We are t-minus 8 days away from Valentine’s Day, and marketers everywhere are trying to figure out the best way to take advantage of this highly commercialized holiday. February 14th is a huge day for online marketers pushing cards, flowers, candy, and jewelry, where competition is fierce and advertising spend starts to soar.
So what are some good ways to grab a piece of the Valentine’s Day pie? Is this purely a holiday for romantically inclined industries, or can others cash in too by planning ahead and getting creative? Below we’ve outlined a handful of simple yet effective ideas that online marketers in any industry can use to tap into this $13 billion holiday.
Create a Sense of Urgency
For whatever reason, holidays seem to bring out the procrastinator in each of us. Valentine’s Day is no different. Even though most people only have a single person to shop for, they still seem to put it off until February 13th, when all that’s left are ‘Get Well Soon’ cards and those chalky heart candies. Your goal as an online marketer is to get visitors to buy your product now, before they have a chance to procrastinate and change their minds.
An effective way to communicate a sense of urgency for your audience is to implement a countdown timer on your website like the one below. This gives visitors a great visual representation that time is running out, and they need to buy now!
Listen to Women, Focus on Men
You know what men buy A LOT of on Valentine’s Day? Chocolates and stuffed animals. You know what gifts women DID NOT report wanting? Yep, chocolates and stuffed animals. That’s according to a study by WhatsYourPrice.com, which found that there is an 86% gap in the Valentine’s Day gifts men buy versus what women actually want. Come on fellas, we can do better than that!
And so can online marketers. How? By being better listeners, of course. More specifically, by paying attention to online behavior, monitoring social media trends, and tapping into historical search data of women. Form there, you can start to build a marketing strategy around what women really want for Valentine’s Day, and marketing that strategy to men. After all, it’s men who spend over twice as much women on Valentine’s Day, and smart online marketers put their ad dollars where the money is!
Show Some Love
While you might not want to follow McDonald’s lead and let people pay with lovin’, you’ll still want to show your customers some Valentine’s Day love and offer up some free stuff. Free shipping, discount codes, and perhaps adding in an additional gift can all help boost your conversion rates and drive sales during Valentine’s Day. Just be sure to promote these deals via social media, email, and any other online channel where you target audience is likely to be.
Be a Little Sexy
According to a recent survey, 85% of both men and women reported that sex is an important part of Valentine’s Day. If you sell lingerie, you won’t have to do very much in order to capitalize on that information. However, if you’re in the business of selling something less suggestive, you’ll need to be more creative about tapping into the racy side of Valentine’s Day. Keep in mind that humor can go a long way here, and creating a silly, yet slightly sexual innuendo around your product or service can allow your brand to stand out.
Don’t Ignore the Single Folks
Yes, February 14th is a holiday for couples. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore all the single people out there who may be feeling left out this Valentine’s Day. Invite singles to spoil themselves by offering incentives and discounts on your products (see above). Create and publish some fun, tongue-in-cheek content or social media posts and inject your product or service into the “anti-Valentine’s Day” spirit.
If you do it right, you can pay both sides of the Valentine’s Day holiday and present your offering in a ways that appeal to both couples and singles.