Valentine’s Day is the next important holiday that marketers may use to recruit new users, engage existing customers, and enhance ROI after the holidays of Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Since 2017, Valentine’s Day-related revenue has increased year-over-year. Valentine’s Day sales in 2019 were $20.7 billion, thanks to happy couples out there shopping together. In 2020, Valentine’s Day sales in the United States are expected to exceed $27.4 billion, an increase of 6.7 billion dollars over the previous year. To make the most of Valentine’s Day, use this guide to learn about digital marketing techniques and best practices, as valentines day is not just all about flowers – though they are great to give and receive.
Using Valentine’s Day as a marketing tool to increase online activity
If you have an existing audience, you may utilise Valentine’s Day to get them more involved. Using Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to increase user engagement as outlined in an essay for MarTechSeries by SaaS-based customer lifecycle management and mobile marketing business CleverTap. According to Sunil Thomas, co-founder and CEO of CleverTap, more than half of smartphone owners use their devices to purchase presents, and more than a third use them to research items and pricing and redeem discounts. When it comes to Valentine’s Day, today’s marketer must think imaginatively about how to connect their clients in ways that will provide long-term growth, greater sales and form ties that keep their mobile customers coming back. “
Identifying your ideal customer
Campaigns for Valentine’s Day may not always have to be aimed at couples. However, despite the custom, emotional consumers like to utilize the holiday to buy gifts for friends, family, and even pets. According to the National Retail Federation, approximately $1.7 billion will be spent by pet owners this year. This is wonderful news for marketers, as Valentine’s Day is a terrific opportunity to celebrate a wide spectrum of partnerships, which increases the attractiveness and increases revenue and engagement. A/B testing your ideas, coming up with new Valentine’s Day campaigns, and implementing a multi-channel approach has never been more critical than they are now.
Promoting through discounts, freebies, and other incentives is always a good idea.
Your Valentine’s Day approach should start with establishing the sorts of discounts, giveaways and promotional packages that will encourage users to sign up, participate and contribute to your bottom line. Marketers should also determine which transactions will have the most long-term impact on their business objectives. For example, marketers who want to boost app downloads might offer users special in-app prizes and discounts. Those who are already using your services on mobile web and desktop will be able to convert.
To guarantee that your clients are aware of your Valentine’s Day promotional offerings, you should employ a variety of channels. Included in this are your website’s banners and landing pages, email campaigns, and any other paid advertising you may have.
In order to get the most out of Valentine’s Day, it’s best to create ads that are in sync with the holiday’s feelings. Valentine’s Day is a great opportunity for e-commerce applications to provide two-for-one bargains and other promotional offers that cater to couples. It’s possible to make in-app purchases more beneficial to several players if you have a mobile game.
Be prepared for a flurry of last-minute shopping.
For many people, Valentine’s Day is one of the most significant days of the year, but it’s also one that’s often overlooked until the last minute. According to the results of a Think with Google research, there are two distinct types of users: “Gifts for boyfriend” surges in the first week of January, whereas “gifts for girlfriends” remain flat until the beginning of February, according to Google’s search data. Last-minute consumers can take advantage of a variety of options. One way to assist those customers who are scrambling to get their Valentine’s Day shopping done quickly is to offer discounts on expedited shipping services. Users who are pressed for time may benefit from a special landing page featuring hand-picked gift suggestions.
Your website and social media accounts should be redesigned.
If you want to get your customers in the mood for Valentine’s Day while also letting them know about your promotional offers, give your website and social media accounts Valentine’s Day makeover. This includes modifications to banners, profile images, and usernames on social networking platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Ad ideas and imagery may also be adapted to take advantage of Valentine’s Day. Colours, photos, videos, and content may all be updated in your advertisement.
Set up a landing page or microsite.
Optimizing the user’s journey may be accomplished by creating Valentine’s Day-specific landing page or microsite. This is a great chance to utilize Valentine’s Day as an occasion to distribute relevant material. Your landing page or microsite may have a variety of Valentine’s Day material, such as a guest post from a relationship expert, social media user-generated content and a curated list of your items. To advertise and handle any Valentine’s Day tournaments, you may also use these internet venues. If possible, publicise your microsite and landing page on your main website and social media platforms.
