I posted this exactly a year ago but thought it was worth posting again (no, I’m not being lazy!). We just got through some major holidays but now it’s time to start over. Your first mission? You need to send your email marketing campaigns for Valentine’s Day. We’re already seeing them fly through our system. Your customers need to think about their loved ones, ones they’re hot for, and their Moms. Best of all, it’s not just for flowers, lingerie, and jewelry shops anymore.

Take it a step further and send Valentine’s Day postcards (that’s right snail mail!) in addition to email. They’re easy to create using VR and versatile, whatever your industry.  Use eye-catching images for your business or maybe even upload your artwork from your kids or nieces/nephews. People will naturally turn it over to see who sent it and read your message. And if your offer and call to action (email, call or use expiration date) are strong, then your customers and prospects will take action.

Here are just a few ideas we’ve been seeing to get you thinking about what to offer for your business.

Restaurants – You should start booking those romantic dinners now. Do you have a special prix fixe menu? Highlight it in an email.

Jewelry – Pictures work! Make sure you put them prominently in your emails to show off your jewels. If you ship products make sure you have an “order by” date so your gems get there in time. No one wants to see their valentine empty-handed.

Flowers – This is too obvious, but remember to include email marketing campaigns all the way up to and on the day, especially if your shop is open late for those procrastinators.

Spas & Salons – Start putting your offerings out on your websites and in your salons now. Gift certificates for your products and services are a no-brainer for you to be pushing for this holiday.

Wineries/Wine Shops – How about putting together gift baskets of your wines and merchandise? We’ve seen some nice red gift bags that wineries are giving for free with a card attached if their recipient’s order by a specific date.

Paper Goods and Rubber Stamps – We’ve seen email campaigns with artsy Valentine’s Day-themed papers and gift bags on sale for this holiday.

Entertainment – Send an email offering event tickets to your customer’s favorite act or concert.

Gift Baskets! – Just about anything can go into a gift basket. Make up a special Valentine’s Day gift basket and market it. We’ve seen email campaigns that highlight the obvious ones like food and wine, but if you’ve got a nice “suite” of products go for it!

Odd and very cool Valentine’s Day offerings we’ve seen –  Cooking classes, weight loss programs (ouch), plastic surgery (whoa!), Swiss Army tools, gelato shop certificates and even yoga for partners. Very creative stuff here.

Got any more ideas? Give us a comment.

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