Valentine’s Day marketing ideas for ecommerce

Valentine’s Day is big business. It can be a nice jolt to the after-holiday slump — even if hearts, cupid, and a red and pink invasion are the antithesis of your brand. 

The National Retail Federation (NRF) reports consumers plan to spend an average of $185.81 in 2024.   

Candy and flowers reign, but they’re far from the only options. So throw your hat in the ring. 

We have 10 marketing ideas to keep your Shopify store top of mind for Valentine’s Day. But first, let’s take a deeper look at why you should harness the holiday and trends for 2024.
‍

‍

Why is Valentine's Day important for ecommerce marketers?

According to the NRF report, 53% of consumers plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Most — 86% — buy for significant others. 

Others view the holiday as a time to celebrate all kinds of love. Giftees also include: 

• Relatives
• Friends
• Children’s classmates and teachers
• Co-workers
• Pets

Don’t forget about self-gifters, too. 

Microsoft detected some Valentine’s Day 2024 search trends to consider when determining your marketing: 

1. Shoppers are looking for discounts 
2. Consumers want to shop local
3. Shoppers need gift ideas

The bottom line: Leverage Valentine’s Day to reach your audience, encourage engagement, and score sales. 
‍

#1 Provide financial value to Valentine’s Day shoppers 

Deals and discounts convert shoppers to buyers any time of year. Price plays a hefty role in consumers’ purchasing decisions, with 74% of HubSpot survey respondents saying it’s a leading factor. 

Analyze your financials and calculate a Valentine’s Day promotion that won’t do damage. Evaluate the five primary promotional pricing types and pick the right fit: 

1. Discount pricing (dollar value or percentage-based)
2. Buy one get one free (BOGO) and its variations
3. Tiered discounting (buy more, save more)
4. Bundling at a discount
5. Free shipping 

Once you settle on your promotion, it’s time to let the world know about it.

Send a Valentine’s Day email or campaign

Reserve at least one February newsletter to notify subscribers about your promotion. Below is a great Valentine’s Day email marketing example from Kooky’s Kloset. (PS: Like the template? It’s available in Seguno’s Template store.)

Here’s what they get right:

• A fun email subject line (Shop your heart out)
• A unique discount code (blurred here) for better control over coupons
• Clearly stated dates for the sale
• Love-inspired products featuring crisp photography and pricing transparency
   

Magnify your promo with a popup

Nine times out of 10, shops use a popup to build their audience. Other times, they serve as megaphones for making announcements, such as: 

• Broadcasting a sale or special offer
• Alerting shoppers about Valentine’s Day shipping deadlines 
• Spotlighting a best-selling product

If you don’t want to introduce another popup, update your email popup to fit the occasion. Mia Belle Girls shows it only takes some color changes and a photo swap. The effect? You signal your brand is relevant.      

‍

Send SMS subscribers a Valentine’s Day offer 

Recognize subscribers who entrust you with their cell phone numbers. Maybe you offer a gift with purchase or exclusive discount.  

Little comes close to rousing attention like a text message notification, as 60% of consumers check alerts within one to five minutes. SMS is perfect for promoting a flash sale on limited-stock products. 

Tip: Protect margins by distributing unique discount codes versus a generic one like “VDAY2024.”

‍

#2 Lend a hand

You trust people who are willing to help, right? The same goes for brands. Use Valentine’s Day marketing to show you have your customers’ best interests in mind, and they’ll respond. 

Create a Valentine’s Day collection 

Curate a collection of products appropriate for Valentine’s Day. They can be a mix of favorites and limited-edition products.  

Make the collection accessible by prominently featuring it on your Shopify site. Add a category to the menu, as Barbury Hill does.  

Collections help in creating a sales funnel. For example, if the brand advertises its Valentine’s Day picks on social media, there’s a page waiting for anyone who clicks on the ad’s call to action (CTA). As shown below, it’s also fodder for an email marketing header category. 

Inspire shoppers with a gift guide

This next Valentine’s Day marketing idea is similar to creating a collection, with one distinction. You’re rounding up ideas by category. 

Many brands use the term “gift guide” loosely and feature an assortment of product suggestions. Categorizing products is more helpful to those struggling to find a gift.  

Potential gift guide categories include grouping products by: 

• Gender 
• Age 
• Product line
• Price 
• Best-sellers
• Bundles
• Interests
• Relationship    

Allurez’s gift guide email includes several categories to improve the shopping experience. 

Help Valentine’s Day gifts arrive on time

Customers want their special present to arrive on time. Help them succeed by determining the last day for taking orders and making it known through your marketing channels, such as email marketing and social posts. Be clear about cutoff dates if you offer expedited shipping. 

A banner at the top of your Shopify website is a fantastic place to list shipping deadlines. Online shoppers expect to find important information there, so take advantage of the placement and spur some urgency, as Milk Bar does in the example below. 

‍

Engage customers with valuable content 

Valentine’s Day is an opening to provide advice or material that will delight and benefit your audience. 

How about an educational blog post that draws on your expertise? Here are some ideas:

• Food or beverage brand: Share a Valentine’s Day recipe
• Beauty brand: Discuss 5 self-care tips
• Women’s clothing brand: Supply ideas for a Galentine’s celebration 

You could also give something for free. Loop Living offers a downloadable Valentine's Day card — an angle encouraging the reciprocity effect of supporting businesses that give.  

‍

#3 Spread the love

It’s nice to spread goodwill when you can. Why not bring some Valentine’s Day cheer?

Run a Valentine’s Day contest 

People like to win stuff, making a social media giveaway an excellent promotion. 

While contests may not directly impact your sales, they’re a great lever to pull for increasing brand awareness. One study found that an Instagram contest has the power to grow followers up to 70% faster over three months versus not running one. 

Here’s a Valentine’s Day giveaway from two beauty service brands, Beauty by Bernice and Kiki Did Thatt.  

Collaborate with one or more brands to enlarge the prize and gain further reach.
‍

Read Shopify’s how-to guide on running an Instagram giveaway.

‍

Send customers a Valentine

The thank you email typically appears in Thanksgiving messages, end-of-year lookbacks, and post-purchase automated emails. Try it out for Valentine’s Day for a change. 

Saying thanks communicates that your supporters matter. It’s a way to elicit the warm fuzzies for your brand. We like how Woolx Merino broaches the love letter. The short note and photo humanize the brand.  

‍

Reward a segment of your subscribers 

Consider that 72% of consumers say they only engage with personalized messaging. Enter email marketing and the power of segmentation.

Give your VIP customers a dose of extra love with an exclusive offer. Bringing Valentine’s Day-themed products to an upcoming popup event? Send an invite with a coupon to subscribers who live nearby.   

Get creative. You’ll find there’s an abundance of Shopify segmentation opportunities to personalize your communications.     
‍

Ramp up your Valentine’s Day promotions with Seguno

As wallets open for Valentine’s Day, wouldn’t it be nice to grab a bigger piece of consumer love this year? Improve your strategy by molding our promotional ideas for your business. 

‍Seguno can help you simplify and quicken your email marketing efforts with Valentine’s Day email templates or a four-part campaign series to elevate your email marketing strategy.  

With Seguno email marketing, you can also access our popups and forms app for creating a holiday-themed email popup or special Valentine’s announcement. 

Whatever you do, make Valentine’s Day relevant to your Shopify store. Harness creativity, marketing tools, and channels to cash in.