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Valentine's Day Email

Remember sharing candy-filled cards with your classmates on Valentine’s Day or finding a sweet message from a secret admirer? Those small gifts made us feel all warm and cozy inside, so it’s no wonder this holiday continues to be a big one for companies and marketers.

Consumers were expected to spend an average of $136.57 last Valentine’s Day, bringing the total spending to $18.2 billion. Just thinking about all of the chalky conversation heart candies that could be bought with that amount of money makes our mouths water. Okay, maybe not the heart candies — but definitely the chocolate.

But this heart-filled holiday is about more than spending and gift giving. It’s also the perfect time to show that special someone — like your customers — how much you care. To help you break out of the overly sweet Hallmark vibe, we’ve put together six ways to create a fun and unique Valentine’s Day email campaign your customers will love.

1 DIY Projects They’ll Adore

Give your customers a reason to break out the glue stick and glitter with an email that features some craft ideas. Everyone loves a good, easy craft they can do for fun or to give as a gift, so email them some festive ideas to get them started.

There are plenty of Valentine’s Day-inspired projects you can choose from, and extra props if you’re able to find ones that relate to your product. For example, do you sell dog products? You could send them a recipe for a dog cookie mix they can cut out into hearts. Something like that covers both the holiday and brand components.

If coming up with craft ideas isn’t really your thing, there are plenty of inspiring photos on sites like Pinterest to get the creative juices flowing. Here’s an example of one crafty campaign.

Valentine’s Day Email

2 Use a Catchy Pick Up Line

Some businesses seem to be created just for Valentine’s Day, like candy, flower, and gift shops. But don’t think they own the rights to this sweet holiday. Trust us, if this tool company can show the love, so can you.

Valentine’s Day Email

Creating a targeted, themed holiday campaign that fits your brand and customers is going to be much more engaging than a generic Valentine’s piece. Once you figure out the angle you want to take with the email, use that theme throughout — from the subject line to the email content and design.

Here are some examples of subject lines that fit the holiday and targeted audience:

  • Send a Valentine that sends a message (United Way)
  • Your furry Valentine (Austin Humane Society)
  • Movies you’ll fall in love with (Redbox)
  • Heartwarming Valentine’s crafts + free shipping (Oriental Trading Company)
  • Love your pet, love the savings. 15-40% off sitewide (Petco)
  • Love/Anti-Love Songs for Valentine’s Day + New Sheet Music this Week (Musicnotes.com)
  • For our special someone ❤️ (Dairy Queen)

And don’t forget to add some Valentine’s emojis to your subject line like ???❤️???.

3 Say the “L” Word

What better way to tell your customers you love and appreciate them than Valentine’s Day? Sure, it’s a Hallmark holiday. But take the chance to show them how much they mean to you anyway. Send a short and sweet message, like a personalized note or discount.

Take this example. It’s simple, lighthearted and gives customers what they want: a special deal. The subject line for this email — “Double the Love on Valentine’s Weekend” — fits the campaign perfectly, too.

Valentine’s Day Email

This newsletter takes that idea a step further and not only shows the company cares, but it also allows their customers to spread the love by giving them the chance to send a compliment of their own. That helps the company build engagement with its campaign and also reach more people.

Valentine’s Day Email

4 Take the Stress Out of Gifts

We always love a good gift guide, and Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to take yours to the next level. Create a theme that fits the holiday and allows you to highlight your products or services — and maybe throw in a discount to make their heart flutter.

Here are a few guide theme ideas:

  • Gifts for him/her and even kids
  • By item color
  • Years of relationship
  • Price levels

This Valentine’s gift guide is a pretty cute example of how to have fun with this holiday of love. They even include gift ideas for friends and happily single customers, which keeps from excluding anyone.

Valentine’s Day Email

5 Send a Love Note

Make it easy for your customers to get in the Valentine’s spirit by sending them a special message — and giving them the chance to share the love with those close to them. That shows you care about them and those around them, helping your email marketing message stand out from the rest.

You can create card templates they can personalize and send out. The cards don’t have to be elaborate, but offer a few different options so they can pick the one that best fits their relationship. And don’t forget to include some sort of branding element, like in this Valentine’s Day email example.

Valentine’s Day Email

6 Get a Little Silly

Valentine’s Day is the time to show your customers some love — and maybe get a little corny in the process. Instead of sending the standard “We Love You” type email, why not spice things up a bit with some fun images or a play on words? You can use emojis, photos or other graphics to get your message across:

Oh ??! ❤️’s Day is almost here! Need help finding the perfect ?? Don’t worry, be ? because we’ve got you covered!

You probably can’t get away with using emojis and puns in your regular email campaigns, so go all out with your holiday messages. It’s even better if you can incorporate your products into the content and design, like this company did with their newsletter.

Valentine’s Day Email

Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue

We’re tired of this poem — how about you? Give your customers something different to read by getting creative with your Valentine’s Day email this year. No matter your brand, there are plenty of ways to have fun with this holiday’s theme when it comes to creating an email campaign.

Even if you do decide to take the poem route, at least make it interesting like this one.

Valentine’s Day Email

What type of email campaign do you plan to send this Valentine’s Day?

By Lauren Dowdle

Lauren Dowdle is an award-winning writer and magazine editor based in Nashville, Tenn. Her decade-long writing career has covered everything from landscaping to marketing.

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