Just when you thought holiday marketing was over, Valentine’s Day creeps around the corner.
Whether you view it as the most romantic day of the year or a yearly Hallmark scam filled with tacky red décor, retail companies will only be seeing green. IBISWord, a market research group, predicts that Americans will spend $20.8 billion on February 14th, a 3.2 percent increase from 2012. When it comes to the people we love, we don’t pinch pennies. Even those without a significant other gather together to celebrate “Single Awareness Day” as a Valentine’s Day alternative and treat themselves to a day filled with flowers, chocolate, and a spa day.
But what if you’re not 1-800 Flowers? Can you still rake in Valentine’s Day sales?
Executing an effective email marketing campaign on Valentine’s Day takes proper planning, promotion, and an eye for creativity. Don’t falsely assume that Valentine’s Day gives you the license to overwhelm the public with frequent, annoying sales pitches. Treat your customers to a Valentine’s Day they will remember. When you add some social media to the mix, you’ve got yourself a winning marketing strategy.
Before you pull the trigger, there are a few housekeeping items to take care of to ensure your campaign runs as smooth and as efficient as possible.
Prep your email list beforehand. When a vast percentage of businesses are using email to connect with their customers on this special day, getting your message delivered to the inbox is harder than ever before. Here’s where a reputable email list cleaning and validation company comes in handy. With a proprietary software and algorithm used to validate email addresses, you can ensure, with a 95% accuracy guarantee, that all hard bounces, habitual complainers, bad email domains, spam seeds, and BOT email data are removed from your list. Having a clean, valid, and active mailing list will not only improve your sender reputation and maximize inbox delivery, but will also reduce your overall marketing costs associated with bouncing emails.
Dig Deeper: Is your Email List OK to Send to?
Offer Them an Incentive They Can’t Refuse. There is no question that your customers are going to be flooded with emails that fight for attention in the inbox. If you want to reap the benefits of marketing during Hallmark’s annual holiday, you must make an impression using an attention-grabbing subject line, an eye-catching email creative, an irresistible offer, and a well-crafted, easily navigable landing page that calls the recipient to immediate action.
Set Up a Mailing Schedule. Don’t think you can send out a deployment once and call it a day. On the opposite side of the spectrum, don’t think you can mail three times and hour and expect a bull run of responses. It’s about finding a happy medium and setting up a mailing schedule that allows for advance notice as well as proper follow up. Of course, your email marketing schedule will differ based on your business and your unique promotion. Perhaps send an introductory email to make your customers aware of your Valentine’s Day special. Then, in the final days prior the big day, it’s important to send a reminder email of a promotion they cannot turn down. When all is said and done, don’t forget to send a follow up email in an effort to generate as much customer feedback and client testimonials as you can muster. Whether it be in the form of a “thank you” email, a survey, or a simple invitation to share their thoughts, your customers will appreciate the added personal touch.
It’s time to get creative. Don’t let your email marketing efforts fall short of perfection during the 2nd largest retailing event of the year.