Marketing Valentine's Day in 2021
While this Valentine’s Day may look a little different than previous years, people are still celebrating. Following a year of rapid e-commerce growth and record spending on digital advertising, like the Christmas season, Valentine’s Day has become an opportunity for brands to benefit from online gift shopping. Whether or not you sell romance related products, the holiday presents a unique opportunity for companies to join conversation and engage with new audiences. Now more than ever, consumers are turning to the internet to research, engage and purchase. Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to reach these customers and establish meaningful relationships.
Here are some noteworthy efforts we’ve seen from big brands so far…
Encouraging couples to celebrate the holiday at home, DoorDash and Shake Shack have partnered on a multi-channel campaign promoting a Valentine’s Day Boyz II Men concert. With the live concert, the companies will be making limited edition products available, including a Date Night Essentials Kit and a Boyz II Men chocolate covered strawberry shake. While it seems like an unlikely trio, the brands have been getting a positive response online from a series of punny tweets and stories across the major social media platforms.
You can stream the live concert on Twitch or on the brands’ Instagram and Facebook pages, at 8PM EST on February 14th.
Popular music streaming service, Spotify, has revamped their Romance hub for this Valentine’s Day. Providing a place for all things love and heartbreak, the hub features a variety of themed playlists and podcasts. To bring attention to the role music plays in bringing people together, the company has also partnered with online dating app, Tinder, to feature a playlist showcasing the top songs attached to Tinder profiles this year. Whether you’re looking for a romantic playlist to soundtrack your Valentine’s Day dinner, or a relationship advice podcast, Spotify’s Romance hub has something for you.
With a not so romantic take on the day of love, Hotels.com has launched a sweepstakes encouraging travelers to reserve their exes a stay that they deserve. Travelers are prompted to share their dream solo V-Day hotel stay, and why their exes deserve a trip to the dump, for a chance to win a Hotels.com gift card. In addition to their anti-Valentine’s Day sweepstakes, the company has been doing their fair share of social media interaction in favor of the holiday. For example, in their response to the popular love letter tweet from Target, Hotels.com shared their infatuation with vacation rental competitor, Vrbo.
The Valentine’s Day love letter tweet from Target is a great example of taking advantage of the online conversation surrounding the holiday. With over 3,000 responses, the tweet has encouraged not only shoppers to share their 2021 Valentine, but a variety of other brands have chimed in. From Uber Eats and Drizly, to Swedish Fish and Sour Patch Kids, flirty responses are pouring in and brands from all industries are participating. A fun addition to their usual Valentine’s Day promotions, throughout the week leading up to the holiday, Target has been writing love letters to customers, employees, brands, and most importantly, Taylor Swift.
Just like we’ve seen in recent years, brands are continuing to market Valentine’s Day to everyone, not just the romantics. Whether you’re celebrating Valentine’s Day or protesting it, the holiday gives brands in industries of all shapes and sizes an opportunity to be a part of a discussion. In a time where brand transparency is key, joining in on lighthearted conversation online is proving to be a great way of reaching new audiences and turning them into loyal customers.
Need help developing your digital strategy? Contact the SparkShoppe team today!
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