Valentine's Day marketing ideas for local businesses

14^th February is a notable date in the Gregorian calendar to express your admiration for someone special. Valentine's Day is the perfect opportunity to celebrate deep mutual love with your other half, a family member, a friend, or a pet that’s been your rock through difficult times.

Valentine’s Day and its build-up are typically hectic and competitive for local businesses like chocolatiers, florists, hotels, spas, and wine merchants. According to Finder, £1.37 billion was spent on Valentine’s Day in 2022. Your content marketing ploys must win customers' hearts to claim a slice of that annual commercial success.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a restaurant with a mouthwatering Valentine’s menu that guarantees “love at first bite” or a DIY store. Our useful tips will ensure love is in the air as soon as your customer steps inside your premises.

Why should businesses prepare for Valentine's Day?

After January's never-ending, post-Christmas blues, Valentine’s Day can be an excellent pick-me-up for businesses. Capitalising on this popular occasion that around 40 million Brits celebrate can quickly boost sales and drive traffic to your store. 

While your local holiday marketing efforts might feel different from your regular promotional routine, you still need to connect creatively with your target audience. Don’t worry if your business isn’t directly related to the industries that usually get the flutters from this occasion. You can still capitalise on this wave of love by thinking outside the (chocolate) box.

The marketing equivalent of a last-minute bunch of flowers won’t work, so let’s examine what tools and tactics you can use to woo customers. 

Valentine’s Day marketing ideas for 2024

Since Valentine’s Day is a light-hearted event, ensure you have fun, play with popular topics, and create campaigns that tug on the heartstrings of the masses. Roses are red, violets are blue, let’s share fantastic Valentine’s Day business ideas with you.

Offer early promotions and discounts

Love waits for no one — even businesses. For every last-minute romantic racing around the shops for a golden box of Ferrero Rocher, plenty of early lovebirds hover around for deals and discounts before the big day. It also gives those who like to plan more time to decide.

For a successful Valentine’s Day campaign, you must grab customers' attention as early as possible. Flaunting your promotions weeks ahead means they’ll see your promotion regularly, eventually grabbing their attention. Even the best advertising messages typically require multiple touchpoints, so stay patient, and you’ll reap the rewards. 

Create a sense of urgency through daily deals and early bird offers. For example, restaurants can post their Valentine’s menu on their social channels, with a special price for those who book in advance. You can also encourage potential customers to sign up to your email list for an exclusive offer — helping capture leads while increasing your database.

Once people are in the funnel, the world is your oyster. You can inundate them with exclusive content in the lead-up to Valentine’s Day.

Health spas could showcase massage oils and self-care products that make for perfect Valentine’s gifts. Bookstores could share a page or two from a different romantic novel each day, with a discount on that specific book. Doing this keeps you in the customer's mind, and more importantly, it excites them.  

Sending the customers in your email marketing list a Valentine’s Day card with a simple, informal, and thematic message that’s not over the top is a nice touch. Something like “Customers like you are the heart and soul of our business” will suffice.

Plan Valentine's Day social media ideas

Add some romantic flair to your social media platforms for rosy results. Avoid overused heart puns and keep your posts relevant to the brand you manage, its tone of voice, and its niche.

If your business sells gifts traditionally associated with Valentine’s Day, you could run social media promotions on these, but customers will likely anticipate it. Your competitors will likely use social media channels to do the same, so you should aim to be different.

Rather than showering your audience with sales on chocolate, cards, flowers, jewellery, or wine, why not share some of your expertise instead? From jewellery styling tips to keeping a houseplant healthy, helpful holiday content can be as precious as a discounted necklace.

Less romantic products not habitually linked with 14^th February can still be woven into your Valentine’s Day content ideas. They just need to be paired with the right message. LG notably managed this with its Valentine’s marketing of home appliances — although not typically “romantic”, they make practical Valentine’s gifts for cohabiting couples.

For instance, electricians could offer discounts on home rewires or socket installation to help “rekindle the spark in your relationship”. Perhaps your pet-friendly business could upload a heartwarming video with tips to help dog owners build stronger bonds with their canine companions. Never assume your business seeds need to be sown in the chocolate, flower, or jewellery industries to make an impact —  inspiration can be found in the most unlikeliest places.

