Key points in this article:
- Use Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to thank repeat buyers with personalized discounts or small gifts to make them feel appreciated.
- Embrace the playful spirit of the holiday by including light, themed puns in your subject lines and copy to boost engagement.
- Offer special promotions that reward subscribers for referring new customers around Valentine’s Day.
- Help subscribers with gift ideas by curating a selection of products that suit different tastes or budgets.
- Use storytelling and segmented messaging to make your Valentine’s Day emails feel more relevant and emotionally appealing.
For some, February 14th is one of the most romantic times of the year or perhaps simply a day dedicated to love of all kinds, perfect for showing your loved ones that you care. Others are a bit more cynical about Valentine’s Day, finding it corny and commercialized.
Regardless of how you might personally feel about the holiday, there’s no denying its importance for retailers!
Consider that in the US alone, V-Day spending on gifts was expected to amount to around 27.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2025, according to Statista. This is up approximately 6.6% from spending in 2024. What’s more, with the growing popularity of online shopping, a good percentage of this spending will likely occur on the internet.
If you’re an ecommerce entrepreneur, you’ll definitely want to take advantage of this amazing opportunity to boost sales for your business, starting by working on your email marketing strategy. In this article, we provide you with 11 email ideas with examples to inspire the design of your future Valentine’s Day email campaigns, ensuring that Cupid’s arrow reaches your subscribers and causes your conversion rate to skyrocket!
Table of contents
- 1. Reward your loyal customers
- 2. Show off your sense of humor
- 3. Encourage customer referrals
- 4. Create a gift guide
- 5. Avail of retargeting to remind shoppers
- 6. Tell a story
- 7. Add interactive elements to your emails
- 8. Launch a Valentine’s Day giveaway
- 9. Promote gift cards for your online store
- 10. Don’t forget about singles
- 11. Leverage customer content
- Valentine’s Day: Not just for chocolate, flowers, and jewelry!
1. Reward your loyal customers
Any time of the year is great for thanking those shoppers who return to make a purchase from your store again and again. However, with Valentine’s Day being the day of love, it’s the perfect opportunity to reward your loyal customers and show your appreciation.
Make your subscribers feel valued by sending them an email with a discount code or a coupon for a small free gift that they can use when placing an order from your site on February 14th, as shown in this example from Nooch, a company that offers a variety of nutritional yeast blends for sale to use as seasoning for all kinds of dishes.
Source: Really Good Emails
The relationship you have with a loyal customer is something to celebrate, so to make your messages all the more special, don’t hesitate to avail of personalization in both the copy and offers featured in your Valentine’s Day reward emails! L
For instance, using the data you have for your readers, you might send them an email featuring their history with your business, noting when they made their first purchase and how many times they’ve ordered from you in total. o
Don’t forget to let them know how grateful you are for their loyalty to your business by including a heartfelt personalized “thank you” in the email.
2. Show off your sense of humor
While some holidays and events that occur during the year call for a more serious approach, Valentine’s Day is much more open ended, so you should feel free to explore your creative side.
People tend to expect a certain level of corniness with February 14th, so why not embrace it by sharing your best puns or wordplay in the subject lines or main copy of your next Cupid-inspired email campaign?
In your email subject lines, the copy of your email, or both, a splash of humor, as demonstrated by food delivery company Goldbelly below, is sure to be something that your subscribers will appreciate and help to boost engagement with your messages.
Source: Really Good Emails
With your target audience and the products you sell in mind, share your best puns tied to hearts, candy, love, Cupid, etc.—the cheesier, the better in my opinion!
To help inspire you, here are a few ideas for fun email subject lines in the Valentine’s Day theme:
- “We’re Smitten With These Deals 🩷😍”
- “Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue… These Deals Are Sweet, Just Like You 💌”
- “Love Is in the Air… and So Are These Discounts 💘✨”
- “Be Mine? 💖 Or at Least Grab These Valentine’s Deals 😉”
- “You’ve Got a Pizza Our Heart 🍕❤️ (+ Some Sweet Deals)”
- “We ❤️ You a Latte—Enjoy These Valentine’s Specials ☕💘”
- “No Strings Attached—Just Major Valentine’s Savings 💝”
- “Swipe Right on These Valentine’s Day Deals 💕👉”
- “Our Love Language? Discounts 💌🛍”
- “Single, Taken, or Shopping—These Deals Are for You 💘🎁”
3. Encourage customer referrals
In addition to using your Valentine’s Day email campaigns to boost sales from your existing customers, you can employ them to attract new shoppers as well.
