Ah, Valentine’s Day… The day of love.
Or, more accurately, the day of gifting your partner, your BFF, your dog, or yourself.
According to The National Retail Federation, the average American consumer planned to spend $164.76 on gifts last year, making up a total of $21.8 billion in Valentine’s Day spending.
And there’s no reason why they should stop this year.
Whether you’ve already planned a full-on Valentine’s Day marketing strategy or you’re still preparing your emails, here are nine Valentine’s Day email examples you need to see before the big day.
1. Monki
Many e-commerce brands go all-in on seasonal sales around Valentine’s Day in an effort to beat the post-holiday slump.
But running a big sale and offering huge discounts to everyone isn’t always needed. Using special days like this is a great way to engage your email list and nudge them to check out your store.
A small discount can do the convincing here, as Monki knows well:
Rather than offer a 5 or 10 percent discount, Monki gives its subscribers 14 percent off everything in the spirit of February 14.
Monki’s email is straightforward much like its subject line.
In the email, the fashion retailer introduces its one-day-only offer with a friendly headline: “From us, to u.” The reason for the discount? Because Monki’s subscribers are its forever crush.
Without throwing a big sale or inserting lots of products into the email, the company uses Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to appreciate its customers with a small discount.
Monki’s offer doesn’t need to get any crazier than this. The company is already running a big sale, and reminds you at the bottom of this email that it’s your last chance to shop that sale:
If the first call to action (“save 14%”) hasn’t convinced you yet, the second one (“shop the last chance sale”) might do the trick.
2. MAC Cosmetics
Valentine’s collections and limited edition products aren’t uncommon around this time of year.
But you don’t need a heart-shaped version of each one of your products just to leverage this day. You can use Valentine’s Day to your advantage by curating relevant products from your store and promoting them in an email as MAC Cosmetics does.
The beauty giant uses Valentine’s-themed words in its subject copy such as “love” and “crush” so readers can quickly associate the brand with this day.
Its email follows the same path, as well.
The overall color scheme, email design, and copy play well with Valentine’s Day. In the main part of the email, MAC features a few of its products “full of V-day vibes.”
What MAC does here is put together products with pinkish colors and romantic vibes, and support them with well-written product descriptions.
Red, pink, or white—curate products shoppers can associate with love and package them in a romantic email design. It’s a quick win almost any e-tailer can apply to their Valentine’s Day emails with minimal effort.
3. Snowe
Valentine’s Day is a commercial holiday. This means that many shoppers browse online to find the best gifts for their partners.
With well-thought-out gift guides, you can help overwhelmed shoppers discover amazing gift ideas and sell more products.
That’s what Snowe aimed for with its recent email campaign.
Snowe, a home essentials company, naturally focuses on Valentine’s gifts for the perfect night in.
The company’s gift guide email helps its subscribers find the right gifts for the homebody in their lives based on their interests:
The categorization of gift ideas makes it easy for shoppers to skim through the different options in the email and buy with a few clicks. (Product images help quicken the decision-making process, too.)
Snowe’s email is a perfect example of how to put together a gift guide for Valentine’s Day with little effort. So make sure to categorize your gift ideas by gender, interests, personality, or budget, and don’t overwhelm shoppers with a long list of random products.
4. Brooklinen
While Snowe approaches gift guides from a more conventional angle, Brooklinen takes the fun path.
In one email, the brand promises to solve all your gift-buying problems.
When you open the email, you see a single image—a long gift guide chart to help you find the right gift for the right person.
Brooklinen’s message is clear: no matter who you are shopping for, the e-tailer has the perfect gift for them. I particularly like how the brand turns negative situations into positive ones. If your budget is low, or if “they don’t love your back,” why not gift yourself?
Overall, the email reminds you that Valentine’s Day isn’t only about romantic love or gifting partners, and puts a smile on your face. At the bottom of the email, Brooklinen does something smart:
If you’re still unsure what to buy for your loved ones or you’re pressed for time, Brooklinen suggests you buy them an e-gift card that never expires. This is a brilliant addition you can insert into any seasonal email to drive more gift card sales.
5. Estee Lauder
While Brooklinen chooses a more subtle approach to promoting its gift cards, Estee Lauder dedicates an entire email to promoting them.
Why? Because it’s almost Valentine’s Day, and gift cards are last-minute shoppers’ best friends.
However, rather than stress out last-minute gift shoppers, the beauty company makes a compelling argument:
You may think gift cards are impersonal, but Estee Lauder’s logic is solid: give them a gift they choose themselves. No need to exchange, no frustration.
