Looking for creative Valentine’s Day newsletter ideas, email subject lines, and templates? Here’s how to create a holiday marketing campaign this V-Day that subscribers will love.
Love it or hate it — Valentine’s Day is a huge revenue driver. In 2023, US consumers planned to spend about $193 on Valentine’s Day gifts!
Maybe you’re sending a Valentine’s Day email newsletter to drive donations for your nonprofit. Perhaps you’re planning a multichannel Valentine’s Day campaign to drive sales. Or you’re a B2B looking for opportunities to stay current with your audience.
If any of these describe your situation, then you’ve come to the right place. Anyone can make this holiday work for their target group. We’re here to tell you how.
- Plan your Valentine’s Day newsletter
- Segment your Valentine’s Day campaigns
- Come up with a unique V-Day angle
- Offer a free gift
- Run Valentine’s Day promotions
- Target last-minute shoppers
- Write eye-catching Valentine’s Day email subject lines
- Be inclusive in your Valentine’s Day message
- Use a Valentine’s Day email template
- Share a couples gift guide
Who should send a Valentine’s Day newsletter?
Any kind of business can send a Valentine’s Day newsletter!
When you think of Valentine’s Day, you likely think of Hallmark cards, chocolates and candy, flowers and jewelry, etc. These industries definitely luck out when it comes to V-day.
Other industries known to profit from Valentine’s Day are those offering romantic experiences. In general, February 14th is a busy day for restaurant staff, travel agents, and hotels.
However, these traditional Valentine’s Day sectors aren’t the only ones using the holiday to drive revenue.
With the right messaging, any retail brand and ecommerce store can benefit from this gift-giving holiday.
This Oregon E-bikes campaign “matching” customers to the perfect bike is a good example.
Created with Brevo
Can B2B businesses send Valentine’s Day newsletters?
Yes! Even if you’re not a B2C offering products that fall under the gift-giving category, you too run Valentine’s email campaigns.
Remember: Valentine’s Day can be framed as a way to celebrate love in general – with family, friends, pets — you name it.
Ask yourself how your Valentine’s Day newsletter will honor companionship, loyalty, or friendship. Or use the holiday as an opportunity to talk about what you as a company love.
The key is to adopt the right tone that matches your product. What’ll work best for your customers? Being light, serious, playful or, perhaps, ironic?
Dig deep into your marketing personas this year. Ask yourself how your customers want to feel this Valentine’s Day and how you can help them get there.
Can nonprofits send Valentine’s Day newsletters?
Nonprofits can take advantage of Valentine’s Day, too! Build on the theme of gratitude and meaningful gift-giving in your Valentine’s newsletter. Share stories that highlight companionship, family and love in all its forms. Wrap up your newsletter with a strong call-to-action (CTA) for donations.
Another nonprofit email marketing idea is drafting boilerplate wishlists for your subscribers. Prompt your contacts to ask their loved ones to donate in their name this Valentine’s Day, and give them the exact words to do so.
Valentine’s Day newsletter examples, ideas, and tips
Still need inspiration for your Valentine’s Day newsletter? Read on for more Valentine’s Day email examples, ideas, and tips.
1. Plan your Valentine’s Day email campaign
Whether you’re sending out a traditional newsletter or a series of email campaigns, planning your Valentine’s Day campaign is key to its success.
First, decide what your goal and approach will be this Valentine’s Day. Then come up with a timeline for your Valentine’s Day emails.Like with many holiday campaigns, one email may not be enough. Use email automation to set up a series of campaigns. As V-Day approaches, send special offers and coupons as well as last-minute reminders for late shoppers!
2. Segment your Valentine’s Day email campaigns
Before you schedule your campaigns, don’t forget about email segmentation.
Divide your contacts up by attribute (gender, age, interests, relationship status). Even if you don’t have your contacts’ relationship status saved in your CRM, you can score points with singles by encouraging all customers to treat themselves.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself when planning your Valentine’s Day email marketing campaign:
- What’s the best way to segment your contacts for the most effective holiday marketing campaign possible?
