Holidays offer a great opportunity to marketing your business. With New Year’s out of the picture, it’s time to start focusing on the next opportunity on your calendar: Valentine’s Day! Valentine’s Day is a divisive holiday, with some who appreciate the time to celebrate love, while others associate it with bad memories and cheesy greeting cards. Regardless of how people feel about it, they spend a lot of money around V-Day, and they continue to spend more; it is estimated that Americans spent $1.6 billion more for Valentine’s Day in 2016 than they did in 2015. This year, your business can profit from Valentine’s Day, even if you don’t sell jewelry, chocolate, or flowers. Here are some tips for marketing your business for the holiday of love.
Pick your demographic
When you are choosing which direction to go in with your Valentine’s Day marketing efforts, it is most important to first decide who you will be targeting with this campaign. Keep in mind that you don’t have to go a traditional route to make an impact. Most advertising efforts around this holiday are targeted to men, as they are the biggest spenders when V-Day rolls around. Certainly, if you have a product that is perfect for men buying gifts for their partners, go for it. However, don’t forget about women as an option for your target demographic. Even women who are not in relationships spend money on Valentine’s Day, likely buying gifts for their friends, family, and even themselves. Single women spend about 40 dollars on V-Day, while women in relationships spend around 80 dollars. You could also try targeting parents or kids, for that matter; children often have Valentine’s Day parties at school, and may be expected to get a gift for their teachers. Think outside of the traditional V-Day demographics to find your niche. You can benefit from Valentine’s Day in a variety of ways; just have a clear idea of who your customer is before launching a campaign.
Develop the theme
When you are launching a Valentine’s Day marketing campaign, it’s important to have a clear message. For some businesses, the link to V-Day will be quite clear; for example, if you sell men’s watches, you can very easily make the connection, as watches are an excellent Valentine’s Day gift. However, if you sell something that is not as obviously associated with this holiday, you will need a clever theme and message to draw the connection. You can have an advantage over the competition if you have a unique, but clear, twist on the traditional Valentine’s Day gift. Once you have your theme, make sure you invest in branding to hang in your store, outside your front door, and around town. When people see your fun and interesting theme, they will be enticed to patronize your business.
Be original
You have seen Valentine’s Day advertising before: it’s all red with hearts. Yawn! While you certainly want to make it immediately clear that your advertising is Valentine’s Day themed, you don’t need to go all red with your campaign. You want to stick out from the crowd, as your target demographic will be exposed to countless V-Day advertisements this February. Use other colors, such as pink or purple, as your main colors as a way to stand out from the crowd. While red accents are fine to draw the connection to the holiday, don’t make it the dominant color on your signage if you really want to jump out to consumers. Additionally, avoid words and images that are too cliche. Of course, it is Valentine’s Day, so your efforts will be around the theme of love. However, you can still be original within this concept; it doesn’t have to be focused on new relationships or engagements. Instead, you can talk about different types of love, whether it is the love of a mother for a child, the love between close friends, or even love for a pet (around 20 percent of people buy Valentine’s Day presents for their pets!). You could even go in the complete opposite direction and market towards those who despise Valentine’s Day. Whatever direction you go in, make sure it is one that will make you stand out from the herd.
Strategically place your advertisements
Once you have a solid campaign in place that is targeted and original, you will want to make sure that your target audience actually sees your efforts. It’s a good idea to order several different branding solutions so you can widen the number of people who see your advertisements. Consider where your target demographic spends their money; that is where your advertisements need to be. For example, if you sell sports equipment, it is wise to hang several banners near the local stadium so fans can see your products. You should also look into any events that will enable you to reach your ideal customer. For example, if you wish to reach engaged women in their 20s, setting up a stand at a wedding expo is an excellent option for you. If you need branding solutions for one of these events, trust Impact Canopy. The right custom canopy can set you apart from the competition.
Consider cards
Even if your business has nothing to do with greeting cards, it is relatively easy to use the prevalence of Valentine’s Day cards to your advantage. This one million dollar industry can be broken into with relative ease. If you have come up with an original and interesting marketing campaign, you can use it to make V-Day cards that your customers will love. Print a few hundred cards for cents each, and see a high ROI by displaying them prominently in your store.
Incorporate it online
These days, consumers go online to research potential purchases; 72 percent of young shoppers use the internet to research a brick and mortar store before shopping in it. It is estimated that 36 cents of every dollar spent in your physical store is influenced by your digital marketing. Therefore, it is essential to have a digital presence in general, but specifically for your Valentine’s Day marketing. Incorporate your campaign into your social media accounts and website. Digital marketing provides you with a wider audience and lets you access your demographic beyond who passes by your store or advertisements. Incorporate hashtags into your physical advertisements, and encourage your customers to post pictures of their Valentine’s Day gifts online with your hashtags to promote awareness of your brand.
At Impact Canopy, we offer the branding solutions you need for your Valentine’s Day marketing campaign. Whether you are looking for custom canopies, banners, flags, inflatables, or signs, we have everything you need to market your business. Shop our selection of custom canopies and more here today!
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