Valentine’s Day: How to Make your Clients Fall in Love with your Agency?

Love is in the air, it’s that time of the year all over again. February 14th is a special date all around the globe, it’s an annual celebration where you get to spoil your loved ones, that special someone in your life. Is it gonna be flowers or chocolate? Perhaps a cute teddy bear may bring that smile you want from the one you love.

But lovers are not the only protagonists on this day. We’re now going to change the spotlight to another important actor: agencies. It’s a significant spending holiday for shoppers worldwide, which means there are plenty of opportunities for brands to turn people’s love letters into some big bucks. This development opens new opportunities for products and designs way beyond heart-shaped candies and teddy bears.

According to the National Research Federation (NRF), Valentine´s Day spending is on the rise, consumers spent more than $21 billion in 2021, and those are only US numbers, so planning an exciting digital marketing campaign has become crucial for brands.

Some things that need to be taken into account at the moment of planning a marketing strategy are trends. Most couples still go for a romantic dinner or celebrate at home, but the gifting ideas remain the same. Cloths, flowers, cards, and jewelry are among some of the go-to gifts people choose on this date.

Another trend that stood the test of time is who the consumers spend on when it comes to Valentine’s Day. If we take a closer look, we notice that consumers are not only buying gifts for their lovers, as a matter of fact, their family members, co-workers, friends, and pets are also on this list. This continues to open doors for established marketing agencies and newly emerged ones to expand on their customer experience and develop new customer relationships.

However, for eCommerce workers of marketing agencies, business relationships have changed forever. Due to the global pandemic, many respondents have become, more digital, more local, and more conscious of health and safety. 

This resulted in smartphone shopping reaching a historic high. Having this in mind, also considering the fact that most users use mobile devices to access social networks, making it possible to shop through this channel only to help increase online sales and have a greater inclination to shopping online.

This leads to the conclusion that a wide variety of businesses can use Valentine’s Day to their advantage and run successful digital marketing campaigns. We know it’s worth the time and effort as it’s a widely celebrated holiday and we know that social media marketing works when inspiring customers to buy, so without further ado let’s jump right into the ten marketing ideas that will prepare and promote your irresistible offer in order to make your clients fall in love with your brand.

1. Improve your form communication

It’s really annoying spending time with someone that only talks about himself, right? The same could apply when managing a website.

While your website communicates all about your product and your brand, this also leads to an opportunity to get to know your customer a little bit more. A multi-step signup form collects valuable information on new customers that are browsing your site for Valentine’s Day.

On this form, you can ask customers many sorts of things. For example, if they are browsing to buy something for themselves, or just ask if they’re shopping for a man or a woman. Once this information is gathered it can be used to target products or collections towards different kinds of clients and by doing this, marketing agencies can provide a better service and a more detailed content experience.

If a customer indicates they are buying something for themselves, enter them into a “treat yourself” automation with content that has nothing to do with Valentine’s day. If a client checks “just browsing”, direct them to the gift section. Otherwise, if the inventory is split between these two categories, then just ask a question that is product-specific.

2. Personalize experiences by celebrating

Many eCommerce marketers use forms to capture additional information about special dates occurring so that they can use for different anniversary emails, in other words, an email marketing strategy.

By collecting, for example, a customer’s wedding date, you can provide unique and specific content for brides only, as their big day approaches.

Even after marriage, this information continues to be relevant when enrolling newlyweds in email automation. Along comes the annual reminder of their anniversary present, so you can see through their purchase history in order to create product recommendations for Valentine’s Day.

 3. Bait the client with an incentive

It really isn’t that hard to convince some customers to buy your product when there is love at first sight, but sometimes it can be a bit of a challenge, a little push might be needed.

Your target audience is the one with a low average order value. This means that these customers may have browsed but not yet purchased products priced lower than your minimum. Stay side by side with these customers, offer them your services and let them know that there is enough time to place their order and receive it by Valentine’s Day, you can win their hearts by doing this, by giving away, your marketing strategy is successful and you have a satisfied client.

Consider sending an email to remind engaged customers who haven’t made the purchase yet. You could offer them free two-day or overnight shipping if you can guarantee those timelines. If you can’t guarantee to ship in time, then suggest items that don’t require shipping – like any kind of experiences such as wine tasting or a gift card might end up working as well.

4. Use testimonial strategies

Positive word of mouth is one of the best advertisements for your business and that is why social proof in your messaging is such an effective Valentine’s Day marketing strategy.

In a men’s activewear brand, they experimented with using social proof in an email they sent to customers they sent last February.

The review wasn’t written by the customer, instead, the customer’s wife wrote it. In the email, the shirt that was bought is described as “better half approved ” emphasizing that these brand customers and their significant others love their products. 

Ratings, reviews, testimonials, and other user-generated content will show your clients how irresistible you are.

5. Let them take a hint

Some people don’t know where to start looking when searching for Valentine’s Day gifts. 

Instead of pushing your client to make a purchase, try suggesting that they tell their partners exactly what they want and make it easy for them to show their love for your brand.

An example of this kind of strategy would be forwarding an email from a customer to their loved one in order to drop a hint of what gift would they like to receive on Valentine’s Day. Of course, this email would include recommendations of this brand product as gifts.

This is a very unique way to stand out among hoards of love letters in your subscriber’s inboxes. It’s also a smart way to encourage mouth-to-mouth referrals from your customers without giving discounts or any other incentives.