- Is your Valentine’s Day email campaign inclusive? Is there anybody you’ve left out? If so, how can you fix that?
- How far in advance do your customers start thinking about Valentine’s Day?
- How can you send Valentine’s Day newsletters that reach all types of shoppers — both the planners and procrastinators?
3. Come up with a unique V-Day angle
This February, come up with a unique angle for your holiday email marketing strategy. Here are a couple creative ideas for your Valentine’s Day email campaigns.
- Anti-Valentine’s Day parties have become popular on both sides of the Atlantic. These less-romantic celebrations include party games such as battering Cupid-shaped piñatas and chowing down on broken heart cookies.
- Galentines’ Day is promoted as a way for women to celebrate and spend time with their female friends.
4. Offer a free gift
This February, thank loyal customers with the perfect Valentine’s Day gift. This present could be content exclusive to your email list, such as an ebook or an infographic.
If you don’t want to give away a freebie, your present can still add value for the customer. For example, share product recommendations for the “things you love.”
In this example, Mi Goals offers their subscribers a promo code and free shipping.
Created with Brevo
5. Run Valentine’s Day promotions
Put discounts and exclusive offers at the heart of your Valentine’s Day campaigns.
Or, what about doing something interactive this year? For example, you could grab their attention with a V-Day giveaway. Offer a gift card or a hot item as the prize. Encourage your recipients to enter the giveaway on social media. Then announce the winner(s) on Valentine’s Day.
You could even offer surprise consolation prizes, such as a post-Valentine’s Day discount code. Campaigns like this can help engage subscribers and create loyal customers.
This email from Elum wishes customers Happy Valentine’s Day and offers 20% off V-Day cards.
Created with Brevo
6. Target last-minute shoppers
Play off the sense of urgency for shoppers scrambling at the last minute to find gifts for their partners. On Valentine’s Day especially, “last day to order” or “last chance promos” can drive results.
Check out this last-minute campaign example from Yelp for inspiration.
7. Write eye-catching Valentine’s Day email subject lines
No matter how good your email campaign, if you don’t have a good email subject line and preview text, your contacts won’t read your email. Optimize this text to entice subscribers and improve open rates.
Here are a few tips for writing the best Valentine’s Day email subject lines:
- Use emojis in email subject lines, e.g., 🥰 💋 💘 💏 💐
- Make your Valentine’s Day offer clear
- Add Valentine’s Day wordplay and humor
- Kiss your … goodbye this Valentine’s Day
- Aren’t in love with your … ? Try … today!
- Ready for these sweet deals?
- You’ll fall head over heels for these …!
8. Be inclusive in your Valentine’s Day message
When sending a Valentine’s Day newsletter, remember you’ve got to do a balancing act. You want to speak to your specific target group. However, you don’t want anyone to feel excluded by your Valentine’s Day message.
A romantic picture of a man and woman embracing might exclude your nonheterosexual audience members, whereas a “LOVE” statue has a better chance of appealing to both your heterosexual and nonheterosexual audience members.
9. Use a Valentine’s Day email template
Make your Valentine’s Day email campaign pop. In addition to using eye-catching images, follow email design best practices.
Don’t forget to choose a fun font and V-Day-themed color scheme. Better yet, use a special Valentine’s Day newsletter template. Designing emails is easy with Brevo. Start with one of our free responsive email templates. Or build your newsletter from scratch with our intuitive Drag & Drop editor. No graphic design skills required.
Design my free Valentine’s email with Brevo >>
10. Share a couples gift guide
Another smart Valentine’s Day tactic is to share gift ideas for couples. That’s because V-Day is the perfect holiday for paired gifts and matching sets.
This campaign from Ashanti Empress is a good example.
Created with Brevo
Ready to send your Valentine’s Day newsletter?
Now you have inspiration for your next Valentine’s Day newsletter. Want more ideas to plan your holiday marketing strategy for the new year?
Download our 2024 holiday marketing calendar! It’s full of important dates and digital marketing tips for every month.
