Valentine’s day is a cash cow for the greeting card, flower, candy, jewelry, and the retail gift industry. The average annual Valentine’s Day spending is $13.19 billion, with over 180 million Valentine’s Day cards exchanged annually, and 196 million roses produced for the special day (StatisticBrain). Notoriously a consumer holiday, is there any opportunity for B2B brands to have Valentine’s Day promotions?
Below we will share the pros and cons of Valentine’s Day marketing, 6 B2B Valentine’s Day marketing ideas, and a Valentine’s Day infographic.
The Pros and Cons of Valentine’s Day Marketing
Valentine’s day marketing is a given for some companies (jewelry, flowers, etc.), but perhaps not so obvious for others (B2B). Before your B2B company starts to plan your campaign, consider the following pros and cons from Micro Business Perspective.
Pros
Staying Connected: If you have an existing mailing list that customers and potential customers have opted into, you want to reach out to them often with news and offers. Valentine’s Day gives you an opportunity to reach out with an offer, even if your product or service is not a perfect match for the holiday. Valentine’s Day (or any holiday) can also be used as a reason just to check-in and say hi and wish everyone a happy holiday. Most importantly, you want to stay top of mind with your customers, so events are always a good reason to reach out, even if you’re not strictly selling.
Good Timing: Chances are if you use direct mailing/email marketing, you exhausted your mailing list leading up to the busy holiday season last November and December. After giving your list a rest in January, Valentine’s Day gives you a reason to ramp back up with an offer and recent news. As a marketer you have to look for opportunities to reach out, and with a lull between January and February, this could be a good chance.
Cons
Annoying Your Customers: While customers and potential customers may have signed up for your mailing list, you don’t want to seem like you are intruding on their inbox. Most times, customers want to hear from you when you have a relevant offer for them, rather than trying to shoehorn your business into a holiday that doesn’t make sense.
Valentine’s Day Scrooges: Given the love and romanticism tied to Valentine’s Day, many folks are turned off by it; some do not even recognize it as a “holiday.” Depending on your target market and demographics, you stand the chance of annoying your target base by trying to leverage a holiday some aren’t a “fan” of. So be careful, know what your customers want and want they are likely to react poorly to.
6 B2B Valentine’s Day Marketing Ideas
Consumer brands have the upper hand for Valentine’s Day marketing in terms of interest and relevancy. B2B brands should not force Valentine’s Day themes into their marketing materials. However, there are a few opportunities that B2B marketers can leverage for this holiday. Consider these Valentine’s Day ideas:
- Customer appreciation valentine – distribute through email or on social media outlets.
- Show love to a charity
- Give a small gift to your customers
- B2B2C Promotion – your B2B company may sell to B2C companies. Team up for a Valentine’s Day promotion.
- Show some love for your employees
- Promote reasons to love your company
Here is an example of our Valentine’s Day enewsletter from 2014:
Do you have any examples of great B2B Valentine’s Day marketing? Let us know in the comment box below. Share the love using the social bookmarking tools below!
