Make the Most of Your Valentine’s Day Email: Tips to Increase Your Email Marketing Profits

Valentine's Day Email Campaign illustration with a hand holding a tiny heart

Valentine’s Day email is an excellent opportunity to connect and deepen the bond with your subscribers, but also the chance to get a share of that holiday revenue. 

You want to celebrate love with your subscribers, so you decide to add a little emoji, a red heart, at the bottom of your newsletter for flair. And you feel you’ve done it right while you wait for excellent results to pour in.

Your subscribers will likely act when you send solid email content related to the occasion. Whether it’s discounts or gift ideas, what’s better than showering gratitude and love on this special day?

So, you will need to know the ins and outs of setting the right tone, approach, and strategies for Valentine’s to increase your email sales and revenue.

That’s why we’re here — to show you email marketing ideas and give you the best guide on how to write Valentine’s Day email copy. 



Valentine’s Day Email Marketing: 6 Tips for Higher Email Open Rates

As the day of love draws closer, your customers are figuring out the perfect gifts to buy for the special day. This means your competitors tirelessly fight for space in your customers’ inboxes. So, how do you beat the inbox clutter and reach your potential buyers? You can start with an emotional hook in your emails and follow these 6 tips to build a Valentine’s Day email campaign.


Tip #1: Segment Your List by Gender

Men and women have different shopping habits, and segmenting your audience is crucial to gathering relevant data — on average, men spend twice as much as women on Valentine’s. This is an excellent opportunity to target by gender and marital status; most often, unmarried couples are more willing to spend on gifts than their married counterparts.

For hyper-targeted emails, you can further employ market segmentation strategies, for example, ‘gifts for her’ ideas for your male target audiences and vice versa. You can also segment your audiences based on age, salary, and general needs for a more round-up approach.

Remember, people care and shower love on their pets, too — they spend $26 on their pets on Valentine’s Day, on average. Sending gift ideas for pets, friends, and family can maximize your sales.

Tip #2: Send the First Email Campaign Before D-Day

Everybody needs a little reminder occasionally, so don’t think twice about sending a preview of your upcoming Heart’s Day campaign. For subscribers who are already looking for gift ideas, you can make their day more special by sending them last-minute ideas and tips. 

Do they want to relax at home? Are they looking to surprise their loved ones with music? You can set expectations for it way ahead — introduce your product or service in a way that adds value and provides a solution. 

For example, TV show recommendations, skincare kits, basic self-care packages, or other personalized gift guides

Here are more ways to inspire your subscribers’ Valentine’s:

  • DIY inspiration: Share do-it-yourself ideas related to your products and services. Get creative with a detailed handmade gift guide to make the occasion more memorable.
  • Virtual events and experiences: Hold a virtual event that aligns with the spirit of St.Valentine’s. It could be a webinar, a Q&A session with an expert, or a live stream.
  • Contests and giveaways: Create a sense of excitement with attractive offers and prizes. Promote your content on social media and ads to encourage more participation.
  • Interactive content: Use visually appealing images, GIFs, videos, or even AR content if it suits your products or services.
  • User-generated content: For those subscribers who don’t know how to spend their day, you can add joy with UGC content — send them examples of how other users have creatively used your products.

Experiment with your love holiday teasers and see what resonates with your audience. This will give you ideas to focus on for your future campaigns.

Tip #3: Tell a Love Story

What better way to tell a love story than through your Valentine’s Day Email campaign? You can tell your subscribers about your love for your brand and how your journey started. 

Or you could tell them:

  • A personal story from your life (if you’re comfortable sharing),
  • Things you love about your subscribers,
  • How Cupid’s Day came to importance,
  • Short stories of how your product has helped make people’s lives better.

Ensure your subject lines carry a sneak peek of your story, instilling curiosity and engagement. 

Tip #4: Make a Promise and Deliver It 

Most people don’t start shopping until the last minute and need the reassurance of quick product delivery. If you say your products will reach shoppers before February 14th, keep the promise. 

Ensure you prioritize this aspect and mention it in:

  1. Your subject line,
  2. Email header,
  3. In the footer, if it makes sense.

The more times you mention your promise, the better the chances your prospect will believe you and take action. 

Tip #5: Utilize Wish Lists and Gift Guides

The hype before Valentine’s Day could be your chance to drop hints to your subscribers. Include gift guides and wish list options in your pre-holiday emails. This will give your subscribers more room to explore options and ensure they don’t wander off to your competitor’s site.

