute customers but in addition upsells them.
Curioos chooses a special option to interact last-minute customers with out breaking the financial institution:
The corporate recommends its digital reward playing cards as a Valentine’s Day reward possibility and makes them extra enticing with a reduction. What’s extra, Curioos handles any doable objections by saying “no charges or expiration dates.”
When you’re providing reward playing cards in your website, holidays are good for concentrating on late reward customers with out hurting your earnings.
9. Redefine Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day isn’t for each model (or particular person for that matter). But, you’ll be able to nonetheless reap the benefits of this big day by redefining it on your model.
Relying on the character of your merchandise and your worth proposition, you’ll be able to take an anti-Valentine’s Day place or assist singles on at the present time together with your merchandise. Alternatively, you’ll be able to have fun a made-up vacation that matches your model.
That’s what Wool and the Gang does:
As a substitute of specializing in Valentine’s Day, the corporate celebrates Galentine’s Day on February thirteenth. In case you’re unfamiliar with the idea, Galentine’s Day is just a day the place “girls have fun girls” (created by Parks and Recreation’s Leslie Knope.)
On this e mail, Wool and the Gang humanize their model by inviting you to their Instagram web page to study in regards to the crew’s woman crushes. Subsequent, they suggest merchandise as a part of their Galentine’s reward information and take you to a devoted touchdown web page:
It’s a easy tactic that helps Wool and the Gang stand out amongst hundreds of on-line shops celebrating Valentine’s Day, and subtly promote their merchandise.
10. Recognize Your Subscribers
No matter its origins, Valentine’s Day is related to love and romance.
That being the case, Valentine’s Day is a superb alternative to indicate some like to your e mail checklist. Many on-line shops already use at the present time to understand their subscribers and subtly promote their merchandise. kikki.Okay is a type of manufacturers:
This personal-sounding topic line simply stands out in your inbox stuffed with promotional Valentine’s Day emails. Equally, the e-mail itself resembles a private Valentine’s card (or slightly, a group of Valentine’s Day playing cards):
Though kikki.Okay genuinely celebrates its subscribers, the corporate really promotes its new arrivals on this e mail:
But, they cleverly body it across the love theme.
Valentine’s theme isn’t solely nice for selling your merchandise in disguise. It might probably additionally make it easier to hold your subscribers engaged, accumulate buyer suggestions, or promote your buyer loyalty program.
Tarte chooses the final goal and sends this e mail with the topic line “An Early Valentine For You 💌”:
The e-mail efficiently evokes curiosity by imitating a mysterious love letter. Once you click on the CTA button, you discover out extra in regards to the shock of your secret admirer:
You get to study that Tarte is, considerably frustratingly, selling its rewards program with this mysterious e mail.
It’s onerous to attract a line, however be aware of the expectations you set in a lot of these emails and attempt to ship in your phrase.
11. Provide a Restricted-Version Product
This technique isn’t for everyone (and it actually isn’t a last-minute venture) however in case you have the assets to go the additional mile, it’s good for creating exclusivity and driving shortage.
Check out how BarkBox promotes its limited-edition Valentine’s Day product:
You would possibly assume that an organization promoting subscription bins with canine toys and treats can’t have a lot to do with Valentine’s Day, but, BarkBox would show you improper.
With their limited-edition Valentine’s-themed field, the corporate takes benefit of at the present time by considering exterior the field (no pun meant.)
All through the e-mail, BarkBox repeats CTAs inviting you to understand your canine by saying, “Present your canine you actually love them” and “Deal with your sweetie” as a result of should you’re a canine proprietor, it’s onerous to not act on these sentences.
It’s a intelligent (and humorous) option to tie Valentine’s Day to your merchandise with out forcing it. And it’s a great excuse to deliver again your previous stock and run a last-chance marketing campaign.
Conclusion
Whether or not you’re on the hunt for last-minute Valentine’s Day e mail concepts or in search of a high-commitment, out-of-the-box vacation advertising and marketing technique, give these techniques an opportunity.
It doesn’t matter what you’re promoting, I’m certain you’ll discover some inspiration on your subsequent Valentine’s Day marketing campaign (or any vacation, for that matter.)
