Valentine’s Day is only a month away. If you don’t have an e-mail marketing campaign planned for this popular holiday, today is the day to start it.
The good news is that even if you don’t know how to get a campaign started and out the proverbial door in time for Valentine’s Day — by the time you’re done reading this guide you will be able to launch a campaign that will make Cupid sit up and take notice.
 Campaigner offers a number of Valentine-themed templates you can choose from to send a thank you message to subscribers.
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Grab a pen and take notes as you read through the following 12 tips offered by Wendy Lowe, Campaigner’s director of product marketing. You can use these tips to launch your entire Valentine’s Day campaign — from start to finish — even if you have never used e-mail marketing for holiday promotions before.
1. Don’t Procrastinate: Get a Plan (today)
The first step is to compile your images and decide on special offers right away. Within a day you should be able to sketch out a campaign that will take you from today, over the holiday, and include the follow-up after February 14th.
You don’t want to overwhelm your recipients, so Lowe recommends that you run your campaign like this:
E-mail 1: Wednesday, January 20: Initial Offer
E-mail 2: Wednesday, February 3: Offer reminder
E-mail 3: Thursday, February 11: Second offer reminder (e.g. “Only 3 Days left!”)
E-mail 4: Wednesday, February 17: Thank subscribers who took advantage of the offer and extend a new offer to these loyal customers.
Remember to adjust the dates of the second and third e-mails to coincide with your last shipping day for guaranteed holiday delivery.
2. Dress for Success: Use a Valentine’s Day Theme
Use a good balance of Valentine-specific copy and imagery to put subscribers in a holiday mood. Reuse the assets on your site and landing pages to keep the same tone.
3. Segment: Marketing by Gender and the Gifts They Buy
This is a great time to try list segmentation. Separate your subscriber list by gender and send female-oriented product offers to the guys, and vice versa. Lowe cautions that you make sure the offers are still appropriate for all audiences.
4. Make Your Valentine’s Day Offer Affordable
Consumers love to buy Valentine’s Day gifts for loved ones, but remember that many are still paying off Christmas bills this time of year. Your offer should be compelling, but affordable enough to encourage subscribers to act on it.
If you measure your Valentine’s campaign success in terms of retention rather than profits, then a lower-budget offer can bring new customers, which can be just as valuable as marketing high-end gifts in February.
5. Forge a New Relationship: Partner with Complementary Companies
Add extra value to lure February love-birds by partnering with a vendor who provides services that complement your own. For example, a spa owner could work with a local florist so each of you promotes a package deal for a massage and a dozen roses. The possibilities for combining products and services are endless — and you can come up with some very creative and unique Valentine’s Day offers.
A special holiday partnership can also help grow your subscriber lists. When the combined special offer landing page is deployed on your respective Web sites, include opt-in boxes for both e-mail lists.
6. Target Valentine’s Day Customers from Last Year
Send an exclusive e-mail to customers who purchased from you last year around Valentine’s Day with an even better offer this year. If the offer is right, they will most likely buy from you again.
7. Make Offers Easy to Redeem
Make it easy to redeem your offer. For in-store redemptions include an attractive printable coupon and put your number and directions in the e-mail. For online redemption make sure the button or link stands out. The offer should be placed in the top left-hand corner of the e-mail for maximum visibility.
8. Include Customer Testimonials
People are more inclined to purchase a product or service when they know others have had a positive experience. Highlight one or two sentences from customer reviews and link to a full-length product review or case study on your site.
9. Offer Tips and Knowledge — Not Just Promotions
Help your customers by offering Valentine’s Day tips in your next newsletter. Some things you could include might be a “Top 10 Gift List” or romantic ideas that center around gifts you’re promoting.
10. Include Forward-to-a-friend Functionality
Don’t miss the opportunity to turn your customer’s friends into new customers. Encourage subscribers to forward your offer to their friends. Using an e-mail marketing service provider can help boost deliverability and ensure that your links and images stay intact when the message is passed on.
11. Promote Valentine’s Day with a Contest
Contests are another way to thank customers. Encourage customers to enter the contest online — or by ballot in store. Run a contest early on in your campaign and send those customers Valentine’s Day promotions when they opt-in to receive e-mail on the contest ballot.
12. Remember to Say Thank You
On February 14th send a greeting card to subscribers and thank them by offering a small token of appreciation — like complimentary reward points or a free Valentine’s Day gift in store.
When your Valentine’s Day campaign is complete, you can finally relax a bit. Unfortunately it will have to be a quick break as you will want to remove holiday copy and images from your site before customers return on Monday, February 15th. The last task will be to follow-up with customers who made a purchase during your V-Day campaign and send those subscribers a new appreciation offer around February 17th.
So, there you have it. Using these 12 steps as a guide, you can see how a little planning and a few great ideas can help you get a Valentine’s Day campaign out for the holiday.
Campaigner offers a free 30-day trial that includes access to Valentine-themed templates. You can also check out our How to Find an E-Mail Marketing Service Provider Buyer’s Guide for tips, advice and a vendor list to help you choose a provider.
Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.
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