Marketing for Valentine’s Day

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Everyone knows that money can’t buy love; in fact the Beatles said it best in their 1964 hit.  But apparently, you can sell love, because this weekend, couples will be celebrating their love for one another by participating in the second largest shopping holiday of the year.

Owners of restaurants, candy stores, flower shops and jewelry stores do their best to make sure that consumers feel the annual urgency to win over the hearts of another, profess a newfound love, or show a long-time sweetheart that he/she still cares.  With aim as precise as cupid himself, they target hopeless romantics, bickering couples and newlyweds alike.

As a small business owner who sells products and/or services that seem to have nothing to do with love, it can be hard to keep up with the Valentine’s Day marketing of other businesses during the first two weeks of February.  The good news is, even if you don’t own a greeting card store or a lingerie shop, there are still ways to incorporate Valentine’s Day into your marketing plan and win the hearts of your customers.

Colors

Offer customers discounts on certain products and/or services if they wear the color red and/or pink during Valentine’s week or on Valentine’s Day.  You can also offer discounts on any products that are red and/or pink.

Stock-up

Even if your business doesn’t normally sell Valentines’-esque products, it couldn’t hurt to stock-up on some small, inexpensive Valentine’s Day cards and/or trinkets to post at the check-out counter.  This can come in handy for last minute shoppers and impulse buyers.

Create a Mood (from Sharon Senter, New England-based marketing consultant, speaker, writer and founder of Senter & Associates)

Even if you sell wood for a living, remember to build-in a mood of romance throughout your customers’ shopping experience. Try hanging red streamers over rafters, displaying complimentary chocolates at the counter alongside your Valentine’s Day special offer POP, or a simple Web site page boarder with connected hearts. For lucky business owners with roadside signs, try using red light bulbs and wrapping the sign with an enormous heart or cupid. Passersby will get the hint that you have some great Valentine’s Day gifts inside.

Send Your Love

Send out Valentine’s Day e-cards to your existing customers.

*Click here from some Fun Valentine’s Day related facts from the U.S. Census Bureau.