The end of the major holiday season—running from Thanksgiving until New Year’s day—means your small business can finally take a break from the swirl of holiday activities, sales and promotions. However, before you get too relaxed, it’s time to start your marketing preparations around the next holiday: Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s Day is big business, even for small businesses. While only about 55% of Americans celebrate the day of love, those who did celebrate last year spent an average of $146.84, according to the National Retail Federation. All told, Valentine’s Day spending hit about $19.7 billion in 2016, according to Money Magazine. That large holiday payout, however, happens rather quickly. In fact, according to Time Magazine, 60% of all Valentine’s Day spending occurs on February 14 and in the five days leading up to it.
This may be good news for you, as this means it’s not too late to create themed promotions around Valentine’s Day.
4 Valentine’s Day Marketing Tips
Get social
Valentine’s Day is a perfect hook for social media promotions that reward your customers for telling others what they love about your business. You can start with a special promotion on Facebook and Twitter that runs through Valentine’s Day. For example, you can ask your customers on social media to post or tweet their favorite service or purchased product in order to receive a special discount. Or you can hold a social media contest and ask your customers to post what they love the most about your business, services, or products. Perhaps the prize is a full year of savings on products or a free month of services. On Valentine’s Day, you can announce the winner with a photo or repost of that client’s love story about your business.
Create special discount coupons
During the month of February, you can show your customers that you care by sending out a Valentine’s Day-themed email blast which includes a special offer, such as a discount on their next purchase, 50% off a particular service during the month, or a buy-one-get-one free deal. You can include this special cupid promotion in the body of your email or attach a coupon that your clients can redeem in person or online. Since your e-blast will generally go out to existing customers or at least those who have provided you with their email addresses, you can also ask those your clients to share the deal by forwarding it to their friends.
Share the love
Along with Valentine’s Day hearts, February also marks American Heart Month. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for Americans, and the upcoming heart month encourages Americans to become more aware of eating healthy and exercising to improve cardiovascular health. Tied in to American Heart Month is the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women campaign, marked by National Wear Red Day on February 3. If your business wants to align with heart-healthy causes, you might consider holding a Valentine’s Day special event or promotion where a portion of your proceeds or sales from a particular day would be donated to your local chapter of the American Heart Association or another heart healthy charity of your choice. Even if you don’t end up raking in much money, sharing the love with a great cause is positive publicity for your small business and often leads to increased sales down the line.
Sweeten the pot
Everyone loves hearts and chocolate, and Valentine’s Day is a great excuse to give away a little of both. This type of promotion won’t cost you much and you will likely reap the rewards in higher sales as your customers will remember the sweet sentiment. Some ideas include leaving a dish of heart-shaped candies on your desk to give out to clients or keeping a stash of Hershey’s Kisses near your cash register to dole out to your retail customers. You may also want to put together bags filled with assorted pink candy. Lastly, if you can pull it together in time, pink and red personalized M&Ms with your company logo are inventive and will make a lasting impression on your clients.