Aside from using appropriate Valentine’s Day hashtags and running a series of love-themed polls, think of other ways to build momentum through social listening.

User-generated content (UGC) campaigns effectively create authentic and original content. Think about themes, contests, and giveaways you can organise to entice existing customers and grab new ones. For example, pizzerias could invite couples to prove their love for their takeaway pizza by asking them to post a photo of them eating it in an obscure date night location. By offering a prize to the winning couple, your business quickly finds itself in a win-win situation by simultaneously engaging and rewarding your most loyal customers.

Of course, Valentine’s Day isn’t just for couples. Try to share the love in your Valentine’s Day social media campaigns by making them inclusive for everyone. Consider positioning a product for “someone special” rather than “the one you love”.

Optimise your Google Business Profile

A holiday-ready Google Business Profile (GBP) is essential to a successful Valentine’s Day period for businesses. This platform enables sole traders, local stores, franchises, and companies with multiple locations to succeed online and off. By keeping your profile(s) up-to-date and optimised across the entire Valentine’s Day season, you can increase your chances of getting found in local searches and ranking higher on Google Maps.

The first feature to harness is Google Posts. Appearing on both Google Search Results and Google Maps, these micro-posts (maximum 1,500 words) enable you to shine a spotlight on any Valentine’s Day-related business updates, events, products, and special offers. Your GBP Google Posts allow you to engage searchers with freely accessible content, which can directly lead to more conversions and customers. 

Always include visuals in Google Posts. Photos or videos of your products or location increase consumer trust, show the love you pour into the occasion, and keep your GBP relevant. For example, a hotel chain that’s created a romantic atmosphere in its rooms with candles, heart-shaped pillows, and bottles of bubbly, could upload an optimised photo or video to entice bookings.

You (the profile owner) and your customers can also add authentic, relevant, and thematic photos of your products and services to the profile itself. This is why you must be proactive during and after the event. If a couple has been to your hotel and been wowed by your breakfast-in-bed offering, ask them to upload images of the delicious food and romantic setting. 

Again, though, the type of business hasn’t got to be one struck by the love bug. For example, what about an oven-cleaning company offering Valentine’s Day vouchers?  Customers can purchase them to save their partner the regular, arduous job of cleaning the cooker. While it might not be the most romantic gift, images of your work turning the dirt and grime into a gloriously gleaming oven can be allied with Valentine’s Day.

Another string to your GBP’s bow is the Q&A feature. This enables you to answer questions from online users, like, “Is your restaurant only offering the tasting menu on Valentine’s Day?” Or, “Can we bring our dog as part of your B&B’s two-night mini-break special offer?” As a business owner, try to answer these questions quickly. This provides helpful information to users and contributes to improved engagement and conversion. It also prevents inappropriate or unhelpful responses from being left by others (anyone with a Google Account).

Remember to update your business hours before Valentine’s Day. It could be the difference between someone choosing your florist or a competitor for a last-minute bouquet of roses.  

Create and promote experiences

You can promote events and experiences at your business location through GBP. Standard advertising methods like posters, flyers, social media posts, etc., can garner results, but creating an “Events” Google Post can also encourage attendance.

Think about love-themed activities and experiences you could offer to entice customers through your doors. Florists could host flower arrangement classes to personalise the tradition of giving flowers, while gyms could host a Valentine’s fitness class for couples. Don’t forget to add those swooning ballads to the workout playlist.

The options are endless for Valentine’s Day fun — from a Valentine's-themed pub quiz to crazy golf competitions and setting up a photo booth in your store. Include small prizes, like coupons or other freebies, to encourage attendance and fuel excitement.

The bonus with your business hosting Valentine’s Day experiences is you can post about them before, during, and after to maximise engagement with your audience. Suppose your coffee shop arranged a speed dating event for singletons or your hotel arranged a scenic picnic for guests to watch the sunset together. In that case, you can share these success stories with other online users. 

