Cupid is known for promoting love on Valentine’s Day, but the winged cherub is also a savvy and skilled business marketer. Valentine’s Day is second only to Christmas in terms of retail gift giving, with consumers spending 16.6 billion on greeting cards, flowers, candy, and jewelry in 2013. As a small business owner, it is time to borrow Cupid’s bow and arrow and take aim at promoting your industry. Consider these 5 small business Valentine’s Day promotion ideas.
1. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” There is nothing more romantic on Valentine’s Day than poetry, so team up with another business and host a poetry reading/contest. Present the winner with 30% off coupons at both participating businesses, or give them a gift certificate for a local restaurant. That is called paying the love forward, B2B style.
2. Did you know that roughly 196 million roses are produced for Valentine’s Day? While you can’t send roses to everyone on your mailing list, holidays are the perfect time to ramp up your direct mail campaign. Customers and businesses alike will enjoy receiving a personalized, hand-written notes on Valentine’s Day inspired stationary.
3. Valentine’s Day is about love, right? Partner up with another business and donate to
your favorite charity. Creating a good reputation for your brand is important, and the meaning behind Valentine’s Day has become lost in sea of Godiva chocolates and overpriced roses. The average consumer spent a whopping $130.97 on Valentine’s Day gifts in 2013. It is time to promote your business by giving a little of that back.
4. The word “free” makes people all warm and giddy inside, just like Valentine’s Day is supposed to do. The February holiday is the perfect occasion to give small promotional items as thank-you gifts. Pens, magnets, calendars, tote bags, t-shirts -give these tokens of appreciation to all your customers and the companies you do business with on a daily basis.
5. Show some love for social media. Use Facebook and Twitter to send 29 messages (one for every day in February) to customers and businesses. Whether it is a customer service promise or just a quick measure of affection to the people you do business with, a 140-character tweet is the modern equivalent of sending a Valentine.
To find more inspiration for small business Valentine’s Day promotion ideas, check out PaperDirect.