Here are 4 ways to make subscribers stay with you:

  1. Curate themed gift ideas: Create themed gift ideas such as ”Gifts for Her”, “Romantic Gifts,” or “Last-minute Gifts.” Make it easy for your subscribers to navigate around your site and find the needed items.
  2. Encourage them to create wish lists: Incentivize customers to create wish lists and share them with their friends and family. Provide exclusive access to get them to spread the word.
  3. Include gift finder tools: Gift finder tools help your subscribers effortlessly purchase the right gift for their loved ones. Add these to your email campaigns or your website for people to explore options.
  4. Highlight top picks: Include your best-selling products with customer reviews and testimonials to emphasize your product value.

You can also use dynamic email content and send personalized recommendations based on customers’ previous purchase history, wish lists, or browsing history.

Tip #6: Remember Those Not in a Relationship, Too

14 of February is about people celebrating with their special one. But what about the ones who are not in a relationship? You don’t want them to feel ignored and excluded. 

Send out an email campaign encouraging subscribers to get something for themselves. It can be self-care kits, journaling kits, personal development courses, art supplies, books, a meditation app subscription, or a spa day at home. This can make them feel special on this holiday and help them remember your brand as being inclusive. 

We hope you’re not feeling overwhelmed with these love-filled tips. We have more ideas to make this exclusive day even better for you.

Love-Themed Email Ideas

In many countries, especially the United States, celebrations begin a week before February 14 with Rose Day, Propose Day, Chocolate Day, and so on. Harness this opportunity to create reminders leading up to the main day using the following elements in your emails:

Element/Aspect Ideas
Interactive elementsInclude quizzes, polls, or games to make your emails more engaging.
Count-down timersCreate urgency through count-down timers for special deals and offers.
Mystery promotionRun a secret admirer campaign where subscribers can interact with your email elements similar to the secret admirer scenario.
Love story narrativeCraft compelling love stories between your products or services. 
Augmented reality experienceInclude an AR feature where subscribers can virtually try out your products.
Exclusive VIP accessOffer special access to early bird offers to make your customers feel valued and appreciated.
Valentine’s Day email campaign ideas

Include social sharing buttons in your emails and encourage subscribers to share their stories on social media. And use content highlights in your email campaigns to entice readers to buy your products or services.


What to Include in Your Valentine’s Day Email Campaigns?

St. Valentine’s Day greetings are common; every brand sends one to their customers. But to create an impact, adapt a unique approach to your email marketing with these content highlights.

Email Type Subject Line Content Highlights
General promotions“Love is in the cart! Valentine’s Day specials”Include limited-time offers to create urgency and showcase relevant and curated products.
Gift guideGift GuideCreate categories such as ”For him”, “For her”, or “Under $50” to maximize sales.
Last-minute deals“Shop the best-selling for your loved ones – last chance for delivery”Highlight quick shopping options and put together popular last-minute gifts.
Exclusive preview “Sneak peek into our Valentine’s collection”Offer early access to products for loyal customers. Create a sense of urgency with a countdown timer.
Bundle offers“Love bundles they can’t resist”Group similar and useful products and mention the savings customers get when they purchase the bundle.
Personalized picks“Be Our Valentine: personalized picks for your loved ones”Customize products by offering engraving options or adding custom messages to products.
E-commerce Valentine’s Day Email Campaign Ideas

While you may have a great campaign idea, nobody ever engages with a poorly written email. Writing a persuasive email is an art; these emails usually follow copywriting principles.


Valentine’s Day Email Copywriting Best Practices

Show appreciation for your customers — express gratitude and demonstrate how your brand can help them. Adapt a compelling narrative and use these copywriting best practices for higher email open rates and conversions.

A charming email should contain the following elements: 

  • Valentine’s Day Subject Lines: Your subject lines are the first thing people notice, so it’s important to get them right. We have a detailed guide on Valentine’s Day Email subject lines to give you some inspiration and help you boost sales. 
  • Set the tone with a warm greeting: Use a warm greeting to make your subscribers feel valued. For example, ”We love our weekly email audience.”
  • Establish a connection: Share a story related to Valentine’s Day. Use customer stories to evoke an emotion in your audience.
  • Feature thoughtful gift ideas: Guide your subscribers to the “Lovable gift idea” category for more sales. For example, “Discover the perfect gifts that say ‘I love you’.”
  • Highlight Valentine’s Day offers: Mention your offers, promotions, and deals at the top of your email. 
  • Create urgency: Use urgency to get people to act quickly. For instance, “Hurry up, our Valentine’s Day offer ends today. Get 10% off on all purchases before 11 pm”.
  • Include reviews: Build trust through customer testimonials — for example, “Read what 500 happy customers have to say about our products.”
  • Use a compelling CTA: Use a CTA that states your product benefits or leads the customer to a gift section. For example, “Find the perfect gift for your loved ones.”

