5 of the best Valentine’s Day marketing campaigns

Valentine’s Day is a chance for businesses of all shapes and sizes to connect with their customers in a variety of innovative ways. 

It’s the perfect opportunity to create a buzz amongst your audience, letting your customers know they’re valued and spreading brand awareness far and wide.

Here are five prime examples of big brands who have leveraged the love in their marketing campaigns:

Dunkin’ Donuts 

We all love a little gift on Valentine’s Day, especially in the form of donuts! Dunkin’ Donuts has established a loyal customer base over the years and used this to their advantage by creating a user-generated Valentine’s campaign on social media.

The brand invited its customers to compete in a Dunkin’ Love contest which encouraged competitors to share their donuts via Instagram, streaming on Facebook, and through dedicated geo-filters on Snapchat, accessible from a number of their locations.

The campaign showcased their delicious Valentine-themed donuts, all through their biggest advocates – the customers.

Google

Google harnessed the power of storytelling in their 2009 Valentine’s marketing campaign, which told the romantic tale of ‘girl meets boy’, all through the simple visual of the Google search bar, along with some of their most popular search terms.

Grammarly

Grammarly, the online grammar checker, embraced the spirit of Valentine’s Day by encouraging its users to ditch the flowers & chocolate, and instead opt for the age-old art of writing a love letter, stating “Love letters may be a dying art in the digital age, but there’s a reason they’ve been around for millennia” – followed by a step-by-step guide on crafting the perfect love letter.

Match.com and Starbucks 

In 2015, dating app Match teamed up with Starbucks in the ultimate Valentine’s campaign. The two brands aimed to create the ‘World’s Largest Starbucks Date’. Match.com added a special ‘Meet at Starbucks’ button to their app, enabling members to schedule in their coffee dates, while the participating Starbucks’ locations featured romantic music, menu specials, and photo props to set the mood.

Travelex 

Another great example of using user-generated content to your advantage, is Travelex’s 2018 Valentine’s campaign. The company hosted an online contest, encouraging couples from around the world to share their most romantic travel photos using the hashtag #TravelexKiss. The best snap would be rewarded a trip for two to Paris.

We hope these Valentine’s marketing campaigns help to spark some inspiration for your next marketing campaign – no matter what the occasion. Why not head to our Twitter page to share your favourite Valentine’s campaign?