The moon-eyed sentiments of Valentine’s Day make it hard for even the most cynical of us to avoid getting swept up in the emotion. While Valentine’s Day is certainly a recent invention, the values of love, caring and passion that it celebrates are timeless. These qualities make Valentine’s Day marketing campaigns a fun prospect that almost everyone can get behind. Encourage people to succumb to their mushiest, lovey-doviest instincts by taking these Valentine’s Day marketing ideas to heart:

Use Strong Imagery Creatively, and Rely on User-Generated Content

The good news for marketers is that Valentine’s Day offers a fairly rigid playbook. Colors of red, pink and white, and images of hearts and smooches are easy modes to work within.

These repetitive themes also readily enable out-of-the-box thinking. Say you are a local milk distributor, you can easily make “latte art” to form a strawberry milk heart in a glass of chocolate milk, and say something like “We’re milking Valentine’s Day for all we got” to create a cute, relatable post that people would love to share.

You can even ask others to participate in a user-generated content campaign with a prize to the top entry. Ask your social media followers to submit a photo of “Who do you think needs the most love this Valentine’s Day?” Or, have them submit a story of their relationship in reference to your brand values. So, a chocolate company can ask “What’s the sweetest thing your significant other has done for you?”

Responses to user generated campaigns are usually positive, especially if prizes are given away as an incentive. People also love boosting their own stories while reading and sharing others’.

Run Contests for Gifts to Give to Others

Giving away discounts, free prizes, or offering promotions on Valentine’s Day is par for the course, but many brands forget the powerful lure of generosity on this holiday. We often think of others on Valentine’s Day, after all, so tap into people’s personal sense of virtue by making your promotion something they can gift to another person.

Someone only partially inclined to seek out a prize for themselves would feel more motivated if they knew their participation could benefit someone they care about. The winner of the campaign can also supply some lovely branded content as they present their gift to their special someone.

Provide Advice, Inspiration

When sharing content for Valentine’s Day on social media, your blog, or via email, try to provide value outside your own branded offerings. Posts like “Last Minute Valentine’s Day Gift Offers,” “Eight Easy-to-Make Valentine’s Desserts” or “Best Charities to Donate to as a Valentine’s Day Gift” can draw clicks as people rush into the last minute trying to find ways to make others feel loved.

Don’t Forget the Singles

Valentine’s Day offers a powerful chance to target a niche audience: people who are single or who are plain sick of Valentine’s Day. Since this “counter-culture” aspect of the holiday is rarely catered to, some sort of “Anti Valentine’s Day” promotion like a pampering dinner for one is sure to garner attention through online media outlets and social media shares.

Just make sure to frame these “Anti” promotions or campaigns as inclusive rather than negative since you do not want to offend people who feel genuinely sentimental on the holiday.

Measuring ROI for Your Valentine’s Day Marketing Ideas

No matter what form your campaign takes, you will want to ensure that it can meet your intended performance goals. Tracking analytics and creating attribution models isn’t always easy, so you may want to look to an experienced digital marketing agency when it comes to calculating your return on investment for your campaigns.

Improve engagement on a tighter budget, and make your campaigns really work for you by relying on the expertise of our social media marketing services. Contact us to get started.