6. Site visitors engagement for interactive opportunities

Consider gathering more in-depth information about your clients or the people they are shopping for. Their answers will be vital.

An example of this engagement strategy would be testing browsers with a quiz about their Valentine’s Day plans. They may ask about the personality of the person they are shopping for. If we’re talking about a shoe shop, for example, this kind of information would help the customer find a proper shoe for his romantic partner as the size of foot and taste would be taken into account, knowing who is my “target” defines everything, and let us know what strategy we must use if we take into account that user and the information provided of him. Anyway, what we’re trying to say here is that quizzes are a great way for clients to interact with your brand and you can use the information that you have collected in order to send targeted messages throughout the year and help your client get what he wants on the moment. The more we get to know our client and his needs, the broader the answer we can give in order to see him satisfied and happy and ensure a new client perhaps. 

7. Winning your old customers all over again with win-back emails

This strategy applies to that customer that bought you something last February but hasn’t stayed in touch since. 

Whether they’re last-minute shoppers or have planned the holiday in advance, you can send an email to those familiar faces that bought from you the year before. You can even include a countdown timer to create a sense of urgency. Someone’s significant other who forgets important dates will be in your debt.

You can also divide past purchasers and suggest products in a similar range of prices. This method can also be applied to abandoned cart emails since you’re more likely to convince a customer who’s browsing men’s shirts to buy a pair of pants instead of a gold watch.

8. Stay loyal to your committed clients

Be sure to give your loyal customers, those who have supported you from the very beginning, access to your best deals and sales before anyone else.

This may include setting up a calendar for your committed customers that include a teaser or a preview before the sale comes out. An additional email would be a good idea, including when the sale will be, the duration, and what collections you will include.

Notify your loyal customers once the sale goes live since they’re probably the ones who are more likely to check it out.

Creating small, highly segmented lists ensures you’re giving the right people the best possible experience, those who really want to hear from you. Send them exclusively and one-of-a-kind deals to make them feel they’re your most relevant customer.

9. Seduce seasoned subscribers

When you think about the typical gifts people tend to give away on Valentine’s day usually think about flowers, chocolate, and in some cases, jewelry. But if your brand offers products that are not quite considered romantic that doesn’t mean your marketing brand has to sit the holiday out. 

Creative social media managers have found a way to link Valentine’s Day with less romantic products with great success. Inspiration takes hold for example when talking about books from a publisher with the hashtag #LoveInOtherWords. This marketing campaign celebrates the concept of love and promotes togetherness. 

Consider focusing your marketing strategy on friendship if you want to keep things platonic. Offer a gift guide to your favorite customer BFFs. Valentine’s Day has also changed and now it also targets people without a romantic partner. If your customer is a woman, try wishing them a lovely day with her friends what nowadays is called Galentine’s Day. Alternatively, if your vibe is a darker one, why not celebrate singledom? Anti-Valentine’s Day is cool too, self-love always comes first.

There are many ways to be part of the holiday in a non-traditional way. From clever product design and curation to poetic copywriting. There are no real boundaries.

Use this information gathered on Valentine’s day to set up the tone for the rest of the year 2022 by digging your customer data and using it to channel a more personal bond with him.

10.  Focus on user-generated content on social media

If you want a full display of your offer, you should use every marketing channel, emails are just not enough. It’s a good opportunity to have some fun and interact with your audience through social media platforms.

Let your customers and visitors get in on the fun through User-generated content that include the following:

• Create a hashtag and ask your followers to submit a photo with your product. Then choose a winner using an app or decide it with the number of likes that each photo takes.
• Submit a funny or cringy date story. Failed dates are super entertaining to read.
• Share your stories of love or heartbreak. Through storytelling, you create a sense of community and build a connection with your audience.
• Create Valentine´s day poll. With only a quick tap it’s amazing how your audience becomes more engaged with your content and you gain valuable insights about your customers and their needs

Continuing with a successful endeavor in social media, establishing how often you should post on social media is crucial for reaching your existing audience, advertising on key social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn extends your reach to those who are yet to follow you as a marketing brand.

Create irresistible offers to blow your competition out of the grid. That additional discount or free gift with the purchase could be enough to make you make the sale. Instagram shoppable can be a great way to improve your e-commerce sales around holidays like Valentine´s Day.

Video is becoming increasingly more popular and successful on social media. Why don’t you make a live stream on Instagram? It’s more difficult to organize but it can prove to be effective if the brand you manage wants to bring your followers a little bit closer and show them what happens behind the scene.

Another good idea to be closer to your followers is creating an interactive app or an interactive experience with your customer. They take time to develop, but customers can then use them to create something for themselves. This paired with some influencer marketing magic does wonder for brand awareness.

As mentioned before, Valentine’s day is more inclusive nowadays and as a marketing brand, you cannot forget about the fabulous singles! Love should be celebrated in all shapes and sizes, including meaningful relationships we have with others. This means that it’s a smart move to revamp and rethink your social media marketing campaigns as well!

Experimenting with taglines “ Treat yourself this Valentine’s Day” or “Delicious meals for you and your friends” can really make a difference when trying to reach single adults.

To sum up, in order to win our client’s heart, it’s important to know who we are dealing with, where does he comes from, who are the people that surround him, what does he like, the more we know, the merrier. Gathering that information is crucial in order to give a better response to him and choose the best strategy from the ones mentioned earlier. Providing a smile to our customers is all we want for Valentine’s.

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