How to Succeed with a Valentineâs Day Newsletter

Valentine’s Day is not only the most romantic day of the year, but also a lucrative sales opportunity. Approximately £1.6bn was spent on gifts and treats across the UK in 2016, while Americans spent $19.7bn last year. As you can see, these numbers represent a huge opportunity. The question is: how to increase sales?

This blog post contains actionable tips on how to inspire loved-up contacts with a value-packed newsletter. Put your heart in this newsletter and you’ll get the love back.

Send a Valentine’s Day newsletter regardless of your industry

Valentine’s Day Newsletter is a natural revenue-driver for many industries. Whether you sell flowers, jewelry or sweets, you’re in the luck. Basically, all you need to do is to meet the demand making sure you’ve got enough products in stock. Make sure you also send a newsletter with relevant products at the right time. You might also want to present new products to your recipients, preferably with personalized product recommendations.
However, if you happen to work in another industry, don’t despair just yet. You still have a fair shot at succeeding with a Valentine’s Day newsletter. When crafting a newsletter, it is prudent to translate your products into customers’ needs. For example, city breaks are becoming increasingly popular around Valentine’s Day. That’s great news for the tourism industry, Travel agents, booking portals and hotels can reap the fruits of Valentine’s Day. The 14th of February is a perfect opportunity to advertise romantic destinations, travel deals and accommodation.
The restaurant industry is also in the luck. After all, the way to a customer’s heart is through his stomach. Invite your contacts to a candlelight dinner in the newsletter. Present them with a special offer for couples and see your sales grow. There’s a chance that your customers would have wanted to invite their better half to a restaurant anyway. Those who weren’t planning a night out, might need a little incentive to change their plans.
If you are an e-commerce retailer, you might want to present your products in a broader context of love and companionship. Depending on the target group and product offer, you’d like to keep your newsletter copy light, serious, playful or even ironic. In addition, you should also add some Valentine’s Day deals. Don’t forget about these customers who don’t have their second half. Incentivize your customers to do something good for themselves and get brownie points from singles. By sending a gentle last minute reminder and inserting vouchers, you will be popular with all of your customers.

Even if you don’t offer your own products, you can improve customer loyalty with a Valentine’s Day newsletter. You still might want to advertise services that are valuable for your customer base. Consider sharing recipes for a romantic dinner or inspiring how to make homemade gifts for Valentine’s Day. Ask yourself what are your customers’ needs and how can you assist them.
Regardless of your industry and your product offer, there’s one thing you can be certain of. Contact segmentation will significantly increase the newsletter open rate as well as its general success. Many Valentine’s Day gifts are specifically designed for females only. Therefore, you should send tailored newsletters to your female and male audience. Men shouldn’t only get tailored product offers, but also last minute reminders, as they tend to postpone the shopping chore. Last minute product ideas will come as a salvation to many. Contact segmentation doesn’t work for gender only – try segmenting by age as well. In the ideal scenario, you should also segment your contacts according to their relationship status.

While the Valentine’s Day might be all about love and cherishing the relationship, don’t neglect the singles as they are a big target group. Run a “We Think of You” campaign or something in a similar vein. This approach works well, especially in China that has a dedicated Single’s Day on 11.11. This event is one of biggest revenue drivers in e-commerce. In 2016 Alibaba smashed its Single’s Day shopping record and noted $17.8 billion worth of gross merchandise volume. Interestingly, 82% of 11.11 sales were on mobile.

Inspiration for Valentine’s Day newsletter

The subject line is a deal breaker. It either incentivizes your contacts to open the newsletter or trash it.

Therefore, you’d like to be creative and grab attention from the very start. Remember, you won’t be the only one sending a Valentine’s Day newsletter. Before you craft a newsletter campaign, answer these questions:

What do your recipients love?

How can you pamper them?

How can you make them feel special?

Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll find it easy to come up with a subject line. As far as the length is concerned, it shouldn’t exceed 50-60 characters.
You may even want to address your recipients directly in the subject. After all, it is all about cherishing your relationship with the customer – why not greet the contact by their name? Inserting a personal offer in the subject should also work well – especially if you have a good idea what is the customer likely to buy (check their purchase history). Make them feel exclusive and special.

Valentine’s Day is associated with many symbols. Make sure they work for your advantage and set yourself apart from the competition. Feel free to use Unicode hearts (<3), if you feel that it will sit well with your target group.

Design tips for your Valentine’s Day newsletter

Changing your newsletter design especially for that date makes sense – after all, every change sparks curiosity. However, how adventurous you should get with the layout depends on your target group. If you don’t know them too well, be vary of making drastic changes.

Add classic valentine symbols such as hearts, flowers, and angels. As far as colors are concerned, pink or red is your best bet. However, you must carefully strike a balance as for many customers a blatant Valentine’s Day newsletter might be simply too much.