What goes hand in hand with email copywriting is your email design. Subscribers notice the slightest changes in your email marketing, and it’s critical to live up to the standards you created for your brand. 


Valentine’s Day Email Design Best Practices

These design and copywriting principles can be a springboard for your holiday campaigns in general, if used right.

Here is a selection of viable ideas for inspiration: 

  1. Use Valentine’s Day colors: The day of love is usually colored with all shades of red. Use different red, pink, or purple tones to create a romantic effect for your email campaigns. 
  2. Feature high-quality imagery: Include high-quality, love-themed graphics with your products. This will help you emotionally connect with your audience.
  3. Implement creative typography: Experiment with font styles that give your emails a romantic and elegant feel. Use bold and stylish fonts for headlines and easy-to-read fonts for body copy.
  4. Use lots of whitespace: Maintain a balance between your images, CTA buttons, and other graphic elements in your emails. White space gives a refreshing feeling and helps customers navigate your emails without getting lost.
  5. Use Emojis and Icons: Include heart-shaped icons and emojis to accentuate key points and give an emotional touch to your emails.
  6. Include animated designs: Moving objects will more likely capture the audience’s attention. You can animate your mascot or create line drawings around your product to add a dash of fun.
  7. Themed borders and frames: For a festive look, decorate your email borders with holiday-themed elements. Use frames around your product photography for an enhanced appearance.
  8. Create a colorful footer: While it is used for important information, subtle colors can make it pop.

A well-balanced email catches attention and encourages more click-throughs — if you use a festive email background, use a simpler typeface to balance the elements.

In case you have a diverse email list, consider the following tips to send tailored campaigns for each audience segment.


Things to Consider Before Creating a Love Colored Email Campaign

Creating random holiday-themed content and waiting for your subscribers to engage with your emails is like running on a hill, blindfolded. Make use of your past data to create customized offers for your subscribers. For example, you can target last-minute shoppers with exclusive deals and promise quick shipping at no additional cost.

Shoppers are likely bombarded with many gift ideas, making it an overwhelming experience for them — around 15% of people are undecided about what to get for their loved ones. 

This makes it a wonderful opportunity to send last-minute gift guides for each gender. Also, start your promotions on time — the last week of January is ideal to prepare your customers to make up their minds before the day of adoration. 

Your email content and timing can make or break your revenue. Study your audience’s behavior and preferences to send the most relevant products and messages. 


Promotional Campaign for February 14th

Well-articulated promotions can support overall marketing goals and help you build a community, and grow your audience. 

Here’s a checklist to strategically execute your Valentine’s Day email campaign:

  • Set clear objectives: Define the goal for your promotional campaign and include limited-time offers and discounts.
  • Create compelling subject lines: Spark interest and create curiosity with your subject lines — for example, “Love is in the air, enjoy 10% off on gifts for your loved ones.” 
  • Personalize your offer: Tailor your promotions and deals for each customer. For instance, you can send a curated gift collection with discounts to someone looking for an exclusive gift set. 
  • Craft engaging copy: While promotions can be overpowering, you can still use good email copy to secure the results you expect. Use power words, create urgency, and focus on delivering value through words. 

A Noteworthy Promotional Email Example

Here’s an example from one of our favorite brands — Apple’s promotional email is simple and meaningful. The heading: For all their other loves creates a sense of belonging for all people. Paired with powerful copy and informational product sections, the email encourages people to purchase their products. 

Apple Gift Guide Email
Apple Gift Guide Email

Valentine’s Day Gift Guide Campaign

Creating a Valentine’s Day gift guide can help your customers find the perfect gift options under one roof. 

Use these 6 ideas on how to make the most of your gift guides:

  1. Curated gift selections: Group items into categories and showcase love-themed products together. For example, you can include “Budget friendly finds” or  “Gifts for yourself”.
  2. Gifts by relationship stage: Provide gift options for “Newlywed”, “Just dating”, or “Best friends” to cater your products to a wider audience. 
  3. DIY gift ideas: DIY ideas never go out of style and make the product more special for the receiver. Your DIY ideas can be as simple as printables or baking treats.
  4. Feature tech gadgets and accessories: What about the ones who aren’t into cozy purchases? Featuring tech products and gadgets can make those customer segments feel included and valuable.
  5. Promote experience-based gifts: Spa days, music sessions, or virtual events can help create lasting memories for your audiences. Promote experience-based gifts for customers who prefer a unique and thoughtful approach to Valentine’s Day.
  6. Gifts for self-love: Highlight the importance of self-love and include products that enhance this idea. For example, self-care, relaxation, or wellness.

