Valentine’s Day: the most romantic day of the year. While most people are thinking about candy hearts and flower bouquets, most companies are thinking about the $23.9 billion spent by consumers on average. Valentine’s Day 2022 is expected to be a big one, with almost $2 billion more in sales compared to last year!
If you want to get in on the romance in the air, here are nine social media marketing strategies for Valentine’s Day.
1. Start early
The only way for people to take advantage of your great Valentine’s Day offers is if they know about them. Marketing is often a long-term game. You can’t just make one social media post and expect big results. You have to start early.
It’s always a good idea to start your Valentine’s Day social media campaigns well before February 14th. But of course, you don’t want to start too early either.
While there’s no “best” time to start your campaigns, most companies start scheduling Valentine’s Day social media posts around February 1st. That gives potential customers enough time to see your post, think about it, and act on it. If your company sells physical products, it’s also plenty of time for the item to be shipped to the customer before the holiday strikes.
2. Create dedicated posts
Just because people are looking to buy, it doesn’t mean you should reuse your old tried-and-true social media posts and templates. It’s time to make something new! If you really want your campaigns to stick with customers, they have to be specifically geared toward Valentine’s Day.
For example, if you want to promote your bakery, this isn’t the time to show off your chocolate cake. Make a few red-velvet cupcakes with white frosting, a little heart on top, and a pink background. There should be no doubt that your post is about Valentine’s Day.
Building social media posts from scratch isn’t for everyone. If you’re struggling to come up with dedicated social media content for Valentine’s Day, check out some online social media graphics templates for inspiration.
3. Post a Valentine’s Day gift guide
If someone is struggling to come up with a special gift for their significant other, what’s the first thing they do? They look for an online gift guide for help! Well, you can use your social media platform to give potential customers the information they’d be looking for anyway.
Posting a Valentine’s Day gift guide is a great way to list your products for potential customers. Come up with a list of your most popular products (especially if they’d make good Valentine’s Day gifts) and create a Valentine’s Day post for your followers to see.
You can also create several gift guides for different audiences. Try out various ideas, such as:
- Valentine’s Day gifts for her
- Valentine’s Day gifts for him
- Valentine’s Day gifts for friends
- Valentine’s Day gifts for family
- Valentine’s Day gifts for yourself
This is a great way to showcase your products and entice people to buy. Just make sure the gifts are actually relevant to Valentine’s Day.
4. Offer discounts, giveaways, and promotions
Everyone likes a good deal, and Valentine’s Day is no exception. If you really want to push engagement with your posts, offer discounts, giveaways, and promotions on your products or services.
These deals are especially great for potential customers who already follow you on social media and are thinking about a purchase. Since they’re already looking at your products to begin with, the deal would be enough to push them toward the “buy now” button.
Because you want to make dedicated posts for your deals (see previous tip), using Valentine’s Day promotion templates is a quick and easy way to design eye-catching posts for your promotions without needing a degree in graphic design.
5. Remember to include single customers too
Valentine’s Day isn’t for everyone. According to the National Retail Federation, 53% of people plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day. While that might be a majority, it still leaves 47% of potential customers immune to your holiday posts.
Just because Valentine’s Day is a great holiday to create special social media posts, it doesn’t mean you should pause your regular marketing campaigns. Remember, single customers exist, too!
Better yet, you can create a few social media marketing campaigns aimed at single people. At the very least, you can run a few deals that apply to everyone, regardless of relationship status.
6. Work with another company
Not every company’s products work for Valentine’s Day. If you want to double your exposure or promote items that aren’t necessarily Valentine’s-friendly, it might be a good idea to partner with another company.
Partnering with another company for a few cooperative Valentine’s Day social media posts is a great way to not only to expose your brand to customers that might not otherwise see your posts, but it can also make your products or services seem more enticing.
For example, partnering with a company that makes chocolate is a no-brainer for Valentine’s Day. People are looking for chocolate anyway, so if you can link your product with something that is desirable, you’ll be able to make more sales.
7. Get your followers involved
As the name might suggest, social media is all about being social. That means there should be a nice back-and-forth between you and your followers. The more you can get them involved, the more likely they’ll be to interact with your content (meaning they’ll buy your products).
One way to get followers involved is to post polls or contests. Polls aren’t just a fun way for people to engage with your brand online; they can also tell you a lot about your demographics. Ask questions related to Valentine’s Day, like “What are you going to buy your significant other,” followed by a list of gifts that include a few of your products.
Contests are another fun way to get your followers involved. For example, you can run a photo contest on Instagram asking for people to post their best pictures with your products. The best one can win a free or discounted product. Better yet, you can then ask to repost the picture on your account. User generated content seems more authentic to customers, which can help improve future engagement.
8. Prepare for last-minute shoppers
People like to procrastinate. And while starting your Valentine’s Day social media campaigns early is a great strategy, you also should account for those last-minute shoppers.
Last-minute shoppers are panicky. They just want to buy something quick, so they don’t mess up the holiday for their significant other. In fact, they might even buy the very first product that pops into their mind. By creating a last-minute post or gift guide scheduled to go live on February 14th, you can help all those procrastinators out there—and pick up a few sales for yourself.
9. Use each platform appropriately
The best way to maximize the effects of these various strategies is to use each social media platform appropriately. Much like Valentine’s dates are perfect matches for each other, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to social media. In general, follow these guidelines when implementing your Valentine’s Day social media strategies:
- Facebook – Here’s where you can post gift guides, lists, and plenty of text descriptions. Facebook users like to browse and share, so if you provide good information, there’s a better chance it’ll reach more potential customers. It’s also a good idea to boost some posts and utilize Facebook’s targeting strategies.
- Instagram – For Instagram, make sure your images are top-notch. Instagram is all about visuals, and if your pictures aren’t ‘gram-worthy, your customers won’t pay attention. Also, use plenty of related hashtags to get more attention from people who might not actively follow your brand.
- Twitter – It’s all about hashtags and keywords when it comes to marketing on Twitter. Since there’s no images, you have to think long and hard about your words to make sure you write something memorable, informational, and shareable. Do some research before the big day and use plenty of Valentine’s Day hashtags in all your posts to boost your reach as far as possible.
Maximize Your Valentine’s Day Social Media Strategies
Valentine’s Day is a great time of year to promote your products and services on social media. People are looking for great gifts for their significant others, so why shouldn’t they buy from you? By using these helpful strategies, you can maximize your social media campaign strategies and boost your sales this Valentine’s Day.
Use an online graphic design tool to design custom Valentine’s Day videos to really catch the consumers’ eyes and make the most of your social media marketing strategies. Remember, social media is all about catching potential customers’ eyes as they scroll quickly through their feed. Use the right apps to stand out from the competition!
