Using St. Valentine’s Day as touchpoint for brand love and loyalty
By Felicia Nwosu
It’s Valentine, and time to dish out those Valentine’s Day promotional ideas and strategies that will endear your customers to you for a very long time. Remember, it is not only to win new customers, but a way of wooing your existing customers to let them know how much your brand appreciates them, as most businesses seem to run after new customers at the expense of the existing loyal ones.
Marketing experts always advise brands to be careful on how to treat their customers positing that it costs 7x more to obtain a new customer than to keep an existing one. It is good to take note of the environment, as it is filled with fragrance of love, and who says you cannot grab this opportunity to express the season with your customers?
As a brand that wants to stand at the centre of the stage, you must continue to do the unusual in order to win the heart of your loyal and numerous customers.
Ozoemena Mbanefo, founder of Nigeria’s foremost adschool of brands and marketing communications, Oxygen Academy, once said: “Who you know and what you know will open doors for you.” According to him, “the most powerful is whom you know and how you service the relationship, because people won’t care about your business until they know how much you care about them”. For Mr. Mbanefo, going beyond the line of duty will help people to not just see you for what you do for them as a professional, but what you do for them as a person.” In fact, he is an advocate of the corporate maxim, “Your network is your networth.”
Use this opportunity to allow your customers connect emotionally with your brand, let them feel you, give out gifts, love them up and have them remember your brand, business, hotel, agency, restaurant, or venue for meaningful and impactful reason, because your brand has made them to feel valued and special as well as inspire them to jump at the chance to do business with your brand in the future.
1. Use Facebook and Twitter to send messages of affection to your customers.
Always remember special days and months of your clients, it means so much to them.
February, is known to be the month of love, so every day in February, for 28 or 29 days, put blog, Facebook posts and Tweets out into the social media, this will help convey some measure of your affection for customers, a customer service promise or another customer care oriented message. And create a special Valentine’s Day email to send to your contacts on February 14th. There is no better ways for a brand to say “I love you” to your customers! You can introduce a topic with hash tag, to keep it more interesting and engaging’
2. Create your own set of coupons with Valentine’s Day love theme
On your own, conceptualize your own Valentine’s Day, “I owe You” ( IOUs) in the form of bounce back offers distributed at the point of sale, via email and social media redeemable for a gift with purchase, discount or add on the next time they buy from your business.
3. Organise or hold a 14 days of Valentines contest or give away
To thrill them more, ensure that, every day from February 1-14,you hold a contest or drawing to give away an inexpensive but desirable product, service, add on or even a branded coffee, water or travel mug, t-shirt or another branded tchotchke. Put together a grand prize for the February 14th drawing (such as a gift basket, collection with one of each of the items given away previously, larger ticket item, etc.)
4. Do not ignore the Singles
The fact that these group have their own personal love fiesta already scheduled with their loved ones, is not an excuse to exclude them in your plan.
The singles among your client base may well be sick of all the talk of love and romance. Cater to them by way of a romance-free shopping event or go the other direction and hold singles shopping hour mixers. Include a few love-cynical quotes on Facebook and Twitter. Or celebrate with special offers on February 15th,you can just tag the day anything, as far as it conveys your message of love.
5. Take time for introspection and show some love to your employees
Teamwork is important in a project like this, so involve your employees, especially those who see themselves as aligned and connected with the brand and culture of the business where they work, are easy to work with, because they are happier, and more likely to deliver exceptional customer service and also to proactively resolve customer’s problems (or even go out of their way to prevent them). Your customers are much more likely to feel ‘loved’ by your business when your employees do that as well.
On the D-day, send Valentines or notes of appreciation to your staff, commending their personal traits and talents you appreciate. Post customer raves on social media and in employee break and lunch areas. Hold a Valentine’s Day luncheon or send chocolates or flowers to each at home.
6. Put Cupid to work in your business
It’s a special day, remember, so solicit a staff volunteer to dress as Cupid and stand inside or outside of your business, distributing business cards, special offers, branded pens or promotional items, etc. Or hold a Cupid-hosted Valentine’s Day open house, extended shopping hours for VIP or loyalty club customers or another special event
7. Send Valentines to people who need and deserve them
Collect or create Valentines to be given to soldiers, seniors, cancer patients or another deserving group. Ask customers to bring signed Valentines or hold a do-it-yourself Valentine craft workshop for kids (of all ages). Feature the project in a press release and in stories on your website, social media, email newsletter and blog.
8. Live out the spirit of Valentine’s Day
Donate a portion of proceeds or proceeds from the sales of specific products or services to a local deserving charity, just like Marketing Edge Publications Ltd. does. And don’t forget to tell people about the good works that you do for charity or in your community in communications by sharing it in your website, blog, in email newsletters and on social media.
9. Get closer to your customers and prospects
In any business, brand/ customer relationship, feedback is very important. Do a customer service survey. Solicit customer comments, raves, reviews and other feedback, carrying out a focus group those customers you know have been loyal al through the years, to discuss one or more aspects of the customer experience which could be improved. Use customer or child-created Valentine arts and crafts to decorate within your business and feature them in photos on your website, email newsletter, social media and your blog.
10. Reward your best customers
Because it is a special day, you can increase or double loyalty points or rewards for all purchases, your most loyal customers, club members or double up rewards or points when customers purchase specific products or services in February. Extend a special offer such as a free or reduced-price add on, gift with purchase or another incentive to your best customers or loyalty reward members. Send a Valentine to your most loyal customers by mail or email.
Love is an action word and must be demonstrated with authenticity, integrity and value, while you wait for your investment to grow and yield endlessly
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