The Perfect Example of Gift-Guide

Marine Layer’s gift-guide email makes readers smile with their quirky email copy. Their email is proof of understanding their audience’s pain points so well — last-minute shopping needs. Their main selling point seems to be gift wrapping – in-store and online to make the occasion more special!

And for those who don’t have a significant other yet, their ”Treat Yourself” CTA gives readers a reason to put themselves first.

Marine Layer Gift Promo Email
Marine Layer Gift Promo Email

The Last-minute Valentine’s Email Campaign

A last-minute deal is one way to show your customers they can rely on you for their last-minute shopping needs. Customers are already gearing up to spend an average of $192.80 on cards, gifts, flowers, and candies. This means when timed well, your last-minute deals can drastically increase your profits. 

Here are 5 last-minute email ideas to engage your customers and showcase your support: 

  1. Urgent flash sale: Flash sale emails show your customers how much you appreciate them. Create a sense of urgency in your subject lines to encourage quicker participation from readers.
  2. Instant E-gift cards: If it’s time-consuming to pick out products, you can quickly send E-gift cards. These cards often never expire and can be redeemed anytime, making them a useful Valentine’s gift.
  3. Express shipping reminder: Send shipping reminders for customers who waited until the last minute to purchase gifts. Include ”Shipping overnight” or “Get it by tomorrow” to urge customers to buy from you.
  4. Subscription box rush delivery: Whether it’s a cozy movie night or an intimate dinner, your audiences will appreciate a last-minute subscription box for their loved ones. Include bundled products or mix-and-match options to customize the subscription boxes. This way, people can appreciate their loved ones even after the Love Holiday.
  5. Emergency date night ideas: Special dates require unique ideas — contribute to your audience’s romantic journey through exciting emergency date ideas. It could be a movie plan with a dessert or a star-lit experience at the park; make a way to include your products in their experience.

Last-Minute Email Example 

AllTrails’ emails are engaging for two reasons: they are cute and showcase more options. Their email copy is on point to encourage late shoppers to purchase their gift cards. As a bonus, they offer different ways to customize experiences based on the audience’s likes.

AllTrails Valentine's Day Email
AllTrails Valentine’s Day Email

You can also target singles, non-profits, and business partners during this special day. Or touch upon customers’ love stories and make them warm and funny. 

While you put so much effort into your Love Day email campaigns, a slip in timing can lead to stunted email performance. That’s why we have gathered the best times to send out Romantic Day emails.


The Best Time to Send Valentine’s Day Marketing Email 

Sending Valentine’s Day special messages depends on your brand goals and target audiences. 

However, here are ideas to give you an overall view of the best sending time:

  • Start in January and continue to send emails leading to the special day,
  • Build anticipation starting early February through teasers, gift guides, and early promotions,
  • Peak audience engagement in mid-February through promotional emails, discounts, and email coupons,
  • Send last-minute reminders before the big day to maximize sales,
  • Send follow-up emails after Valentine’s Day to gather more data on customers.

In all aspects, test your emails for the day of love based on your audience engagement and preferences; consider time zones and avoid peak email hours. 

Whether you lean on the above methods or develop your own ideas, watch out for these best practices to increase your email revenue.


Valentine’s Email Best Practices to Remember

Follow these practices to connect better with your audience:

  • Make your email warm, relatable, and fun,
  • Focus on creative and crisp email copywriting techniques for higher opens,
  • Send your Valentine’s email campaigns in intervals to maximize profits,
  • Use email marketing automation software to send splendid Valentine’s messages.

Let’s put these best practices to use through powerful email marketing software. 


Send Personalized Valentine’s Day Emails With Campaign Refinery 

Valentine’s Day is all about showing love and appreciation for your customers. To target your customers the right way, create well-designed and resonant email messages and schedule them properly.

The best way to do that is to use email automation software — with Campaign Refinery, you can send hyper-targeted email campaigns or customize Valentine’s Day greetings as broadcasts.

With our extensive features and tools, our clients have reported:

  • 6x higher email deliverability,
  • 8x more clicks (Use our Lead Magnet Short Course to apply our founder’s finest strategies to attract new audience.),
  • Open rates of 76.37% and click rate of 72.76% (Thanks to our engagement gamification feature!).

Whether you’re migrating your email list from another ESP or starting from scratch, we have a rock-solid strategy to achieve a high email deliverability rate and consistently maintain it

If you want to use the best-in-class features and functionalities that will put you in the top 1% of senders, apply and become a Campaign Refinery client now!

We’d LOVE to hear from you!

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