With three days left to Valentine’s Day, Estee Lauder’s email helps ease your mind by explaining why e-gift cards make brilliant gifts. It’s a zero-risk gift idea, and the recipient will definitely enjoy what they get—all thanks to you.
Estee Lauder repairs the bad reputation of gift cards in its Valentine’s Day email, and it’s a copywriting angle you can easily replicate while driving last-minute purchases in your store.
6. Man Crates
Being subtle and non-salesy is surely nice, but sometimes you do need to drive urgency to get those last-minute orders.
That’s perfectly fine, provided you do it in good taste, as Man Crates does.
There are no marketing tricks or wordplay here; just a straightforward subject line, letting you know that the company’s shipping window for Valentine’s Day orders is soon closing.
You already don’t have much time, so Man Crates is being honest with you. This is what you see when you open the email:
A funny email with lighthearted imagery, written in Man Crates’ signature tone of voice.
The copy reads as if a friend is teasing you for procrastinating and gently reminding you that the time for gift shopping is almost up. Luckily, you don’t need to think about what to buy for the special man in your life because Man Crates got you covered.
Unlike many brands that push you with fake urgency or guilt-tripping, Man Crates takes a funny approach in its last-minute Valentine’s Day email.
If your brand is anything like Man Crates, try using humor to highlight the scarcity of time before any holiday.
7. DavidsTea
Valentine’s Day isn’t for everybody or every brand. Maybe your products have nothing to do with gift ideas or your brand is bold, always challenging the cliches.
Then, follow DavidsTea’s example, reclaim Valentine’s Day, and invite your customers to do the same.
DavidsTea’s subject line isn’t about your significant other, or how they deserve nice gifts. It’s all about you, and how you deserve “l o v e”.
The feel-good subject line makes you wonder what a tea company has to do with your deserving of love. This is what the email looks like:
In it, DavidsTea almost takes a stand against Valentine’s Day. Whether you’re single or not, the brand doesn’t care, and it asks you to do the same.
Valentine’s Day doesn’t need to be about loving others, and DavidsTea encourages you to make this day all about yourself—by purchasing its products. (You also find out that “l o v e” from the subject line is actually an acronym for its products.)
It’s a unique angle you can use in your Valentine’s Day emails to stand out from similar brands. It could work especially well if you’re in the self-care niche or not selling traditionally giftable products.
8. Poo Pourri
If you can find the right angle, it’s almost never too late to use a special day to your advantage.
Poo Pourri hops on the self-love bandwagon with its emails but it does that only after Valentine’s Day.
Sent on February 15, Poo Pourri’s email asks if you got the Valentine’s gifts you were hoping for. The subject line makes you wonder what’s in the email and you open it right away.
Similar to DavidsTea, Poo Pourri makes this day all about self-love and invites you to “treat yourself” whether or not you got any gifts the day before.
Knowing that the beginning of every year is tough—with unfulfilled resolutions and half-new habits—Poo Pourri asks you to take a break and think about yourself for a second. Plus, the $5 discount is there to make things easier for you.
Remember that Poo Pourri’s main products are toilet sprays. Even so, the brand can leverage Valentine’s Day to drive product sales with a creative angle. If it works for Poo Pourri, it can work for you too.
9. Brandless
Not all Valentine’s Day emails have to be about sales, gifts, or promotions.
If you haven’t planned any special marketing campaigns for this day, but still want to benefit from the occasion, Brandless has the perfect idea for you.
At first glance, it looks just like any other marketing email sent around these weeks. The subject line surely fits the Valentine’s theme, but the email isn’t typical:
Rather than talk about romantic love or self-care, the company focuses on the love it gets from its customers and the media. The rest of the email features Brandless’s recent media mentions, as well as a few customer testimonials.
The article’s screenshots (including the media companies’ logos) and the reviews (including customers’ social handles) are authentic and credible.
It’s a brilliant social proof email that Brandless fits into the Valentine’s Day theme. There’s no hard selling or pushy product promotion here. If this day is about sharing love, that’s exactly what the company is doing.
If you’ve been collecting reviews on your site, or on external platforms like Trustpilot, Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse to show the love your brand has been getting.
You may not break your sales record on this day, but you will plant the idea of buying your products in subscribers’ minds.
Conclusion
Whether you’re planning to go all-in or take it easy this Valentine’s Day, these nine creative examples should help inspire your emails for the big day.
Not all ideas work for all brands, but find the closest ones to your voice and try them out this year.
They’ll help you engage your email list, demonstrate social proof, sell more products, and much more.
