Boosting Your Marketing ROI

Love it or hate it, but February is so closely tied into Valentine’s Day that we almost see the two as one-in-the-same. This means that you’re probably seeing hearts and arrows wherever you turn your head, and love is most definitely on your mind.

Instead of putting all of your focus on romancing your sweetheart with chocolates and roses, though, why not allocate some of that energy towards romancing your customers — with a little help from Cupid? Here are a few tactics for connecting with your audience and making a big impact this Valentine’s Day:

Social Media

Social media should already be an integral part of your brand’s marketing strategy, and a holiday gives you even more of a reason to stay socially connected with your consumer audience. Valentine’s Day is a fun celebration that enables you to get creative with your campaigns, spark excitement with existing customers, and attract new ones. Some smart ideas for social media this holiday include:

Holiday Visuals — Because people are visual creatures, we recommend that you optimize your page for Valentine’s Day with seasonally appropriate profile pictures, cover photos, etc.

Valentine’s Contests — Create Valentine’s Day themed photo or caption contests that require users to use a specific hashtag that will draw in new readers. Offer a special prize to a winner each week of the month, or on Valentine’s Day itself.

Seasonal Promotions — Promote products that correlate with the holiday. If you’re a hotel, offer a complimentary bottle of champagne to guests that book romantic stays in your suites. If you’re a gym, offer discounted memberships for HEART health. Have fun with it!

E-mail

E-mail marketing is a great way to target users and create a sense of urgency. When a reader receives a special holiday offer or promotion in his or her inbox, he or she is more inclined to feel the need to make a buying decision quickly. Setting a deadline for free shipping or a special discount tied to Valentine’s Day is also helpful. Be sure to attract reader attention by sticking with a holiday-related template and theme, but make sure that your deal, offer, or promotion is clear and stands out.

Microsites and Landing Pages

Whether a customer is responding to a social media offer or an e-mail advertisement, it’s important that your landing pages correlate with the rest of the campaign. Creating special, seasonal landing pages will help to create consistency, assure shoppers that they have navigated to the correct page, reinforce the value of your products or services, and increase the likelihood that your shoppers will click through and make a purchase.

Holiday-designated microsites and landing pages are also great for SEO. This is because customers frequently make it a point to specifically search for seasonal or timely products and services that correspond to an upcoming holiday. The result is a higher volume of organic web traffic. If you continue these types of campaigns year after year, you’ll find that your efforts will regularly rank well and enable you to generate more credible leads.

Events

Hosting events in your store or business is a simple and effective way to take advantage of the holiday. Regardless of your industry, there are ways to cater to your customers’ needs on Valentine’s Day. Depending on your target audience, you might host “buy one, get one free” event specials for couples, or you might put on an event that caters to singles who can redeem a discount or offer for those going “stag.”

Are you ready to help new customers fall in love with your brand? Let’s team up!