January 11, 2022

3 Steps to Creating an Outstanding Valentine’s Day Newsletter

Reading time about 13 min

Looking for Valentine’s Day newsletter ideas, email subject lines, and templates? We’ve got everything you need to create a Valentine’s Day newsletter campaign that’s tailored to your target audience.

Love it or hate it – Valentine’s Day is a huge revenue driver. In 2021, US consumers spent $21.8 billion on Valentine’s Day gifts. That comes out to about $165 per person! 

What will 2022 hold? Well, over three-quarters of consumers say it’s important to celebrate Valentine’s Day given the state of the pandemic. Whatever sector you’re in – B2B, B2C or nonprofit – don’t miss out on an opportunity to grow revenue with Valentine’s day email marketing. 🤑

Maybe you’re sending a Valentine’s Day newsletter with themed content to drive donations for your nonprofit. Perhaps you’re planning a massive 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. 🚀

Which Industries Should 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. The food industry serves up romantic meals. The travel industry provides intimate getaways. In short, 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.

Key Takeaway: If your product can be given as a present, it can be sold as a Valentine’s Day gift.

Can B2B businesses send Valentine’s email campaigns?

Yes! Even if you’re not a B2C offering products that fall under the gift-giving category, you too can leverage Valentine’s email marketing if you find a way to offer your customers added value.

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. 🤔

Alternative approaches to Valentine’s Day email campaigns

Maybe there’s no way you can make Valentine’s Day fit your brand or sector. Why not celebrate another holiday instead or perhaps try a different approach?

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.

How to Craft an Engaging Valentine’s Day Email Newsletter

Step 1: Planning your Valentine’s Day email

Whether you’re sending out a traditional newsletter, a series of email campaigns, or a hybrid of the two – planning your Valentine’s Day campaign is key to its success.

Once you’ve decided what your goal and approach will be this Valentine’s Day, start by coming up with a timeline for your Valentine’s Day emails.

Like with all holiday campaigns, one email is not enough. Use email automation to set up a series of email campaigns that includes special offers and coupons as well as last-minute reminders for late shoppers! Many Valentine’s Day shoppers struggle with procrastination. Your job is to make their lives easier. 🦸‍♀️

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But before you schedule your campaigns, don’t forget this critical step: segmenting your contacts.

Divide your contacts up by appropriate attributes. You can group them, for example, by gender, age, interests (and relationship status if you know it).

In general, when thinking about your target groups, don’t forget about “all the single ladies” (well, actually, about all the single people)! 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. 🛍️

5 questions to ask yourself when planning your Valentine’s Day email marketing campaign:

  1. What’s the best way to segment your contacts for the most effective holiday emails possible? (Segment offers and content by interests? By gender? By age?)
  2. Is your campaign approach inclusive? Is there anybody you’ve left out? If so, how can you fix that?
  3. How far in advance do your customers start thinking about Valentine’s Day?
  4. How will they be feeling as they shop? Inspired? Rushed? Overwhelmed? Determined?
  5. How can you send Valentine’s emails that reach all types of shoppers – both the planners and procrastinators?

Plan content according to your sector of activity

Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and build the heart of your marketing campaign – the content. There are some key differences for B2B, nonprofits and B2C here, which you’ll want to take into account. 💭

Valentine’s Day for B2B

For B2B campaigns, try building on the themes of love and gratitude to grow customer loyalty.

For example, you can plan a short series of emails thanking your customers for their loyalty and offering them a Valentine’s Day present. 💝 This present could be content exclusive to your email list, such as an e-book or an infographic.

If you don’t want to give away a freebie, your present can still add value for the customer. Can you give them resources or knowledge? Share personal recommendations with your subscribers in the context of “things you love.” For example, “Five Books We Love and Why.”

Valentine’s Day for Non-profits

Nonprofits can leverage 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 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 for B2C

In the B2C realm, this is your time to shine. Discounts or exclusive Valentine’s Day offers represent the bread and butter of your Valentine’s Day campaigns.

Something that works year after year on Valentine’s day is playing off the sense of urgency created by last minute shoppers scrambling to find gifts for their partners. While they may be cliché, “last day to order” or “last chance promos” do work well this time of year. ⏳

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 in your first campaign mailing and mention it in each subsequent one.

