Valentine’s day is soon approaching, although consumers have more than two weeks to complete any shopping for their significant other. In other words, there’s plenty of time to order something truly special and personalized – such as a custom designed photo product!
Similarly, you also have time to prepare for late shoppers. This can be done through both your store’s offers and your marketing efforts. So, what exactly can you do to make the most of this day?
1. Love on display
Make your love themed templates the most visible for the weeks leading up to Valentine’s day itself. This can be done by making them prominent on your store’s main page (such as in the slider), by creating popups, creating a dedicated category or even using filters among existing categories for particular photo products.
Likewise, don’t just focus solely on expensive items, such as photobooks or canvases. Valentine’s is a time of year when people also show interest in mugs, cards, pillows and all manner of possible products. If you don’t have any special themes for these, change the photos that are used to represent them, choosing something that is more in theme with the special day.
2. Special offers – Matching sets
Why sell just one photo product when you can easily sell two? Create matching sets for couples. For example, matching pairs of mugs or t-shirts, using a simple ‘his and hers’ theme. To further encourage people, you can offer a discount for the second product to show customers that it’s worth it to buy the matching set.
3. It’s not only couples…
Despite how it may seem, you shouldn’t focus all of your efforts on couples in love, as there are many other sales opportunities to be had. In more recent years, Valentine’s Day has become a holiday that is celebrated by more than just couples.
According to one source:
Valentine’s Day sales reached an all-time high of $19.7 billion in 2016. Yet, that’s because it’s become a holiday that both couples and singles celebrate. Many people are buying gifts and experiences for friends, co-workers and pets rather than that special someone.
When creating your newsletters and social media content, including both paid & organic content, mention gifts for friends and colleagues, as well as any items that are ideal for self-gifting.
4. Discounts & a sense of urgency
Discounts are never a bad idea for encouraging customers and, around holidays, they are especially incentivising. To help boost your sales, create limited time offers and offer coupon codes in exchange for an e-mail address.
This way, even if these customers ultimately decide not to make an order, you can still use her or her email for future campaigns.
5. Free gift wrapping
Discounts are certainly one way to go, but there are other options to help may your Valentine’s day products stand out, such as free gift wrapping. If you already offer this as an additional service, or for orders that exceed a certain price point, this should be easy for you to implement.
If you don’t already offer this in any form, make sure you can get hold of the supplies and ensure you provide quality packaging that customers will really appreciate once they receive it.
6. Guaranteed delivery
When it comes to last minute shopping, customers can easily get stressed out when ordering items that need to be produced before they can be shipped. Often, they will worry that their products will not reach them in time.
In other words, if they aren’t convinced you can provide an on-time delivery, they will look for another store that does. It doesn’t matter how good your offer is if the customer does not believe they will receive it before Valentine’s day itself.
So, think about how many orders you can print and ship on time for the upcoming holiday and, using this, provide clear information on your website. Inform them about which days customers can make orders to receive their gifts ahead of the special day. This should be seen on both the main page and during the checkout process, to further reassure invested customers.
7. Gift guides
A series of smaller gift guides, or one large one, can be the perfect content to post and share in the weeks running up to Valentine’s day. If you have some from previous years and do not have the time to create an entirely new guide, simply update what you have with your latest products and offers.
Once created, simply share these on your blog and social media channels. If you don’t have a blog, include them in your email newsletters to reach the most amount of people.
8. Newsletters
Speaking of newsletters, these are a great way to promote all of the content and special offers you have created on your website. You can start by preparing a series of newsletters, using your current customer base as a readership.
Inform them about your Valentine’s offers, showcase examples of your holiday-themed templates and link to the gift guides you have created, as mentioned already. If you’re offering discounts to further incentivise people, don’t forget to include them here as well.
9. Social media
When it comes to promoting your content for Valentine’s day, your social media channels are a great place to start. Here, you can share gift ideas, details on any special offers and even paid campaigns to reach new audiences.
When it comes to Valentine’s day, candy and flowers are still among the most popular gifts. Since you don’t offer these, you need to inform consumers about other options that can help express their feelings even better. The personalized aspect of your photo products is a key advantage and, of course, you can also offer customised cards, which are one of the most popular gifts for various holidays.
Furthermore, with Facebook Advertising, you can target specific groups, such as people in relationships or interested in personalized products, such as photobooks.
Gifts Most Often Given on Valentines Day (Allowing for multiple gifts given); source
10. Adwords
January may be coming to a close, yet the Valentine’s day gift search is just starting up. Don’t miss on potential customers by ensuring you are also visible in Adwords. Rather than just focusing on keywords related to your various products and gifts, think of general terms that apply to the day itself.
For example, “Valentine’s day gifts”, “gifts for him” and “gifts for her” can be useful ways to target new customers. If you have gift guides, your Adwords can link straight to them, as well as any holiday themed categories you have created.
Want to learn more on how to sell personalized photo gifts? Visit Printbox and see how we can work with your business.
Katarzyna Michałowska
Reader. Writer. Communicator. PR & Marketing Specialist at Printbox. Learning from only the best and writing killer copy.
