With it following so close after Christmas, it’s often easy to forget the significance of Valentine’s Day as a consumer holiday. All around the world, couples vie to show their love and appreciation for one another with thoughtful gifts and heartfelt gestures. It is a time not only for physical gift giving, but also for spending quality time with each other; making it a fantastic marketing opportunity for a wide range of businesses. If you’re ready to make the most of this romantic holiday, take a look at our guide for creating Valentine’s Day campaigns your customers will fall in love with!
Here are eight top tips on how to create the perfect Valentine’s Day email campaign:
1. Play on Valentine’s Day imagery
Everyone knows of the typical stereotypes when it comes to Valentine’s Day; everything is red and pink and the theme of love hearts and flowers is often overwhelming. As extreme as this may come across to some of you, it is actually majorly effective when it comes to designing eye-catching emails. One of the main purposes of your email design is to grab the attention of the reader and quickly convey your message to them. If you want to promote your business to loved-up customers, the best way of doing so is by making your designs as striking as possible and using a lot of Valentine’s Day imagery. This Pinterest board we have created contains many examples of successful Valentine’s Day email campaigns from big brands. Get inspired and try some of their techniques out in your own designs! One of the best places to start is by setting up an effective color scheme. Below are some of our most favorite colors associated with romantic designs. Simply copy the RGB color code into the color picker tool in Mail Designer 365 and you’ll be ready to go!
2. Sweeten up your subject line
A good subject line is a necessity for any successful email campaign, and Valentine’s Day is no exception! Grab the attention of customers scrolling through a mundane inbox by throwing in some topical keywords such as “romantic”, “gift ideas”, or “couples”. You can even insert some of the many love-themed emojis Apple has to offer. Here are some super sweet examples of Valentine’s Day inspired subject lines which we approved of!
3. Create a romantic gift guide
Similarly to most holidays, this is another time of the year when your customers will be going out of their way to find the perfect romantic gift for that special someone. Make your business stand out among the masses by highlighting what you have to offer and making it relevant to your customer’s needs. Does your business sell potential gifts? (e.g. jewelry, flowers, chocolates, etc.) If so, make sure you capitalize on this special day by creating a gift guide for your customers! If you give them a helpful push in your direction, you’re bound to see an increase in sales! Top tip: Make sure any images of products in your gift guide are correctly linked to the product page. This speeds up the transaction process for your customer and gives them less time to change their mind. To edit image links in Mail Designer 365, simply click on the image, go to the app sidebar and click “Edit Link and Background.”
4. Strengthen your relationship with your customers
At a time where all types of relationships are celebrated, be sure to celebrate your relationship with your customers by by showing them your appreciation. An effective way you can do this is by offering them something special. Thoughtful touches such as free gift wrapping or free shipping show your customer you care about them – something which is very important in a successful business to consumer relationship. A discount code is also a nice touch which will often guarantee a visit to your site, and multi-use coupons will keep them coming back. Of course, we don’t give to receive, but generosity often pays off! This is also a great way for businesses who aren’t necessarily involved in the consumer sector to reach out to customers. Try sending out a friendly Valentine’s Day greeting to show your customers you care. This sweet example from New Look perfectly reminds the customer that they are appreciated, and the extra 20% off is a great way to get them browsing the site!
5. Think about fonts
Fonts also play a big part in creating the perfect Valentine’s Day design. Keeping with tradition, we’ve sought out six fonts which we think are very well suited to a romantic theme. These are all available for you to try out in the Mail Designer 365 app under the webfonts section. When searching for a romantic-themed font, we find that the handwriting effect gives designs a more personal touch, perfect for that Valentine’s Day feeling. Try these font styles out for classical headlines or tempting call-to-actions.
6. Advertise potential date ideas
As mentioned earlier, Valentine’s Day isn’t solely about gift giving, so don’t worry if your business isn’t adapted for that market. If you are a service provider such as a restaurant, bar, movie theater, or travel agency, don’t miss out on your chance to advertise potential date ideas to your customers! Often, people get so caught up in planning the gift giving side of things, they may not remember to organise an activity for the big day itself. Be productive and start to give your customers inspiration early on. Whether it’s a romantic weekend away, a luxury menu, or a cosy night at the movies, you’re guaranteed to get a lot more business at this time of the year if you effectively market your services to couples. This example from Virgin Experience Days is great, as it offers customers inventive date ideas along with great deals.
7. Don’t let your customers forget!
For some of us, Valentine’s Day is one of the most important dates in our diaries which we couldn’t dream of forgetting about. However, some of us are naturally more forgetful than others, and there are plenty of individuals out there who are guilty of letting it slip their minds. Save your customers the embarrassment of a forgotten gift this year by reminding them in plenty of time about the big day. Don’t forget to also include your guaranteed last delivery dates so customers have plenty of time to get prepared and avoid any last minute hassle. They’ll definitely appreciate the friendly reminder when they’re not in the doghouse after forgetting… again!
8. Remember that love comes in all shapes and sizes
One common error made when advertising for Valentine’s Day is leaving out a massive chunk of your target audience – singles! Of course, it can be tricky to create an email campaign which successfully targets both markets, but it can be done! On the topic of inclusion, it is also important not to forget to include relevant content for relationships of all shapes and sizes. Whether that be families, LGBT couples, or simply platonic friendships, Valentine’s Day is a day for celebrating love in all forms. If you can represent this in your campaign, you’re on to a winner! We love this example from MAX & Co. “No date? No problem” promotes self love and leaves everyone feeling included!
We hope you have taken some inspiration for your email campaigns this Valentine’s Day. With a range of design tools, fonts and layout options, Mail Designer 365 is the perfect place to start creating your romantic designs!
Until next time,
Your Mail Designer 365 Team