Marketing Ideas You'll Love for Valentine's Day Customer Appreciation
While corporate holiday cards send a message of holiday cheer to your customers, it’s often tough to break through the noise of such a busy season. Cue Valentine's Day. February 14 is another great option for celebrating and strengthening your business relationships. Valentine’s Day and customer appreciation go hand in hand. By recognizing your customers during this often-overlooked holiday, you can create a happier, more loyal customer base. By showing your appreciation with a Valentine's Day card, you'll gain several bonuses from this unique marketing tactic, including:
Outshining your competitors. The quieter timeframe allows you to stand out from other businesses.
Be the company who cares. What customer doesn’t appreciate a little extra love?
Plus, when you send a Hallmark greeting card, unlike other mail, it always gets opened.
Meaningful Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day Check out these four fun ways to share the love and connect with consumers:
Show your customers some love. Valentine’s Day is an ideal time to simply let your customers or clients know how much they mean to you. A quick message (“We love customers like you!”) along with a cheerful Valentine’s Day wish is an excellent way to build an authentic relationship with existing consumers and potential buyers alike.
Encourage self-care. Romance is no longer required for celebrating this holiday. Valentine’s Day’s focus has been widely reframed from a time to show love for a partner to a time to love ourselves. Reach out to customers and encourage them to indulge in something special that brings them joy – they deserve it!
Celebrate Galentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day’s popularity might be declining for romantic card sending, but its sister holiday, Galentine’s Day, is celebrated more and more each year. That’s been the case ever since Leslie Knope from “Parks and Recreation” revealed her annual tradition of getting together with her friends to celebrate strong, independent women. More than 10 years later, Galentine’s Day garners nearly the same volume of mentions on social media as Valentine’s Day. So, get in on the action by marketing Galentine’s Day instead of Valentine’s Day. It might help you stand out in a crowded market or even connect more with younger Millennial and Generation Z consumers.
Recognize the diversity of love. If your marketing honors Valentine’s Day message of love and connection, recognize that there are so many ways to love. Steer away from more traditional romantic marketing and embrace unique love — no matter what it looks like. If that doesn’t already include LGBTQ love, remedy that issue right away. But also look beyond romantic relationships to include love for family, or even jobs and hobbies. Some people’s purest and truest love is for an animal (as reflected in the explosive market for pet valentines), and that should be celebrated, too.
This Valentine’s Day try sending a simple message of appreciation to consumers. Whether it’s in the form of a greeting card, a thank-you email, or a cute text message the morning of Valentine’s Day, hearing from you could make a difference to someone who might not hear “Happy Valentine’s Day” from anyone else.
By disrupting traditional Valentine’s Day marketing to honor the consumer-brand relationship, consumers will feel more connected to your message—and therefore more inclined to listen to you and stick with you over the long term. Need some ideas of what to include in your Valentine’s Day Appreciation message? Hallmark has got you covered.
Valentine's Day Card Writing Tips
There's a fine line between a professional Valentine's Day message and one that's a little "too friendly." Follow our quick tips below to help craft the perfect Valentine's Day message for your clients.
Tie it back to customer appreciation: To make sense to the recipient, tie your Valentine’s Day card message to appreciation. It’s the most natural way to celebrate Valentine’s Day together.
Today is Valentine’s Day—a great reason for letting you know how much (COMPANY NAME) appreciates you. Enjoy the day!
Signing a professional Valentine’s Day Appreciation card: When signing your card, use a name for a more personal touch.
Just wanted to let you know how much we value you as a customer. Happy Valentine’s Day! Best, Jane Smith and your friends at XYZ Company
Include a special offer or discount: Consider including a special offer or reason to reconnect. It can remind customers how much you love their business.
You’re one special customer! That’s why we’ve included this special offer code to help you save when you shop with us this week. Happy Valentine’s Day! We look forward to seeing you soon.
Be genuine.
We love what we do because of customers like you. Wishing you a happy Valentine’s Day.
Be authentic: The easiest way to do so is with a Hallmark card!
If you’re looking for the perfect professional Valentine’s Day Appreciation card and more inspiration for what to write, Hallmark has that too. Our selection of Valentine’s cards and message starters will help you create an appropriate card to sweeten your customers’ February 14.