Valentine’s Day is nearly here again. Time to roll out the carpet for your next marketing campaign.
In 2020, Valentine’s Day spending was expected to reach about $27.4 billion (Statista). That’s a fairly significant jump from 2019 – a total of $6.7 billion difference. Whether it’s one of your favorite holidays or you can’t stand it, there’s no way around it. Valentine’s Day is one of the biggest spending occasions of the entire year. You don’t want to miss out.
If you’re concerned that Valentine’s Day spending might not be worthwhile this year because of the pandemic, there’s cause to reconsider. The recent MasterCard SpendingPulse report revealed that holiday sales still managed to rise 3% over 2019. If Valentine’s Day spend follows suit, we should see sales that are somewhat in line with last year.
Ready to get started planning your next campaign? Here’s what you need to know.
Marketing Beyond Couples
When it comes to Valentine’s Day, people aren’t just spending money on their significant others. Research from Finder shows us that the average amount of money spent on kids for Valentine’s Day (in 2019) is $280.07. Others spend on their friends ($208.10), family ($146.24), and even themselves ($235.56). Some people spend nearly a hundred dollars on their cats ($95.90) and dogs ($81.56).
An interesting takeaway from Finder’s latest report is that more than one in every four Americans (26.77%) plan to purchase gifts for more than one partner, with men being more likely to do so than women.
Younger Attitudes
The two youngest generations – millennials and Gen Z – are still spending money because of Valentine’s Day. They’re just doing it in different ways than what we’ve come to historically expect (e.g. jewelry, flowers, etc.).
Research from the National Retail Federation highlights some of these changing attitudes, noting that many of them are spending money on their pets and that they still have a taste for sweets. Interestingly, it notes that half of 18-24-year-olds saying they were not celebrating Valentine’s Day intended to spend money on themselves for self-care, a personal gift, or to go out with friends. If you have a lot of younger customers, these are key attitudes to keep in mind for your marketing plans.
Charity Marketing
The running throughline so far is that Valentine’s Day presents more than just an opportunity to sell things to couples. It presents an opportunity to do more than sell, period. Valentine’s Day is all about love and caring for each other (and hearts). Because of that, it’s a great reason to support a charity that represents those themes. Courtesy of Network for Good, here’s a list of charities based on heart disease and prevention.
Higher Male Spend
According to data from the National Retail Federation, men are spending more than double what women are spending for Valentine’s Day ($291.15 to $106.22). This is a useful lens through which to frame your marketing. Even if you’re selling goods/services intended for women, it’s more than likely going to be the men who respond to your marketing efforts. To note, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t cater your marketing at all to women. Results can always vary depending on your customer base.
Valentine’s Day Marketing With CoGoBuzz
With CoGoBuzz, Valentine’s Day marketing gets a whole lot easier.
Our state-of-the-art digital marketing service gets the word out on all of your latest Valentine’s Day promotions directly to mobile devices. CoGoBuzz is powered by advanced WiFi, SMS, and Email solutions that are designed from-the-ground-up to engage and retain customers on the digital level, both in-store and out. Through a one-time login (via social media, email, or phone number) to your in-store HotSpot, our service automatically produces full customer profiles for every customer.
Send automated text messages at specific times, and leverage customers who’ve enrolled in your brand new text-based loyalty program. All of your customer profiles are integrated with your favorite marketing lists, such as HubSpot, MailChimp, and Constant Contact, allowing you to segment your audiences, and send Email promotions to the customers most likely to give you their business for Valentine’s Day.
Click here to learn more about CoGoBuzz!
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Have any experience in Valentine’s Day marketing? Sound off in the comments!