Include an exclusive promotion in your emails for V-Day that allows your buyers to benefit by referring other people to your online store.
To get inspired, check out this email from GasBuddy, which encourages subscribers to refer a friend in exchange for a savings of $0.15 per gallon for successful referrals.
Source: Really Good Emails
For example, you might send your current customers a Valentine’s email detailing a special offer that makes it possible for them to obtain points or a discount that can be redeemed against future purchases for every successful referral.
If you already have a referral program in place, you could temporarily increase the benefits for referrals made, say, before Valentine’s Day or all throughout the month of February.
Just be sure that your messaging is clear so that readers can quickly scan the email and be able to understand what they need to enjoy the rewards of your referral offer.
To sweeten the deal for potential customers, you might also create a special discount for their first order when they start shopping on your website.
4. Create a gift guide
Although Valentine’s Day may not bring in quite as many sales as Christmas, it’s still a pretty big day for giving gifts. This means that e-merchants like yourself have the chance to bring in some serious revenue if you apply some strategic marketing techniques.
Keep in mind that some of your email subscribers may be feeling clueless as to what gifts to give to their Valentines when February 14th rolls around. Help them out by creating a gift guide featuring products from your online store to appeal to everybody on their list, as exemplified below by clothing retailer American Apparel.
Source: American Apparel
No matter what you sell, consider how you can categorize your offerings for the right target, such as by budget, interests, etc.
In addition, while you may be tempted to fill your email with as many of your products as possible, avoid overwhelming your readers by keeping the list of items in your gift guide to a minimum and going for a simple design.
A well-targeted selection of products with high-quality images is going to be much more effective than dozens of random goods thrown together on the page!
5. Avail of retargeting to remind shoppers
Sometimes people may have previously shown interest in your products and just need a little reminder to return to your online store to complete a purchase.
Take advantage of your email campaigns for Valentine’s Day to retarget these particular shoppers and boost sales for your website.
To start, you may very well find that your online store has a high cart abandonment rate, as abandoned shopping carts are an issue for most ecommerce businesses. For any number of reasons, your site visitors may add items to their carts and then leave before finalizing their orders.
Aim to bring these consumers back by preparing an abandoned cart email message preceding Valentine’s Day to let people know that they still have items in their carts and remind them that February 14th is quickly approaching.
You can also leverage retargeting to send messages to those in your contact list who haven’t opened your earlier emails and/or haven’t yet made a purchase from your store and remind them to place their orders by a specific date to get them in time for Valentine’s Day, like we see here at the top of this email from shoe brand Aldo.
Source: Really Good Emails
Consider also adding a special offer, such as a free shipping or a discount code, to convert these contacts into loyal buyers!
6. Tell a story
Storytelling is a powerful technique that you’ll definitely want to make use of in various areas of your marketing strategy all throughout the year, in everything from your welcome email, confirmation email, and social media content to your Christmas emails and your email campaigns for Valentine’s Day.
Thoughtfully crafted copywriting can do wonders for helping readers to better imagine having a product in front of them and using it for themselves, as we’ve seen in many successful newsletter examples.
The type of story you tell is of course going to depend on what you sell and your particular audience. You might opt to stay on theme and tell a love story, but remember that it doesn’t need to entail romantic love!
Perhaps instead you’ll opt to share tales from happy customers who’ve had a great experience with your business or write an uplifting message to inspire your readers. You could alternatively explain the backstory behind the creation of one of the products you have for sale or even interesting facts about Valentine’s Day that readers may enjoy.
Another approach is to encourage your customers to share their own love stories. Work on creating a special branded hashtag that people can use when sharing their stories on social media and propose your idea in your newsletter.
Great storytelling can also involve simply adding a few words of compelling copy in the email message you send, as shown in this example of a Valentine’s Day campaign by cosmetics company Benefit below. Here, the makeup brand makes excellent use of verbiage tied to love, including terms such as “perfect pair,” “find your match,” “major duo,” and “power couple” to push readers to purchase product bundles.
Source: Benefit
7. Add interactive elements to your emails
Your company’s emails are likely to not be the only ones your subscribers receive around Valentine’s Day.
To help your sendings stand out from the competition and make them more memorable, consider adding interactive elements that encourage engagement in the content of your sendings, such as Liebherr’s invitation for email subscribers to design their own fridge, displayed below.
Source: Really Good Emails
For example, say that you sell candles on your online store. When brainstorming content for your Valentine’s Day email campaign, you might embed a quiz in your newsletter, asking users a series of questions that allow them to find out the best candle scents for their specific V-Day vibe.
