Valentine's Day SMS Marketing Strategy Guide

Valentine's Day Marketing Ideas Using SMS

The beauty of SMS text marketing is that it’s easy to ensure your messaging lands in the hands of an interested audience. Whether you want to offer your consumers a sweet deal or simply wish them a happy Valentine’s Day, you can turn to our Valentine’s Day marketing guide for inspiration.

Spur Sales with a Special Valentine’s Day Offer

A recent survey revealed that 87% of shoppers were more strongly motivated to complete a transaction when they were offered a discount. This means the days and weeks leading up to February 14 are prime time for running Valentine’s Day promotions. These time-sensitive sales encourage your consumers to shop your products, make a purchase, and score a good deal before it’s too late.

Consider sorting your customer list according to where they shop, what they've purchased, or another stated interest based on your specific segmentation needs. By categorizing or sorting your contact list according to similarities, you can be sure an offer reaches the right customers. Once you've settled on a special offer or discount for each customer or audience segment, make sure that your text message includes a call to action — that’s the best way to ensure customers take the action you desire. Examples of an effective call to action include: “Click to Get a Coupon,” “Reserve Your Time Now,” and “Show This Text at Checkout to Receive a 10% Discount.”

Here are examples of how your Valentine's Day text message could read:

Promote Specific Products

Valentine’s Day provides the perfect opportunity to drum up interest for specific products or services. Maybe a new line of designer bags just came instock and you want the world to know about them. Or perhaps you want everyone to focus on your limited release cosmetics line that is only available through February. Even if the product has nothing to do with Valentine’s Day, you can still motivate your consumers to shop in the name of love.

If you do not have to have a specific product or promotion in mind for Valentine’s Day or your business is simply not an obvious match for the occasion, you can still use the holiday as an opportunity to reach your customers. For instance, you might send out an SMS text that says, “Looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift? You can’t go wrong with our limited-edition, heart-shaped sunglasses!” This message did not require any special promotion, but rather just a bit of creative thinking to align a product with the holiday. This light-hearted suggestion encourages your customers to seek out and purchase a designated product of your choosing, while reminding them that Valentine’s Day is around the corner. Does your retail business provide services, and not products? You can remind your customers about that service in the name of love. An oil change service center may send out an SMS message that says, “Valentine’s Day is approaching. Do you love yourself enough to stay up to date on oil changes?”

Host a Contest or Giveaway

Another way is to drive interest toward a specific product or service is to host a contest or giveaway. To do this, you might give your consumers a task to qualify to win, such as signing up for a membership or sharing the contest on social media. Use SMS messaging to send out texts to encourage participation, such as, “On Valentine’s Day, we’re picking one lucky winner to receive a FREE designer watch! Join our mailing list to enter.”

In 2018, The Body Shop took this route with its #SendingAKiss Instagram hashtag campaign. When consumers shared a selfie of themselves blowing a kiss with the campaign hashtag, they were entered to win a lip gloss set. This savvy Valentine’s Day giveaway got consumers excited and talking about the company on social media, increasing brand awareness and interest in the company’s products, specifically lip gloss.

Consider Last-Minute Shoppers

When it comes to Valentine’s Day shopping, not everyone thinks ahead. In fact, 60% of shoppers wait until at least five days before the holiday to make their purchases. As a marketer in the retail industry, you can use this to your advantage. Your Valentine’s Day SMS strategy can remind your customers that February 14 is just around the corner and that it’s not too late to take advantage of your sales, giveaways, or limited inventory.

Lead with SMS messaging such as, “Valentine’s Day is just three days away! Have you ordered a bouquet of flowers with us yet?” Or, “Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, but you can still save with our special 15% off promotion!”

Create Urgency with Dwindling Inventory Notifications

Sending a text message is a great way to create a sense of urgency. This works especially well if you have some background data on your customers, like if they’ve already purchased a certain kind of product from you before.

For this Valentine’s Day marketing idea, create added urgency by sending out a notice when the stock of that item is low. You could send a text like, “We only have 30 crystal heart pendants left at EZ Jewelry. Order yours now to match the earring set you recently purchased so it arrives by Valentine’s Day!”

Think Outside the Box

Valentine’s Day isn’t just about the romance between couples. It’s about celebrating your friendships, showing yourself some self-love, and even pampering your pets. Just last year, Americans were expected to spend a whopping $2.14 billion on Valentine’s Day gifts for their pets! Just because your customers might not be engaged in a romantic relationship doesn’t mean you should exclude them from your marketing efforts.

Consider aiming your SMS marketing efforts toward your single customers during Valentine’s Day. That might mean creating a “singles” promo specifically for those who intend to go solo this Valentine’s Day. Or it could come in the form of promoting a product geared toward friendship, self-care, or, yes, even pets. Remember Valentine’s Day is about love, in every form, so take advantage of it and get creative.

Potbelly Sandwich Shop got creative in 2019 when the brand offered a free cookie to anyone who came into their deli without a date on Valentine’s Day. This helped to increase foot traffic on a day when customers may not have otherwise visited the shop.

The Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba, is another brand that took appealing to singles one step further with a creative campaign. In 2001, the online platform hosted its first “Singles Day” sale on November 11, China’s Singles Day— a holiday designed to rival Valentine’s Day. The result? Record-breaking sales. During the 2021 promotion alone, Alibaba and JD.com reached an impressive $139 billion in Singles Day sales across their platforms.

Encourage Engagement with Follow-Up Messages and Thanks

Maybe your business sells something with no connection to Valentine’s Day and you can’t find a creative way to connect the holiday to your offering. Perhaps you are not able to extend a special offer. It still pays to text your customers to share some love and keep your business top of mind.

After all, everyone appreciates a little love on Valentine’s Day. Use mass texting to wish your customers a happy Valentine’s Day or to thank them for their continued support.