Even if your product line contains nothing normally associated with traditional romantic gifts, you don’t have to sit out Valentine’s Day. The evolution of the holiday has opened new markets, and that means more marketing opportunities.
Historically, gifts of jewelry, flowers, chocolates and dinners made up the bulk of spending for Valentine’s Day, though likely we will be seeing some shifts in spending patterns for 2021. Many of the experiences that were popular in previous years, like dining out, seeing a show, or even going to a movie are still off the table in some areas or being avoided by those who remain cautious due to COVID19 concerns.
That’s good news for e-commerce because that share of the total spends that exceeded $27 billion last year can be redirected in more tangible gifts. Also given that the holiday has shifted to celebrating all forms of relationships rather than just romantic ones, there are a lot more categories for products that enter the picture.
Last year, the NRF found that even though just over half of the spending was earmarked for spouses and significant others, additional categories were gaining greater shares than before. Those include other family members, friends, classmates, teachers, coworkers, and pets.
Though this Valentine’s Day will likely look quite different from last year’s you can bet on certain categories remaining strong for Valentine’s Day spending. That likely includes friends and family members and, even more so, pets due to the fact that many people adopted new pets to keep them company under lockdown or quarantine.
Valentine’s Day Marketing Best Practices
Another bet worth taking is that e-commerce businesses that tailor their marketing for Valentine’s Day will generate more sales. To help achieve that, here’s a list of things to do to make the most of this holiday.
1. Get data-driven
Use data to guide your delivery of the right content to the right group of people, and getting it to them at the right time. It can make all the difference between an arrow that misses its mark and one shot from Cupid straight into the heart.
Google trends show that last year searches for “Valentine’s Day gift” started picking up on January 12 and peaked by February 14. However, that general trend doesn’t show exactly when your own customers are thinking about their gifts.
While manually digging through your data to find out at which point customers responded to Valentine’s Day marketing last year is a Herculean task, Remarkety takes care of all that for you. It can also identify the days and times with the best open rates and CTRs to increase your odds of making the sale this year.
Try it for free or book a demo.
2. Segment your marketing communication
Don’t push the same one-size-fits-all red hearts out to everyone. Instead to draw on the data that will inform them what type of communication will resonate with this particular customer in terms of age bracket, gift list, and budget.
Some people spend a lot more than others on this holiday. The NRF finds that total spend increases according to age groups who have more categories to buy for.
That’s why 24-34-year-olds spend more than double the amount 18-24 years olds do, and 35-44-year-olds spend more than triple. Also, men’s average spend tops $290, while women’s is just $106.22.
Bearing that in mind, you can set your messaging to highlight different recommendations and content for your customers according to your segmented lists and have Remarkety send out the appropriate message automatically.
3. Be creative in drawing a Valentine’s Day or Galentine’s Day connection
This can be a bit of a challenge if you’re stuck inside the chocolate box. However, as we’ve already established, Valentine’s Day has become an occasion to buy gifts for anyone special in one’s life, and gifts for one’s self are becoming increasingly popular.
To market the self-gift, use subject lines like “Treat yourself” or “You deserve this!” Increase the impact of those subject lines by personalizing them with the recipient’s name, something Remarkety allows you to set up in mere minutes.
Or embrace the Valentine’s Day alternative holiday by making your red-letter day the 13th rather than the 14th. That’s the date set to celebrate Galentine’s Day.
Galentine’s Day was born on the television program Parks and Recreation in 2010. It has since taken off as an annual event in real life.
Now sellers of women’s clothing, accessories, cosmetics, or even restaurants advertise to women to celebrate female friendship on this day. You, too, can enter your products into this and tap into this new holiday market either in place of or in addition to your Valentine’s Day lines.
4. Offer helpful guidance
Consider putting together Valentine’s Day-themed newsletter that can give your customers helpful tips for celebrating the holiday, particularly when the usual activities may still be off the table due to the pandemic for February 14, 2021.
Your customers may also appreciate gift guides that will help them find gift ideas quickly and easily. Gift guides can be general with categories as broad as “for him” and “for her” or be more specific to find the right gifts for recipients like teachers, siblings, parents, kids, coworkers, etc.
You can also break it up by budget with listings of gifts under $20, $30, $50, etc., depending on what your customers tend to spend on individual items. Remarkety can pull up your customer data to find average spend to be sure the big spenders get to see the higher-end items and that those on tighter budgets get a selection they can afford.
5. Take an omnichannel approach to your Valentine’s Day marketing
Don’t limit yourself to email alone, but also use SMS and ads on Facebook and Instagram to get their attention. Remarkety integrates all these to maximize your reach easily through the power of automated communication.
Try it for free or book a demo.
It’s possible to tap into the wealth of data, including the record of their purchases, how they place those purchases, what promotions they respond to, where they’re located, etc. All those data points feed into a complete view of the individual that allows you to show you understand them. On that basis, you can build customized communication that is delivered the way they prefer it, whether that is via text, email, or paid ads on social media.
