Product Spotlight: Valentine's Day Promos

Valentine’s Day is a special time for many people. Romance is in the air, declarations of affection are everywhere, in various shades of red and pink. Florists face their busiest time of the entire year.

Candy, flowers, greeting cards and jewelry are the main gifts of Valentine’s Day. Did you know it’s also a great day for marketing your organization with Valentine themed products? With the right approach, it can be a great time of year for increasing your brand awareness.

Let’s look at some Valentine’s Day oriented products that can boost your brand awareness (and a few that can’t.)

The King of Hearts

When you think of Valentine’s Day, like most of us, you probably think of hearts. In the first two weeks of February, hearts are everywhere. On signs, menus, candy boxes, cards and just about anything else you can name. It’s not a subtle look.

Promotional products aren’t immune to the cardiac craze. We offer heart-shaped stress relievers, heart-shaped sunglasses, heart-shaped fidget spinners (!) and more.

Even more products are out there in the general marketplace imprinted with heart images, including keychains, cheap plastic mugs and tumblers,  and many other items. Red and pink items blare from every shelf.

All those items add up to a lot of heart-shaped visual noise to the consumers. They’re easy to ignore, and easy to dispose of.

A Better Approach

In other words, with Valentine’s Day promotional items, a little bit of subtlety goes a very long way. Over the top, garish products won’t do you any favors in the long run.

A better idea is to give people something they can use. Function wins out over form. The product has a reason to exist beyond just grabbing attention with color and flash. That gives you customers something with value that lasts beyond February 14th.

Presentation Matters

Valentine’s Day can be a tricky holiday to promote. Unless you’re a hospitality business such as a restaurant, you don’t want to play up the romantic emphasis of the day.

An allusion to the day through color, subtle packaging (i.e., not screaming hearts and flowers all over the place) or a brief note of thanks or celebration gets your message across in a way that can keep your brand visible all year.

Don’t overemphasize the date. Give your staff, customers or clients something they can appreciate all year long without it being strongly linked with a specific day.

Apparel Wins Hearts

Custom apparel is an excellent way to show appreciation for staff and customers alike. Custom t-shirts, hoodies, polos, socks and other items can feature Valentine’s Day-inspired colors without being too obvious about the holiday. Choose good quality products in a classic style that will be comfortable to wear. Once again, don’t focus on date-specific branding. Just keep it simple.

Workplace Winners

Items for the office are a great way to show your staff how much you appreciate them, and Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to demonstrate it. Once again, it’s all about function. Make someone’s day a little easier and they’ll be sure to appreciate it.

Pairing drinkware with something to put in it is always a winner. Insulated cups, tumblers and mugs are popular in just about any business setting. Pair them with tea, coffee or hot chocolate packets and give your crew a much needed morning (or afternoon) boost. And you don’t need to go far beyond a simple pop of color to denote the holiday without linking the gift to one specific day.

For on-the-go folks, reusable drinkware is another solid choice. Travel mugs and water bottles stay in cars, backpacks, and offices year-round.

Notebooks, pens, desk organizers and other accessories are also popular. Just include a simple heart or message of appreciation and you’ll be all set.

Bag It

Tote bags, drawstring bags, and small pouches are another good choice. They’re handy for everyday uses such as shopping, travel and commuting. Even better, they get lots of exposure for your brand as people carry them to various places. A touch of Valentine’s Day colors or a simple tag can be your link to the holiday, without limiting the use of the bag at other times.

Food Treats That Feel Thoughtful

Tasty treats are of course truly a Valentine’s Day classic. With the right presentation, they can be an outstanding promotional giveaway.

For food gifts to be effective, they need to be memorable. A cheap box of drug store chocolates won’t do. Instead offer something higher quality, ideally that’s individually wrapped, and with packaging that carries your brand in a clear, subtle way. Memorable doesn’t have to be loud.

Think about combining candy or other sweets with branded packaging such as a tin, mug or jar. That gives something the recipient can keep and reuse after the edible items are gone. It continues giving your brand exposure.

Combining food items with drinkware, desk accessories or tote bags creates a nice little gift set that recipients will appreciate. These items are great for front-desk giveaways, employee appreciation events and trade shows as well.

It’s All About Appreciation

Although traditionally a time devoted to romance, Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to revolve around that for marketing purposes. You can honor it as a day of care and appreciation, and for telling that to your customers and employees.

Just remember, the key is to keep things low key. Valentine’s Day branding works best at a subtle level. Flashy graphics and overly bold phrases are likely to limit the appeal of your products.

Let your color choices do the most to link to the day. Just a bit of pink or red can make your point, and keep your products looking professional.

 Keep your message simple such as “We appreciate you” or even just “Thanks.” Let the message speak for itself, without potentially awkward overtones.

Unless you’re commemorating a very specific event – such as a major anniversary of your organization’s founding – avoid mentioning specific dates. If you want your brand’s appeal to stay relevant all year, keep things as simple as possible.

Benefits All Year Long

Valentine’s Day, like other special days throughout the year, presents unique opportunities and challenges from a marketing perspective. Done right, marketing for those days enables you to connect in a new way with both current and potential customers. Done wrong. It can damage your relationships with customers and in some cases, even drive customers away.

Doing it right means giving customers and staff promotional items that offer them value and function, not just flashy graphics. Keep that in mind and your seasonal branding efforts will reap dividends not just on Valentine’s Day, but all year long.