
January is over, and it’s time to plan next month’s content. But before doing so, you need to take a look at the important days in February and prepare something special for each one.
Especially, no doubt, for the 14th of February.
Alongside Christmas, Valentine’s Day is the perfect time for your marketing campaign . Love is the most universal of feelings, and people want to celebrate it. Brands tend to make the most out of this opportunity and increase their sales by getting creative.
So here are some Valentine’s marketing ideas for you to start applying:
1. Showcase love stories
Share the love. Not only will you be giving theme-related content, but you will make your audience engage and feel seen.
Encourage them on social media to tell you how they and their significant other met. Maybe even share a picture on social media and tag you. If it sounds too cheesy for you, try asking for their grandparents’ inspiring stories, some old-fashioned romantic tale wins everybody’s heart.
Making it related to your niche is a plus . Karine Charbonneau identifies herself as a vegan cupid and matchmaker. The love between vegan people is, of course, her field of action. So for Valentine’s, she will be doing a series of videos featuring inspiring vegan couples to share their stories with the world, and anyone can participate. How cool is that?
Worcester Ware , a gift store, collects Worcester love stories. Because sometimes, couples meet at a retail store, and what better way of promoting your brand than sharing those stories now!
2. Create a Contest
Many brands on social media, especially those that are just starting, feel tempted to make a giveaway because they draw a lot of attention. However, this kind of strategy doesn’t win you, loyal followers. Most of the time, it just gets you a huge amount of people looking for free stuff and nothing more.
On the other hand, the contest is great to reach new people who would want to buy your products and not just have them for free and then stop following you. There are plenty of ways to create a contest, but the main thing here is to make people truly participate.
Invite followers to post a picture of their Valentine’s with a special hashtag. That’s what Ferrero Rocher is doing with #FerreroValentineSweeps, offering the chance to win $400 and a consultation with their gifting expert.
Tyson , a food industry corporation, is hosting a chicken nugget bouquet contest. People will create their own bouquets and post them to Instagram or Twitter with the hashtags #NuggetBouquetContest and #TysonNuggetsofLove, and tag @TysonBrand for the chance to win a $5,000 grand prize and a year’s supply of nuggets.
A more classy approach is the one taken by The Youth Council of Cádiz. They organize a writing contest with prizes such as Valentine’s dinner for two.
3. Send a reminder
So, of course, it’s hard to forget about Valentine’s Day, but that’s just because brands keep reminding us of it. And if you want to take advantage of the holiday, you should be part of those brands. Depending on your niche, you might want to start earlier or later.
The Colombian Association of Flowers Exporters starts preparing in August to deliver their flowers on time across the world for Valentine’s Day. If your products are handcrafted, reminding your customers through email marketing and social media to start ordering with a few weeks of anticipation is certainly a good idea.
Send marketing emails encouraging pre-ordering and make a countdown on promotions. When they have limited time to qualify for a promotion, consumers are urged to make an instant purchase .
Fracture promotes a 25% off glass print offer that ends on the 14th of February.
But some brands like GrubHub, send last-minute emails with promo codes to save the lives of those who didn’t plan.
4. Partner with other brands
This idea works perfectly if you are doing a contest or want to offer a special combo for the occasion.
Restaurants or cake shops are go-to’s for Valentine’s Day. If you don’t offer those services or products, you may want to partner with a brand that does so, thus offering your clients an extraordinary opportunity.
Take Valentina the Swan . They sold kids’ goods and partnered with Bellestentations, a boulangerie. Now customers can purchase a tasty breakfast with a beautiful tablecloth. Plus, they celebrate family love instead of romantic love!
On the other hand, Ferrero Rocher is already a typical brand for Valentine’s, but they went even further, and partnered with a restaurant. Now they are offering a luxurious chocolate tasting and wine pairing prize package. What a beautiful combination.
5. Provide useful content

Show your customers how much you care about them. This can be done with something as simple as a thank-you email and a cherry Valentine’s Day wish. However, if you want to go the extra mile, it’s also a nice idea to give some free resources.
Helpful content is key in digital marketing for building trust with your audience. It’s a great way to attract new people and get them interested in your brand. So go ahead and give some good tips for the 14th of February! People will appreciate it.
It can be anything from what to gift to your language-lover girlfriend to a playlist for the broken-hearted or a list of romantic movies to watch with your boo.
Sortira Paris created a playlist for those who spend the day by themselves.
Gift guides are a win-win: they help your clients decide what to buy and enable you to promote products that normally would fall off the radar.
Yves Rocher , a cosmetic and beauty brand, knows that getting the perfect Valentine’s Day gift isn’t easy, so they have prepared a list for this occasion and a special 40% discount on their perfumes.
6. Offer limited-edition product
Whether you partner with another brand or not, it’s always an excellent idea to find a way to link your products and Valentine’s Day.
Plenty of brands launch special-edition products to fit the holiday. You’re thinking; my niche has nothing to do with love or romance. But now is when you get creative. It’s not necessary to sell Valentine’s cards. You might as well promote red and heart-shaped items while making messages and images that evoke love .
That’s what Chick-fil-A does. They have a heart-shaped nugget tray. It doesn’t have to be fancy to amaze someone’s partner. Food is always the best of gifts.
Lancome , though, has a very classy and romantic proposal. They launched a Valentine’s Advent Calendar. Buy it, and each day, you will find a new irresistible product of theirs. Luxurious and mysterious, it builds excitement.
And hey, if there is literally no way of making your product Valentine-related, offer a gift set of two identical or similar products, one for each. Make ads with two-for-one deals. Or a personalized product for buyers to put the name of their lover!
7. Celebrate all kinds of love
For the love of God, think about all your clients. Not everybody has a romantic partner, and that’s okay! Don’t let your customers feel left out.
Craft messages that will appeal to those people who will spend it with family or friends. You know, some buy gifts for their pets.
Have you ever heard of Galentine’s Day ? It’s a holiday made up by Leslie Knope in the series Parks and Recreations to celebrate female friendships. On the 13th of February, women get together to appreciate each other.
Plenty of brands have started implementing this holiday. Caitlyn Fryar Design launched a special edition of their products for Galentine’s Day and Valentine’s. And Lady Bird, a cake shop, promoted their presale for Valentine’s/Galentine’s.
These are modern times, my friends. Romantic love isn’t the only type of love worth celebrating anymore. With mental health awareness becoming increasingly important, self-love is also on the table now. Encourage your clients to take care of and treat themselves this holiday.
And don’t forget about diversity. Do campaigns with LGBTQ+ couples (or even throuples!).
What matters here is that you redefine what Valentine’s is for your brand.
8. Be funny
Some people have enough of all the sentimentality of Valentine’s. Be less serious about it and more fun. Laugh about the failings of dating and the heartache.
This particular date can be a bit depressing if you are feeling lonely. And as we all know, humor is the best medicine.
Swatch has funny special edition watches for everyone. As they put it on their website, this year, they celebrate the broken-hearted, so you will find watches that shout “I hate to love you” and plasters coming with the package to mend your soul.
Similarly, radio.com asks listeners to tell them what’s their favorite break-up song.
You can be funny and celebrate romance too, though. If you are as bold as SAXX , you might try posting a meme featuring your special-edition product. It will make people laugh while promoting your Valentine’s products.
Conclusion
There are plenty of awesome ideas to put into practice for Saint Valentine’s Day. And the best of all? You can combine them. Try making a contest on the worst first date story and see what happens.
Each brand redefines Valentine’s Day according to its own unique needs and target audience.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t sell chocolates; Valentine’s is the perfect opportunity for your brand to shine, so make it count and spread the love.