When you run a small business, you need to take advantage of every chance you can to bring in customers. Holidays present great opportunities to run promotional specials to help attract more business. People flood stores between Thanksgiving and New Years thanks to promotional pre and post-holiday sales. Now that the hullabaloo of the holiday shopping season has passed, the next holiday to arrive is Valentine’s Day. Although this is a day that is set aside to celebrate romantic love, there are still opportunities for small businesses to take advantage of the day. Here are some cute Valentine’s Day ideas that help promote small businesses.
Hold a Social Media Contest
These days nothing can escape the lure of social media. Take advantage of the fact that many people use social media as a means of regular communication, use it to promote your business. Throughout the entire month of February have visitors to your social media sites refer friends to your business. At the end of the month, offer a worthwhile prize for the person who submits the most referrals.
Offer a “We Love Our Customers” Discount
People are apt to buy products if they are on sale. They also tend to buy products when they feel good about the company selling them. You can kill two birds with one stone with this promotion. Have a store-wide sale and make it evident to your customers that the sale is simply because their business is appreciated. You can even set up a table with some light refreshments such as punch and cookies since nothing says love like food. You will find that your customers will return time and again when they know they are appreciated.
Create Valentine’s Day-Themed Coupons
In the weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day, start creating coupons that can be used in your store on future visits. Make sure the coupons have the traditional symbols of Valentine’s Day, so your customers understand the connection. As your customers come in on Valentine’s Day, present one coupon to everyone who walks in the door. You will notice that the coupons come back to you not just in March, but likely well into the summer also.
Write Blogs and Letters With a Holiday Theme
Use the holiday as the subject for your company’s next blog post or newsletter. It can sometimes be difficult to come up with new and fresh ideas to post regularly and the holiday gives you a built-in topic. Publish something that might be helpful to your customers such as “Valentine’s Day Menus” or “Romantic Places to Propose.” Don’t forget to link your products into the posts so customers can easily click onto whatever they are interested in buying. Be sure to keep all of your content useful, entertaining, light and informative.
Spread the Love
Valentine’s Day is all about expressing love and gratitude. It is also a day to show your charitable side. A great way to get customers in your door and paying your good fortune forward is to make a pledge to a local charity. Announce to your current and potential customers that a percentage of the day’s profits on Feb. 14 will be donated to a charity. You can keep it local by choosing a worthy charity in the community such as a food pantry or homeless shelter, or think more globally and chose a charity such as the American Heart Association. Either way, people will be willing to spend money with you with the knowledge that they are helping to contribute to the greater good.
Reward Your Best Customers
Valentine’s Day is a day for showing love and appreciation. Take this opportunity to shower your best customers with some attention. On Valentine’s Day offer double the amount of Rewards Points to your frequent shoppers or club members. Another option is to offer a reward for any item that is purchased on Valentine’s Day. You can also offer an incentive to your best customers by sending them a coupon for a special bonus just for them.
Keep Singles in Mind, Too
Valentine’s Day is great if you are part of a couple, but there are plenty of singles out there who need love, too. Consider using that day to host a singles-only shopping night or some other event that will allow singles to gather in a “romance-free” zone.
Small businesses need to take advantage of every chance they get to increase business. Using a holiday such Valentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity to show appreciation to customers as well as increase business. If you are a small business and would like more information on how to promote your business, contact the professionals at WPamplify to discover ways to improve your business.