Co-marketing in which both parties work together
There may be methods to partner with other firms to promote your brands depending on the purpose of your app. Last year, KFC and the food delivery service Deliveroo collaborated on a special Valentine’s Day ad for Singaporeans. The Valentine’s Day Combo, which contained a KFC-themed engagement ring, could be purchased by customers who wanted to propose to their foodie partner. Allergy Notes on delivery boxes might be customized with a custom message for each customer.
Push alerts for Valentine’s Day should be sent in advance.
It’s a good idea to utilize push notifications to notify your users when you’ve launched a contest, competition, or Valentine’s Day discount. When it comes time to buy a gift for your significant other, this might be a nice reminder to do so. Push notifications can boost growth and engagement by as much as 88%… Users must allow push notifications for this feature to operate, although 42% of mobile users choose to receive it.
To get the most out of your Valentine’s Day push notifications, customize them and make sure they match your new look. In order to get the most out of our tutorial, you should read it thoroughly.
Email advertising
Customers and customers might receive special offers on Valentine’s Day from companies who want to show their appreciation for their loyalty. Another great way to notify your customers about your Valentine’s Day specials is through email marketing. According to a recent survey, it is essential for retaining customers to use this form of marketing: Most small and medium-sized firms use email marketing to retain customers and acquire new customers.
Email marketing relies on two key elements: a clear call to action and a customized message. The open rate of a personalized subject line can increase by up to 50%, while the open rate of a personalized call to action can increase by 2020%.
Think up some clever hashtags for Valentine’s Day!
Before you begin planning your Valentine’s Day social media efforts, you need to decide on the hashtags you will use. Campaigns and sales may be readily located in one location if you encourage your audience to use the appropriate hashtags, thus this is a smart method to market your campaign. Make a unique hashtag for your brand that is easy to remember for your followers. Users may become frustrated and disinterested if they use too many hashtags.
The power of user-created content for business expansion
Polls, prompts, and contests can be used in conjunction with Valentine’s Day marketing to boost your social media presence. Your audience’s material may be shared and a stronger community can be built via these efforts to encourage user-generated content (UGC). When Dunkin’ Donuts created a Valentine’s Day campaign, for example, they used a multi-channel approach that featured an Instagram contest, an iMessage card builder and an in-app Emoji keyboard. Users were allowed to design their own Valentine’s Day cards using the iMessage card maker, which includes a Dunkin’ Donuts sticker. A custom-made card might potentially be sent back to the sender by the recipient. Instagram users were invited to submit photos of their love tales including their favourite Dunkin’ Donuts items as part of the company’s “Dunkin’ Love” picture contest. Prizes included an annual supply of Dunkin’ Donuts, as well as $2,500 cash.
Engage influentials in joint ventures
With a successful Valentine’s Day campaign, influencer marketing may help you develop your local business, increase brand recognition, and enhance customer loyalty. 86% of marketers are working with influencers and 17% of organizations are looking to increase their influencer marketing spending. To help you reach your goals, here are some examples of how you can use an influencer’s audience.
Offering influencers free stuff is a simple yet successful strategy. This can be in exchange for the influencer agreeing to promote your product or as a gesture of goodwill in the hopes of gaining favourable publicity.
With an agreement that they share their experience on their social media platforms, you may provide influencers access to your app’s entire user experience if it has a paid premium feature. Consider rewarding a streamer with in-app cash so that they can get the most out of your mobile game. It’s even more effective if you’ve designed Valentine’s Day-themed in-app purchases to go along with it.
For those that want more control over the exposure of their product to an influencer’s audience, paid product placement may be the best alternative. Your product will be featured on an influencer’s social media platforms as a result of this deal. As a Valentine’s Day giveaway, competition, or other promotional deal, you may also utilize this sort of advertising to get the word out.
Social media is rife with giveaways and sponsored posts. Collaboration with influencers is a great way to get original material that can be shared across all of your platforms, including your website and social media. Your Instagram stories might be taken over for a day by influencers, or guest posts can appear on your site. It is possible to cooperate with an influencer to produce a lookbook of your items if you have a fashion app.
Check out our complete guide to designing event banners as well.