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Fall in love with these Valentine’s Day SMS campaign ideas.
Valentine’s Day, considered the most romantic day of the year, is here. And it’s the perfect opportunity for retailers to boost sales after a quiet January.
Text messaging is a great way to engage customers with your brand, given its 98% open rate. But, be mindful. Consumers will receive romantic marketing messages from all sides. So, how will your brand stand out?
We have some bright, fun ideas on doing this when sending texts.
SMS marketing considerations for Valentine’s Day.
Before we jump into our SMS marketing ideas, let’s dive into some planning considerations.
Design emotionally thoughtful campaigns.
Today, Valentine’s Day is a special day to celebrate love (romantic or otherwise) for the special people in our lives. When planning your campaign, content, and offer, remember to connect emotionally with your audience to help drive consumers through to purchase.
Plan your Valentine’s Day campaign early.
According to Google Trends, Valentine’s Day searches begin as early as the day after Christmas. In addition, Valentine’s Day searches increase between February 11 and 13, probably because last-minute lovers are scrambling to find the best deals. When planning your campaign schedule, start at the end of December to increase activity toward the end of January. Ensure your campaign also has a solid last-minute push (and easy links or guides to your best offers) until the 14th.
Include personalisation options for added value.
Add additional value to your products with special gift-wrapping or personalisation, such as the inclusion of a handwritten gift card (with a message of their choice). These small details can make a big difference to your customers and be the deciding factor in purchasing your product versus another.
Expand your customer base.
While it’s good to segment your audience and personalise offers for relevance, consider how you can also include as many audiences as possible. Valentine’s Day celebrations have gone beyond romance in recent years, and friends have also wanted to buy platonic gifts. Think about how you can change your offer or include new ones to reach a larger audience.
SMS campaign ideas for Valentine’s Day.
Let’s dive into 5 ideas for text message marketing to help you brainstorm an SMS campaign.
1. 2-for-1 deals.
Two-for-one deals can work exceptionally well for campaigns featuring services people enjoy doing together, like massages, dinner, nail appointments, etc. So offer your customers two seats for the price of one with a love-filled message. Here are a couple of templates to get you started.
2. Galentine’s Day.
As the popularity of Galentine’s Day shows, women celebrate their friendships. Think of creating a Galentine gift guide or a special discount for this audience to expand your campaign. You could also consider hosting an event or experience and sending exclusive SMS invitations to your VIP clientele.
Looking for more SMS templates and examples?
3. Discourage bad Valentine’s Day gifts.
In the above section, we saw that consumers can wait until the weekend of Valentine’s Day to buy their gifts. Consider a campaign that discourages this and encourages them to shop early.
4. Treat yourself.
While Valentine’s Day is about loving others, it can be an excellent opportunity to care for ourselves. Consider launching a campaign that focuses on self-sufficiency and encourages consumers to shop for themselves.
Put up signs in your shop or on social media, and invite customers to text your number to receive affirmations or products they will love.
5. Don’t forget non-romantic gifts.
Finally, create specialised gift guides for all the different “loves” consumers have in our lives. Include ideas for family, friends, and romantic relationships. Collection guides are simply shortcuts for those who don’t want to research or are looking for a quick last-minute value deal or buy.
Keep planning ahead.
Now that you’ve got your SMS marketing campaign sorted for Valentine’s Day, it’s time to continue planning. As we’ve outlined, you’ll want to get a head start on launching your campaigns sooner rather than later.
Start planning for other key sales dates coming this year by checking out this 2024 retail and ecommerce marketing campaign guide.