15 Best Ideas for St Valentine’s Email Newsletters
Searching for fresh St Valentine’s Day newsletter ideas to win new customers? Search no more! See how the world’s top brands nail the holiday campaigns.
Get inspired by the ideas listed below, and implement them in our holiday email templates in no time.
Valentine’s Day email marketing ideas
Don’t focus on design only. These ideas implemented by famous brands will spice up your St Valentine's email campaigns.
1. Focus on your value proposition
Value proposition and discounts are the core of any marketing campaign. And St Valentine’s one is not an exception. "Wrap" your offer in a way so that it doesn't go unnoticed.
(Source: Email from M&M's)
May your emails be filled with the anticipation of the holiday. Spread the love.
2. Exchange your discount for a love story
If you lack customers’ comments on your website or if you feel like giving a coupon in exchange for a favor only, here’s an idea:
Announce that you will give $10-20-30 back only if people share their love story on your website. The mandatory condition is sharing a photo of them together. Or you may ask for a love confession, published on your website, with a photo attached, as well.
During this holiday period when love is in the air, we all feel like shouting out about love, our deepest feelings. Thus, subscribers are more likely to come out.
(Source: Email from Prezzo)
Not only will this enliven your newsletters, but also will drive more traffic to your website.
3. Suggest ideas on what to present
You will significantly facilitate people’s lives if you suggest a list of gifts to present on this wonderful holiday.
(Source: Email from Brighton)
Please, oh please, do not forget about men on this day!
The vast majority of emails in my inbox is filled with gift guides for women: Presents she will love to get. And only a few share those gift guides for men: Presents he will love.
(Source: Email from Tiffany & Co)
Who said we can only congratulate our girlfriends/boyfriends and spouses on this day? We can, as well, buy presents for kids, parents and even grandparents. Suggest a list of presents for the partners, also share the ideas on what to buy for all the members of our families as we love them all. Besides, this is a great opportunity to engage with a wider audience.
Take a look at this St Valentine’s newsletter sample. It's marvelous.
(Source: Email from Brighton)
4. Segment your contact base
If you know for sure who certain customers are looking for presents for, you may just segment your contact base.
But if you do not know this for sure, just provide gift guides for Her and Him in one St Valentine's email.
5. Provide the celebration plan
It will be very thoughtful, caring and nice of you not only to offer the list of the best presents for this day but also to suggest a plan. Yes! Plan for the whole day.
Share your brave ideas, share some world-famous traditions. Both young and mature couples will appreciate it.
This idea is relevant for the HoReCa industry.
6. Help those who are late
You’ve kept on reminding customers that the holiday is around the corner. But your email sent on February 13th, will be of great use for those who were pretty insecure about what to buy.
Remind them this is their last chance for on-time delivery.
(Source: Email-Competitors)
And certainly, there will be those who’ll realize just on St Valentine’s day that they were quite busy and forgot to buy presents.
Your St Valentine’s email reminders sent in the morning on February 14th will be of great help.
(Source: Email from Decathlon)
7. Help men make a proposal
7 million American men, which equals 2% of the population, according to Statista, made proposals to their women on this day. I hope, the answer was “Yes”. If you run a restaurant or a jewelry shop, notify men you can help them with the preparations.
Let them know which rings are on-trend this year.
Suggest men that they use a private room for this emotional event.
(Source: Email from Tiffany & Co.)
8. Offer anonymous delivery
That's right. Not everyone is ready to come out on this day. Some prefer to stay secret. Help your customers be a Secret Valentine for their beloved ones.
9. Cheer up single hearts
According to NRF, 45% of Americans did not celebrate Valentine's Day. So please think about those people who are not going to celebrate it this year. Cheer them up as they might feel lonely on this day. Create a supportive campaign. Be their Valentine.
As we do not know who of our subscribers are single and who have a pair, you can recommend everyone to treat themselves on this holiday. I doubt that anyone will refuse to buy a present for himself/herself and will not use the discount you offer. However, those who are seeing someone would rather use the coupon on a great present for their partner.
Once I received this, “Tired of thinking whether he will love it or not? Celebrating alone this year? If you do not have a beloved one, this is a great chance to congratulate the most important person in your life — yourself. This year for sure you will get exactly what you want”.
And even though I was not single back then, I took their advice and purchased a new pair of earrings.
(Source: Email from Monica Vinader)
10. Give away gifts, or help your customers be prepared for the holiday
On this special day, we want to impress our beloved ones with the way we look, the way we cook, etc.
Help your customers out: Share your secret finger-licking-good recipes, ways to use your apparel to look unique on the holiday, etc.
(Source: Email from Maybelline New York)
Help your customers be in their best on St Valentine's, and they will not forget it. Or even if they do, you'll know you've made someone happier.
11. Run quizzes
"We need to talk!" Ooh. Nobody likes that. Unless you promise your customers a good reward for that.
Just because you are not a couple with your clients, doesn't mean you have nothing to talk about. This is a Valentine's Day newsletter, right? Ask them tricky questions about your company. Something like, how many promo emails a month you send or the year your company was established. Or even, "How do you pronounce our brand's name?".
