6 Tips for Valentine’s Day on Social Media

Valentine’s Day is upon us again. If you didn’t have the time to set up a full campaign to tie in with the holiday, don’t worry. Here are some tips on how you might use social media on the day to help leverage some of that Valentine traffic for your small business.

1. Add Some Romantic Flair to Your Company’s Social Media Presence

Help your followers get into the spirit of love by adding some romantic flair on your social media profile images and cover photos (Hint: if you’re running a campaign, you should match your art to any other pieces of marketing collateral). Otherwise, just make sure it’s a Valentine’s Day tie-in that allows your brand to still be recognizable but also celebrates the holiday! Here’s an example from 1800-Flowers:

2. Ask Your Followers to Share their Love Stories

Ask your audience to share their love stories, finding a way to tie in the question with your brand. Be clear that not every story has to be romantic in the traditional sense. (You don’t want to alienate members of your audience). Ask for all types of love stories, including romantic, friendship, familial, etc. Consider offering a prize for the best story, but make sure you have the guidelines clearly outlined before launching your campaign! Keep in mind that you shouldn’t explicitly ask your audience to like and share your post for extra entries. Facebook is cracking down on these types of posts.

3. Run with the Most Relevant Hashtags

Consider popular hashtags of the day as a way to effectively leverage Valentine’s Day for your marketing campaigns. Depending on which social media platform your brand uses, keep an eye on what’s trending: use a tool like hashtagify.me  or try ritetag.com for tips on hashtags for different social platforms.

4. Make Valentine’s Day your Own

Maybe you can come up with a hashtag to suit your own brand. Keep in mind that hashtags don’t have to include your brand name, but they should be clearly associated with your brand.

Choose a hashtag that’s unique and memorable, then include it in your posts and ask your fans to do the same so you can build as much user-generated content as possible. Offer a special prize or offer for the most creative hashtag in a post. If your business doesn't have a well-known hashtag and you don’t believe that a unique hashtag will have an impact, play off of existing popular hashtags.

5. Show Love to the Singles

Not everyone is in a relationship, and it’s important to keep that in mind during any Valentine’s Day communications. In addition to addressing couples, send some love to your single followers as well. Offer special deals for singles, or focus on deals that apply to everyone - no matter their relationship status. Be careful about using hashtags such as #singlesawarenessday unless your products/services and editorial style are typically tongue-in-cheek.

6. Create a Last-Minute Gift Guide

We all know those people who wait until the last minute to buy gifts. Play to their needs by offering a last-minute Valentine’s Day gift idea that includes your products/services and a few others from different sites (non-competitors). Pick romantic-themed and self-love items (or paired products, like jewelry) and showcase them in a post or story.

Whatever you do this Valentine’s Day, make it about making your customers and potential buyers feel special. Then seize the opportunity to capitalize on the next big holiday!