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 don’t require too much planning and can pay off when it comes to customer loyalty.

Step 2: Craft the best 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. Because they won’t open it. Remember – you’re not the only one sending a Valentine’s Day newsletter. 🤯

Put extra energy into your Valentine’s Day email subject line.

Before you craft an email campaign, ask yourself these questions:

  • What do your recipients love?
  • How can you deliver emotional impact into their inbox?
  • How can you thank them?

Wrap it up in a compelling subject line with a maximum of 50–60 characters.

Steal these Valentine’s Day email subject line ideas

Tips to creating an exceptional Valentine’s Day subject line:

  • Use emojis, e.g., 🥰 💋 💘 💏 💐 
  • Mention your incentive
  • Use words like “sweet,” “kiss,” and “love” in humorous, unconventional, or even hokey ways.
    • 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 …!

Take a look at this list of 100 Valentine’s Day Email Subject Lines for more ideas on how to improve your campaign’s open rates!

Step 3: Nail your Valentine’s Day email design

Try putting yourself in your subscribers’ shoes. It’s vital to look at your Valentine’s newsletter design from their point of view.

Which pictures would your audience like to see this Valentine’s Day? (Note: The question is not, which photos do you like?) Selecting newsletter images that appeal to your target audience is key! 

A perfume brand might have a lot of success with a photo of softly lit red roses. But in hipper-than-thou sectors, such as electronics or music tech, you’d be laughed out of town with that. You’d need something more cutting-edge.

Be inclusive in your use of images

When you’re choosing Valentine’s email images, remember you’ve got to do a balancing act. You want to visually speak to your specific target group but do so in as broad a way as possible. Basically, you don’t want anyone to feel excluded by your images. 😕

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. (Unless you do marketing for a dating app and can segment by dating preferences!)

What to consider when choosing design elements

In addition to making sure you choose images tailored to your audience, you need to consider other design elements. What color scheme, email font and symbols will you use? 🎨

Ask yourself: How much will your Valentine’s Day email template differ from your usual email branding? Do you want to make big changes? Or just add accent notes to your corporate identity to give it holiday flair?

What about symbols? Which will appeal to your audience? Hearts, flowers, wrapping paper, balloons, heart-shaped piñatas? Would traditional symbols resonate with your target group? Or would that seem over-the-top?

If you’re unsure how your target group will respond, play it safe. Make subtle changes and use accent elements.

Designing emails is easy with Sendinblue’s email marketing software. A free account gives full access to our ready-to-go email templates as well as our intuitive drag & drop email builder. No graphic design skills required.

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Get Inspired by These Valentine’s Day Email Examples

To help get your ideas flowing, here’s our pick of three awesome Valentine’s day emails. They were all designed by Sendinblue users. 💙

1. Free gift and express shipping from Migoals

Mi Goals does a great job here. For many, the perfect Valentine’s Day gift isn’t chocolate or roses, but free express shipping! Given how Valentine’s Day sneaks up on some people, anything you can do to make last-minute shopping easier is bound to pay off.

2. Couple’s wear from Ashanti Empress

Another smart Valentine’s Day tactic is featuring couple’s gift ideas, which is exactly what Ashanti Empress has done here. (And offering a sale for buying in pairs is even better!) Moreover, this newsletter template is eye-catching, direct, and perfectly balances the brand’s image with the Valentine’s theme. Well done, Ashanti Empress! 👏

3. Covid-safe ways to enjoy V-day from Inscripture

This newsletter from Inscripture is not your typical “Happy Valentine’s Day” email. They’re providing their subscribers with real value in the form of advice. As we said before, the pandemic has changed the way people celebrate, so Inscripture has gotten creative to help their audience stay festive and safe.

In Sum …

When it comes to Valentine’s Day email marketing, the most important takeaway is knowing your audience. 

Some people love the holiday. Others hate it. Some respond to romantic imagery. Others to compassion. Some forget about it until the day of!

It’s up to you to figure out what your audience thinks. But don’t worry, we’ll always be here to help with all things digital marketing! 🤗

And while you’re here, why not get a headstart on upcoming holiday campaigns by checking out these articles:

For more content like this, download our 2022 holiday marketing calendar! It’s full of important dates and helpful marketing tips for every month of the year ⏬

2022 Holiday Marketing Calendar
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