Why should you consider getting involved?

Last year’s spending and consumer preferences demonstrate the opportunity out there for retailers who can take advantage of Valentine’s day. Like the bigger retail holidays, Valentine’s day is also seeing a steady incline in overall spending, coupled with a consumer preference for online purchases.  

• In 2021, US shoppers spent $21.8B on gifts for Valentine’s Day  
• In the same year, 38% of Americans bought gifts online, up from 32% the previous year (2020)

So whether your offerings are very ‘V-day’ adjacent or not, there’s probably still something you can do to engage with the holiday if you choose to. If you need a little inspiration, we’ve compiled a guide to Valentine’s Day with tips on how to get involved, things to consider, and some great examples we’ve seen.

Not everyone feels the love

Before we dive in, it’s also worth remembering that not everyone appreciates Valentine’s Day for a whole host of reasons. We have seen a rising trend in retailers allowing their subscribers to opt-out of Valentine-themed communications. Whether you plan to lean heavily into the holiday in your campaigns or not, this is something that you could consider to mitigate the risk of upsetting any subscribers. Equally, if your brand and consumers are both less aligned with traditional ideas of Valentine’s day, you might consider engaging more subversively with an ‘anti-Valentines’ sentiment and approach. 

Popular sub-themes

These are some recognized themes and trends that can be explored across your channels in the build-up to Valentine’s day. 

• Traditional red, roses, and hearts imagery. Adjusting the colors and tone to the holiday is a great way to lean into Valentine’s day in your design.
• Galentines Gifting (13th February) – If the emerging trend of celebrating friendships the day before Valentine’s fits more with your brand, then ‘Galentines’ could be a great opportunity to engage.  
• Self-gifting – ‘Treat yourself’ is always a compelling message, and is nicely coupled with an appreciation campaign (examples below). 
• Significant-other gifting – This theme ties nicely with gift guides or curated offerings personalized to different gift-receiving groups. 

Other Valentine’s ideas we love

• For something more interactive, why not try creating a quiz that helps them find the right gift?
• Showing your customers how much you love them by offering early access for VIPs or double points for loyalty or referrals.  
• Leverage user-generated content (UGC) in your email touchpoints
• Tie into any SMS programs you’re running (we’ll look at these next)
• For the recipient who doesn’t want/need anything? Make sure you include gift cards.
• Create gifting buckets on-site and linking there via CTA’s in your emails
• Call out shipping cutoffs to avoid disappointment
• Call out if you offer any customization on products, like engraving or personalization  

Why not…

• Create a V Day specific hashtag (e.g. #morelove #galentines)
• Create brand stickers that can be used on social media
• Leverage user-generated content (UGC) in your cross channel touchpoints
• Encourage users to share to their feeds, perhaps with Valentine’s day themed competitions, or by offering incentives for the most likes/shares
• Retarget shoppers via Facebook and Google and adjust bidding using segments from Ometria

Check out some ideas here from Yotpo