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Anyone who’s ever shown up empty-handed for a Valentine’s date quickly learns that there are certain expectations that go along with America’s designated day for love. Flowers are the bare minimum. A card is usually expected and if things are going well, some kind of gift ranging from a stuffed animal to a gold bracelet should be a part of the package.
The point is, if it’s almost mid-February, millions of Americans are frantically searching for the perfect gifts for their loved ones.
The verticals that see the biggest spike in traffic will probably shock no one. Gifts & flowers and food & beverage all take a huge jump in the lead up to February 14th.
According to our Purply data, food and beverage brands should expect to see a revenue spike of 30-40% in the run-up to V-day and brands in our gifts and flowers vertical will experience revenue spikes in the 70% range with several more than doubling their sales from the previous month.
But the brands that see the biggest jumps in sales and revenue don’t just sit back and count on the calendar to deliver sales for them. Instead, they leverage their affiliate marketing partners to connect with more customers and sell them more products.
Bundle Up
If your Valentine’s Day shopper is in the market for flowers, then they’re probably looking for chocolate as well. Or if they’re picking up a bottle of champagne, they’ll probably also need a card to go with it.
Anyone shopping for gifts to celebrate is probably looking for more than one thing to buy, and that’s your opportunity to profit.
Increase your average order value by offering deals and discounts built around buying multiple complementary items. Offer a package where your shopper saves by buying a dozen roses, a box of chocolates and a card all bundled together.
Look at your sales data from previous Valentine’s Days and see which products are most frequently bought together and then build your package around them, so your customer can finish their shopping in one-stop.
After all, would you rather click around to five or six different sites to get everything you need, or just smash the buy button once to take care of your entire Valentine’s Day experience?
Work the Deals
We know that consumers are motivated to buy on Valentine’s Day, the key is to motivate them to buy from you.
When multiple sellers are offering largely the same product (I mean a dozen roses is a dozen roses after all) you need to provide an incentive to push them over the edge. That could be something small, like offering free shipping with a minimum spend or giving your affiliates special Valentine’s day discount codes to drive sales your way.
However you do it, giving your customers just a small push as they hit the bottom of the sales funnel can do a lot to drive your conversion rate from good to great.
The same goes for working with your affiliate partners. Consider offering them incentive bonuses if they can drive a spike in your sales.
Best Of
The highest performing piece of content around almost any holiday are the “best-of” lists. Whether it’s Christmas, Easter or Valentine’s Day, as the date gets closer, you can observe a spike in Google searches that read “best gift for girlfriend/husband/wife/etc,” and those searches will almost always lead to gift buying guides prepared by your content partners.
This is the time when you need to link up with your publishing content partners and make sure that your product is well-represented on their list. This means doing more than begging them for a spot though. Provide them with assets, such as high-quality images or let them know if you’re offering deals or if your product has new features they can highlight.
Best-of lists are one of the best ways to hit your customer at the top of the sales funnel and to have them click on your product first when they’re feeling motivated to buy.
If you’re in the right vertical, Valentine’s Day can be a great time to make sales, but if you want to maximize your profits, you need to do more than add a pink bow to your website. Just like Cupid hits lovers with his bow and arrow, you need to find ways to hit your customers with the deals they’re looking for.