Should B2C companies come to this trick in Valentine's Day emails? I doubt! Generous coupons beautifully wrapped in hearts might, gift guides, etc. might be the best decision here.
SaaS products and B2B companies would benefit from these quizzes, though. As they do not normally sell products that would be a good fit as a present on this romantic holiday. So, quizzes and contests might be a good way for them to congratulate clients on this Valentine's Day.
For the details on how to build a quiz in under an hour, please refer to the blog post given below.
12. Unite caring hearts
St Valentine's Day is a day of love. Love for our close people, family, and the planet.
Let those who care about the planet and all its inhabitants unite to save our home.
(Source: Email from WWF's Panda Nation)
Yet another good example of how non-Ecommerce companies can congratulate their clients/friends on this holiday.
13. Add videos to emails
Videos in emails would be a good solution for those brands that do not sell apparel, jewelry, for those who do not run a HORECA business.
With video, you can either congratulate your customers on this holiday, or spread some fun, like Heineken did a few years ago, or express your gratitude like charity water.
(Source: Email from charity: water)
14. Start today
If you are a B2C company that sells special gifts for people in love, you should start your Valentine's Day email campaign way before the holiday. People need time to choose what they want, need time to get presents delivered on time.
15. Let your customers know you love them
People hear dozens of “I love you”, “I like you” and “I cherish you” from their friends, colleagues, neighbors, and, of course, from their beloved ones on this day. Don’t be an exception. Tell the customers how much you like and cherish them.
Let people see you value them.
Valentine’s Day email subject lines
In every day newsletters, about 25% of recipients make the decision whether to open the message by reading the subject line. While for Valentine’s day this number is 30%.
No matter what the goal of your St Valentine’s newsletter is, you need to put it straight in the subject line that email is dedicated to St Valentine's Day. Be very specific, yet concise.
Some examples by famous brands:
- Tiffany & Co — This Valentine’s Day, Reach for the Stars.
- Tiffany & Co — Hanna, Discover New Tiffany Designs for Valentine’s Day.
- Nike — Love is in the air.
- Tiffany & Co — Hanna, Order Now! One More Week for Valentine’s Day Delivery.
- Hipmunk — Roses Are Boring, Chocolates Are Too…
- Nike — Late on Love?
- Really Good Emails — We wrote a poem for you.
- M&M’s — My Valentine’s gift guide.
- Prezzo — Start dropping the hints.
- Ferrari — Exclusive: enjoy our special offer and give a watch this Valentine’s Day | FREE SHIPPING.
- Chubbies — *hint* *hint*.
- Herschel — A heartfelt exclusive.
- Maybelline New York — Valentine’s Makeup Looks You’ll ❤️
- Brighton — ❤Valentine, It's Not Too Late.
- Stripo — Make your St Valentine’s Campaign Elegant.
- Monica Vindader — Find the perfect gift with our Valentine's gift guide.
- M&M's — 50% Off Valentine's Day Gifts.
- Tiffany & Co — A Tiffany Gift for Your Valentine.
Valentine's Day email design ideas
The design… Here you may implement brave St Valentine’s email design ideas you want or even combine some of them if you like.
1. Decorate emails with hearts
A pink-red heart is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about St Valentine Day. I know I am not the only one here. By adding hearts to your email newsletters, you will set the Holiday Vibe.
2. Decorate small elements of your holiday emails
If you are not in the mood to create a brand new email newsletter for St Valentine’s Day and want to use your regular one, you can decorate small pieces of your emails. Of course, placing hearts in a footer or header will be a nice idea.
(Source: Email from Victoria's Secret)
But you can also do it the way Victoria's Secret did. Just add small hearts to your banner image.
Important to note:
You can add such small elements to banners with Stripo easily. Just upload these decorative elements as additional images.
3. Be original, or stop using hearts
If you are like me and got a little bit tired of the hearts, you could use some other attributes of this romantic holiday.
Be original, add an image of a bottle of wine with 2 (!) glasses or teddies, or flowers, and balloons. Here you are free to use your imagination. Or photos of happy couples.
So, like it or not, in our mind this day stands for love and warm feelings.
You may also just add a photo of a couple in love. Very close to the holiday, but not so evident.
4. Add some fun
When speaking about the best Valentine's Day email ideas, we cannot forget about some fun.
When I received this email, I realized I am not the only one confused and concerned about what to buy for my close people this Valentine’s Day. Red is also confused :) Phew...
(Source: Email from M&M's)
5. Use decorative fonts
Given that holiday emails require festive design, why not use custom festive fonts in emails?
(Source: Stripo template)
Easy to upload them with Stripo.
Final thoughts
This is the most romantic holiday worldwide. So, our St Valentine's Day email marketing requires our close attention.
When should you start sending out your newsletters? A month before the holiday. A week or two before the holiday send out emails for those who are lat. On the very holiday, please, send just a wish and tell your customers how much you care for them.
A proper St Valentine’s Holiday email campaign should:
- match clients' interests;
- be well-designed;
- include a concise subject line;
- cheer up single hearts;
- offer ideas on how to celebrate the holiday;
- help men and women pick good gifts;
- express your love.
I wish you all the best.
Thank you for reading. Be loved!
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