Valentine's Day marketing tips to help your ecommerce store make big sales

Make hearts rain for your customers while the only thing your business sees is green – that sounds like the perfect Valentine’s Day, doesn’t it? Let us show you how to make it come true.

Happily single, ready to mingle, or contently committed - Valentine's day has become a day to celebrate love, bond, and relationships of all types. This presents an exciting opportunity for business owners to market products to a wider audience instead of sticking to lovestruck couples. Having gained popularity worldwide, the occasion is now celebrated with passionate fervor.

Apart from the obvious reasons for expressing affection towards that special someone, Valentine's Day has quickly become a part of popular culture. Add consumerism and mass advertising to the mix; you get a day where emotions and sales run high. Nowadays, celebrations start a week early, with each day given a special name - Rose Day, Propose Day, Chocolate Day, Teddy Day, Promise Day, Hug Day, and Kiss Day.

However, at the end of the day, it may come to simpler things. It's trendy, it's fun, it's flirty, and it's a day to give and receive gifts – who doesn't love that?

With the spending touching $24 billion in 2022 in the USA alone, February 14th is among the year's first big retail days where ecommerce stores see a significant jump in their sales. The day encourages gift-giving and pulling out all the stops – consumers throng the stores in huge numbers.

On average, one customer spends $170-210 on this day, and the biggest spenders are young millennials aged between 23-29. Following closely behind, Gen X and baby boomers are next in line. Interestingly, 73% of the spending is for family and friends, while an estimated $751.3 million were spent on pets.

If you cannot already guess, it's a good day for businesses and consumers alike!

If you want the pink glory and to capture the market share, here are some unique marketing ideas to try:

Romance is a big part of Valentine's Day allure, but it is not THE only part. When you are marketing, the key is also to target non-romantic relationships. Sisterhood, bromance, pet love, and love towards family are all equally precious bonds to celebrate on this day.

(Hint: Target Galentine's Day on February 13th and anti-valentine's week that starts right after February 14th)

Start by looking at the data and evaluate where the revenue is coming from based on age, gender, location, and what your customers loved last year. This data will help you customize your campaigns and curate a special look for your socials and website.

Candies and flowers remain one of the most popular choices for Valentine's Day gifts, but it's a tad cliche, don't you think?

When you think about it, what makes a gift stand out? Emotional quotient behind the gesture and the uniqueness of it – the higher these elements, the better the gift.

Personalization ensures that you have both of these on lock! There's no need to reinvent the wheel; offering products you know are well-loved will also work. It helps if you are dropping a limited-time collection with new designs, especially for V-Day, as you will be able to display it front and center and market it.

Customized wall art, greeting cards, cheesy tshirts and hoodies, beautiful phone cases, photo books, fancy drinkware, and matching sets are the big sellers on this day. If you still need to stock these, check them out here and get started!

Design and promote a tantalizing offer. Study the audience niche you are targeting, creatively design your products and come up with an offer that's hard to refuse. You can try the following:

• Create a sense of urgency by displaying inventory on the product page and using wording like "limited time," "offer until stocks last," "countdown timers," and "hurry!"

• Work on curating a helpful gift guide. Showcase how your products add value. Go with a red or pink theme and use your imagination to churn out some truly out-of-the-box ideas.

• You don't need to cut your margins to offer deals. Offering free shipping, a special coupon code, bundle deals, and basket sets go a long way in retaining old customers and making new ones. Don't forget about upselling and cross-selling, as these techniques come in handy on the big sales days.

• If you have a product that consumers can't get enough of, then you can also redesign it with Valentine's vibe.

• Use buzzwords that attract people to your website and products. Update your product descriptions to suit the day.

• Who doesn't love freebies and samples? Entice customers to make a purchase by offering them a gift with every purchase. It can be anything from a small product sample to a discount on their next purchase. Consider offering gifts that feature best-selling products and designs to maximize your profits.

You can easily capture the attention of new and old customers through newsletters and emails, provided you play your cards right. Other businesses will also be vying for your customer's time and attention. The need to stand out is now more than ever. Start hitting mailboxes early by giving them sneak peeks of what they can expect, informing them of the lineup and planned promotions, including helpful gift guides, and offering special discount codes to returning customers. Remember that you need to have a subject line that's just begging to be clicked on to increase your open rates.

The more channels you exploit, the more visibility you gain. Social media is a tool that works well to grab eyeballs. Apart from promoting your products and deals, you need to interact creatively with your audience. You definitely shouldn't focus all your energy on selling. Hold contests, feature other people on your profile, share your customer's take on your products, do giveaways, conduct polls and, ask users to share their date horror stories, create a hashtag; the sky's the limit with this one. It all boils down to how creatively you approach this day and how well you can connect with your audience. Remember to hone in on the CTA and attach relevant links to all the content that you are working so hard to generate.

Everyone loves a theme, and when your website and logo are decorated in the colors of love, it helps to cement the vibe and ensure that customers know you are all in! Don't be afraid to be corny but don't overdo it either.

Only some people get into Valentine's spirit, and that's okay. Often, consumers are focused on self-care and dating themselves, while others just cannot be bothered by the day's shenanigans. Remember to target them with the message of self-love and the fact that everyone's feelings are valid. Anti-valentine's day merchandise has been flying off the shelves, and you can capitalize on it! 

If you want inspiration, check out our bulky and quality product catalog. Among the top sellers are ceramic mugs, ready-to-hang framed art, and apparel, especially black and white t-shirts and hoodies. 

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, it's high time to get started on planning and immersing yourself in the feeling of love floating in the air! Make the most of the holiday by planning ahead and leveraging different channels. 

Show your customers how much you appreciate them with a memorable shopping experience this February 14th, and remember good things come in pairs! So bundle up your offering to make this holiday twice as nice!