Be prepared for bookings

With businesses like hotels, restaurants, and spas enjoying a significant rise in bookings during this time, you must be prepared for the onslaught. Customers want this process to be quick and straightforward, while businesses need to be able to manage it efficiently. 

Adding a “Reserve with Google” (booking) button to your GBP allows people to book an appointment directly through your listing in search results. Better still, booking takes under a minute, making it highly appealing to potential customers who are short on time.

To use this functionality, you must work with a third-party booking platform integrated with Reserve With Google.

Some of the most popular platforms are:

• Appointy
• Bookeo
• Fresha
• Quandoo
• Wix

Local businesses can quickly track how many reservations they get in their GBP dashboard, along with additional metrics like total revenue and most popular services. This enables you to monitor the success of your Valentine’s Day campaigns and pick out any elements that customers weren’t quite as enamoured with.

Examples of how different industries can increase business on Valentine's Day

Restaurants

• Offer Valentine’s-themed menus and takeout specials.
• Create a romantic ambience with soft lighting, candles, a photographer, live music, or a string quartet.
• Partner with local businesses like chocolatiers and florists to offer combined packages (bouquets on arrival) for a memorable customer experience.
• Change your usual restaurant concept with a wine and cheese tasting night or host a romantic cooking class.

Retail

• Offer personalised experiences, gifts, and services that appeal to consumers seeking something unique and extra-special.
• Know your store's business days and times and ensure you have enough staff. Extend your opening hours (update your GBP) to accommodate last-minute shoppers.
• Spread the news of your Valentine’s offers on social media and Google Posts.
• Hold an event. Clothes shops could run a fashion show and a Valentine’s Day sale.

Bar

• Run a cocktail-making class or beer and food pairing night.
• Extend the celebrations over several days. For example, Valentine’s Day 2024 falls on a Wednesday, so why not extend those happy hour drinks into the weekend?
• Look at ways you can cater for singletons and groups of friends. Many women spend Valentine’s Day with friends, so consider embracing the Galentine’s spirit with a special bottomless brunch offering.

Gyms

• Run a “self-care” workout so singletons can show their body some love.
• Bust out the two-for-one deals so a member can bring a guest for free. This can be effective for recruiting new clients.
• Show your regulars some love by offering them a loyalty discount on membership, a class, or a post-workout protein shake.
• Love isn’t the only thing that gets hearts racing. Promote healthy hearts with discounts on high-intensity activities that get the blood pumping.

Museums

• Allow couples and groups of friends to enjoy the museum after dark — preferably with a glass of wine, beer, or soft drink in hand for a fun date night.
• Hold a special speed dating event against the backdrop of exhibits. They can serve as a great conversation starter.
• Run a social media giveaway. Guided tour and champagne, anyone?

Hotels

• Share optimised images on social media and your GBP of hotels, rooms, and amenities so couples can envision themselves enjoying a romantic evening at your location.
• Encourage satisfied guests to share their Valentine’s experiences at your hotel on social media. Incentivise them to leave reviews on your GBP — they serve as invaluable word-of-mouth marketing, helping to attract new guests, build trust, and solidify your hotel’s reputation.
• Create enticing Valentine’s packages that include overnight stays, dining, and romantic activities like horseback riding or rock climbing.
• With the increased demand for pet-friendly travel, create pet-friendly Valentine’s Day offers so owners can enjoy time away with their fur babies. This could include a free map outlining scenic walks in the area or a Valentine’s welcome package containing all the essentials (balls, biscuits, basket, etc.)

How Mirador Local can help

Optimising and updating each of your GBPs is time-consuming for multiple-location businesses. Mirador Local could be your perfect match for Valentine’s Day to bolster local SEO performance.

Respond to Google Reviews, manage photo uploads, and update Valentine’s opening hours across all your stores from a single, easy-to-use dashboard. This will increase your chances of getting found in local search and spread your Valentine’s Day offers, events, and business updates to the local community and beyond.

Avoid business heartache this Valentine’s by partnering with Mirador Local.

Learn how your business can J’adore Mirador by booking a free demo today.