valentines day retail marketing ideas Archives

Need some Valentines Day Marketing Ideas?

Now that Christmas is over, the next big selling opportunity is Valentine’s Day, so get an early jump on those sales.

All the blogs, newspapers and magazines will be running Valentine’s Gift Guides, mostly aimed at the male who is assumed to have no idea what to buy the woman in his life.

Again, you are targeting the gift buyer so this is not necessary your target market, but the people buying for your target market. It is also, most of the time, the opposite sex. In other words, if you are use to selling to men, you will now be selling to women who are buying for their men.

Valentines Day Marketing Ideas for Men

Men buy more impulsively. They don’t shop around, they don’t compare prices. If they have clicked on your item, you are 95% there, all you have to do is close the sale. i.e. “I guarantee she’ll love it. Buy now and get 10% off using the coupon code VD2013.“
Men buy at the last minute. Most men are not going to think about buying a Valentine’s gift in January. They are thinking about it a few days before. Therefore, you have to be sure to let them know that you can get it to them in time for February 14th, and already gift wrapped if needed.
Men love “free” gifts. Men like feeling as if they paid one price but got something “extra” for their girlfriend/wife, even if they don’t realize the price of the “free” gift was worked into the product price. If you have anything extra you can throw in, it will probably help seal the deal.
Men like to share and make the lives of other men easier, so encourage them to tell all their male friends about your shop for the women in their lives.

Now, if you normally sell products to men, you have to change your message for women who are thinking about buying your product as a gift for the man in their life.

Valentines Day Marketing Ideas for Women

Women think they know what men want, but they really don’t. Therefore, you need testimonials and recommendations from male customers that this is a popular item that all men will love.
Women don’t buy quickly. They shop around so let them know this is the best price point, the best features, that they won’t find a better option anywhere else. In fact, encourage conversation as women like to feel the personal connection when buying.
Women want to add that sentimental message so make sure you offer personalization to your products if you can.
Women do shop early, so start targeting them NOW, before everyone else is.
Women also buy Valentine’s gifts for mothers and children, so be sure to let them know if you have products that suit these markets as well, for a one stop shopping experience.

Try your own survey. Ask the men and women in your life what influences their gift purchases and make sure to incorporate these factors into your Valentine’s Day sales pitch.

Valentines Day is a great opportunity for any online shop, so I thought I would start you off with a few interesting facts.

Valentines Day Spending Statistics

According to the National Retail Federation, last year Americans spent $18.9 billion on Valentines Day. The average person spent $142.31 with $96.63 of that on a gift for their spouse/Valentine. The leftover $45.68 was spent on other family members, friends, coworkers, pets, children’s classmates or teachers.

On average, men spend $190.53 (with $128.90 of that on his actual Valentine) and women spend $96.58, of which $62.47 was on a gift for their Valentine.

The biggest sellers will be cards, followed by flowers (mostly male buyers), candy, going out, jewelry, clothing and gift cards.

Another interesting stat to note is that the interest in the holiday drops off after the age of 44. Therefore, you might want to spend your time focusing on men, ages 18 to 44, with items in the $100 to $130 range.

Men are Searching:

Valentines Gifts for Her Bundle
Valentines Gifts for Her Basket
Valentines Gifts for Her Sexy
Valentines Gifts for Her Necklace
Valentines Gifts for Her Chocolate
Valentines Gifts for Her Clothes
Valentines Gifts for Her Jewelry

Women are Searching:

Valentines Gift for Him Sexy
Valentines Gift for Him Basket
Valentines Gift for Him Funny
Valentines Gift for Him Star Wars
Valentines Gift for Him Bracelets
Valentines Gift for Him Beer
Valentines Gift for Him Football

You can see that sexy always makes the list, as does basket. Women appear to be a little more vague about the actual type of product, while men zero in on it.

Descriptive Searches for Valentines Gifts

When trying to optimize your product listings for “Valentines gifts“, are you making sure that you are not just relying on the typical search phrases that have SO much competition? The truth is, gift buyers actually search may different ways. For example, buyers search using certain adjectives, such as:

Cute Valentines Gifts
Unique Valentines Gifts
Romantic Valentines Gifts
Cool Valentines Gifts
Creative Valentines Gifts
Personalized Valentines Gifts
Sexy Valentines Gift
Fun Valentines Gifts
Funny Valentines Gifts
Nerdy Valentines Gift
Naughty Valentines Gift
Wood Valentines Gift
Edible Valentines Gifts
Long Distance Valentines Gift
Matching Valentines Gift

Just to note, the MOST popular adjective for Valentines day gifts for him and for her on Google was “cute“.

Who People are Buying Valentines Gifts For

Buyers also search by leading OR ending with who it is for, such as:

Mens Valentines Gifts
Kids Valentines Gifts
Women’s Valentines Gifts
Boyfriend Valentines Gifts
Girlfriend Valentines Gifts
Wife Valentines Gifts
Valentines Gifts for husband
Valentines Gifts for daughter
Valentines Gifts for son
Valentines Gifts for class
Valentines Gifts for teacher
Valentines Gifts for friends

There are also a lot of searches for “new” such as “Valentines gift for new boyfriend”, new girlfriend, new relationship, new mom, new dad…

Customers also search with a specific product in mind, such as:

Valentines Gift Candle
Valentines Gift Jewelry
Valentines Gift Art
Valentines Gift Earrings
Valentines Gift Lingerie
Valentines Gift Painting

And some buyers will mix a few of these search phrases together (remember, some people enter search phrases verbally on their phones):

Romantic Valentines Day Gifts for Him

As I said, the order of the search phrase is usually interchangeable, as people will search, “Jewelry Valentine’s Gifts” and “Valentine’s Gifts Jewelry“.

There are also twice as many searches for “Valentine’s gifts for him” as there are “Valentine’s gifts for her“, meaning more women are shopping online for their Valentine than guys are.

“Personalized gifts for him” has 10 times the number of searches as “personalized gifts for her“, showing that personalization is NOT a big concern to the male shopper.

More Valentines Day Marketing Ideas

Change your shop banner and social media banners to advertise Valentines gift ideas.
Add a Valentines Gift category to your shop, and if you can specify, “Valentines Gifts for Him”, Valentines Gifts for Her”, “Valentines Gifts for Kids”, etc., even better.
Let people know the final order date in order to receive items in time for Valentine’s Day (which is a Sunday).
Offer cards and gift wrap either as a value-add or for an extra fee.
No later than January 20th, email customers Valentines Day Specials with categories such as “Gifts Under $50” “Gifts Under $25”, etc.