Other possible interactive elements to think about including in your emails are games and videos, perhaps featuring a special message from you or your team to wish subscribers a happy Valentine’s Day.
8. Launch a Valentine’s Day giveaway
Everybody loves a freebie, and Valentine’s Day is an excellent time of year to spread the love and show your appreciation for your customers by launching a giveaway that allows your email subscribers to win a prize.
With this strategy, your brand will be able to spark engagement and increase festive cheer in a way that feels fun, generous, and memorable.
A giveaway, like the one shown in the example from Postable here, gives your subscribers an exciting reason to open your email, participate, and share the love with friends or on social media, which can increase your reach and grow your audience before the big day.
Source: Really Good Emails
When launching a giveaway for your audience, be sure to pick a prize that resonates with the occasion, e.g., romantic gift bundles or experiences, and keep rules simple so participation feels easy and fun.
Then, when it comes to promoting the giveaway via your email newsletter, aim to promote it early and clearly in the subject line and email body. In addition, you can encourage sharing by asking subscribers to tag friends or use a special hashtag to enter.
A giveaway is of course a promotion for your brand, but it’s also a playful way to connect emotionally and show appreciation for your community!
9. Promote gift cards for your online store
Some people view gift cards as not being the most personal of items to give somebody, whether a loved one or an acquaintance.
However, gift cards, either in a physical or electronic format, can admittedly be a real lifesaver for consumers who’ve waited until the last minute to do their Valentine’s Day shopping or aren’t sure what to buy.
According to Statista data, the average amount spent per person on gift cards for Valentine’s Day in the US has risen quite a bit in recent years. While this amount was $10.31 in 2019, it increased approximately 67% in just three years, reaching $17.22 in 2022.
With this in mind, it makes sense to not just offer gift cards for purchase but promote them in your V-Day emailings, like Nike does in the following example.
Source: Really Good Emails
10. Don’t forget about singles
Traditionally a holiday celebrated by couples in love, Valentine’s Day can sometimes be a less-than-fun time for people who aren’t in a relationship. There’s a reason why it’s also referred to as “Singles Awareness Day” or why some people opt to celebrate “Anti-Valentine’s Day.”
That being said, an increasing number of people are using Valentine’s Day to celebrate all kinds of love, including self-love, and brands are taking note and adapting their marketing campaigns accordingly.
There’s a fairly good chance that a decent percentage of your customers are unattached, so it’s important for you to keep this in mind when creating content for your V-Day newsletters.
Why not use your Valentine’s Day email campaign to encourage subscribers to treat themselves on this day of love and buy gifts for themselves, like in the example from Remy shown below?
Source: Remy
This may be just what shoppers need to return to your site and move an item from their “Favorites” to their shopping cart!
11. Leverage customer content
Including customer-generated content in your Valentine’s Day emails is a brilliant way to make your campaigns feel more human, authentic, and emotionally resonant, which is just the kind of feel-good energy people expect around February 14th.
Real photos, quotes, or stories from your customers act as social proof, showing your audience that others love your brand and use your products in meaningful ways.
This builds trust, encourages engagement, and helps your offers land with heart rather than hard sell.
Take inspiration from this Valentine’s Day email from eyewear retailer Warby Parker for instance.
Source: Warby Parker
When subscribers see that others have had great experiences, it increases confidence and drives clicks and conversions.
To nail this strategy, keep these tips in mind:
- Choose content that tells a story—think real Valentine’s moments, creative product uses, or heartfelt notes from customers.
- Pair visuals with a clear CTA so inspiration leads straight to action.
- Keep it inclusive and relevant—highlight diverse stories that speak to all kinds of love.
- Ask for permission and credit contributors to strengthen community feeling.
Done well, customer content makes your Valentine’s Day emails feel personal, trusted, and irresistible.
Valentine’s Day: Not just for chocolate, flowers, and jewelry!
When you think of Valentine’s Day gifts, traditional examples like chocolate, flowers, and jewelry may first come to mind.
While these products are still quite popular options for gift-giving shoppers, the holiday dedicated to love offers all ecommerce businesses a great opportunity to boost sales, regardless of what they sell.
To give your online store the greatest chance of success, having an excellent email marketing strategy in place is key.
Hopefully the newsletter ideas mentioned in this article will inspire you as you plan and design your future email campaigns, assisting you in creating engaging content that will encourage people to read your messages, attract new shoppers to your business and make your current customers fall in love with your brand all over again!
