Valentine’s Day is an opportunity for brands to capture gift and self-treat sales and show their customers they care. How can you use Valentine’s Day email marketing campaigns to delight your subscribers and boost conversions? Find all the information you need, plus our favorite examples of Valentine’s Day subject lines and emails in this guide.
It’s time to wake up, sleepyhead! Valentine’s Day is coming, and you must warm up your subscribers with Valentine’s Day emails that tempt and delight.
Shake off your post-Christmas drowsiness and turn your mind to thoughts of love because your subscribers need to start looking for that perfect gift for their perfect someone, and they’ll need your help.
Valentine’s Day is the first major shopping event of the new year and second only to Mother’s Day and Thanksgiving through the Christmas shopping season as a consumer spending marathon.
This celebration of love is an opportunity for your brand to shower your customers with attention and give your Q1 revenue a healthy boost. Sixty-two percent of US shoppers polled by RetailMeNot said they plan to shop during Valentine’s Day sales events.
How will you catch people’s eye in the inbox, win their affections and earn their loyalty with your Valentine’s Day email campaigns?
We’d love to help you with that.
Check out this collection of enchanting Valentine’s email examples and subject lines, plus our top tips and best practices for creating Valentine’s Day email marketing campaigns your subscribers will adore
14 Tips for Creating Irresistible Valentine’s Day Campaigns (+24 Valentine’s Email and Subject Line Examples)
Winning the hearts and dollars of this Valentine season’s savvy shoppers won’t be easy. Email marketers will need to deploy all their skills and assets to impress subscribers. Follow these tips and best practices to be the one that they want and earn their attention in the inbox.
💓 Set your Valentine’s Day campaign objectives before you design your emails
At the heart of every successful email campaign is a sound plan. Identifying the ”who, what, when, and how” of your Valentine’s Day emails starts well before your messages arrive in inboxes to surprise and delight subscribers.
Start by identifying what your Valentine’s Day theme will be and your email campaign objectives. Define your conversion goals and KPIs.
Once you have this framework in place, narrow down the details, such as which and how many segments you’ll target, the number of messages you’ll include in your campaigns, and when those messages will be sent.
🏹 Get creative when building your Valentine’s Day segments. Your email subscribers may be celebrating Galentine’s Day, Palatine’s Day, or Anti-Valentine’s Day and they may be shopping for themselves or their pets instead of a romantic partner.
In 2023, 52% of US shoppers told NRF that they planned to celebrate (and shop for) Valentine’s Day. Another 28% of survey respondents said they’d mark the occasion by buying anti-Valentine’s gifts, treating themselves, or getting together with friends.
💓Coordinate your Valentine’s Day marketing campaigns across channels
Today’s consumers move between channels with ease and expect you to keep up.
Avoid sending mixed messages or miscommunicating shipping deadlines and discounts by building omni-channel campaigns. Include both online and offline activities and use your email campaigns to promote social media engagement and real-world or virtual pop-up stores, events, or brand activations.
💓 Offer subscribers the choice to opt–out of Valentine’s Day email messages
Some people prefer not to think about Valentine’s Day and other holidays because they may trigger negative emotions.
In a survey regarding consumers’ reactions to email marketing, Capterra found that 7% of consumers felt negative emotions related to one or more seasonal campaigns (including Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and the back-to-school shopping season).
It may seem counterintuitive to volunteer to not market to people, but doing so will strengthen your relationships with subscribers and build brand loyalty. Capterra’s survey also revealed that among consumers not personally affected by seasonal campaigns, 81% were impressed by brands that expressed empathy by offering people the choice to opt-out.
When sending your opt-out messages, express empathy but keep your message and design simple. You don’t need to list the reasons someone might want to opt out and shouldn’t use holiday-themed colors or graphics in your opt-out messages.
Help your subscribers avoid this awkward interaction altogether by using your email sign-up thank you page or preference and consent management center to let subscribers tell you which holiday emails they want to receive instead of choosing the ones they don’t want to hear about.
Here are several examples of Valentine’s Day opt-out emails that put subscribers in control of their inboxes.
💌 Nio Cocktails gives a nod to the Thoughtfulness Movement, which is credited with starting the holiday opt-out movement, in this email with the subject line, “Valentine’s not for you? – Opt-out here…”
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This opt-out message is signed by the brand’s CRM manager and prominently displays a contact email address emphasizing that communication with the brand goes two ways. Using merge tags personalizes the greeting, and the design is simple with minimal HTML which is appropriate for the tone of the message.
💌 Valentine’s Day is an important season for stationery, card, and gift shops like Paperchase. But the brand doesn’t let the significance of the season prevent it from considering its subscribers’ feelings. This opt-out message is brief and to the point, offering subscribers an out with empathy.
The subject line and preview text for this message were, “We know Valentine’s isn’t for everyone – Let us know if you’d prefer not to receive any Valentine’s Day…”
The brand avoided sending a mixed message by using distinctly non-Valentine’s colors for this message. Also, the large CTA button with a clear message allows recipients to understand the message and take action without having to dwell on the copy.
💌 Novelty baking retailer Baked In’s opt-out email offers subscribers a menu of seasonal opt-out options. The colorful email maintains the brand’s cheery tone of voice, while acknowledging that holidays aren’t fun for everyone.
Baked In’s subject line, “Hey, can we just ask?” is deferential yet light. Inside, this holiday opt-out invitation allows subscribers to head off future discomfort with separate CTA buttons linking to Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day opt-out landing pages.
💓Understand your audience before crafting your Valentine’s Day emails
While Valentine’s Day began as a celebration of romantic love, the holiday has expanded to be an inclusive celebration of affection for family, friends, and community.
Finding the right balance for your brand’s messaging can be challenging, especially when it comes to topics like romance. Your Valentine’s Day messaging can either be general enough to appeal to everyone or tailored to match your audience’s distinctive point of view.
Knowing your audience (and creating segments) will help you ensure your message hits the mark. The Valentine’s day email examples below illustrate how a targeted approach has the potential to include everyone in your Valentine’s Day emails.
💌 AeroGrow makes its pitch for singles. The day after Valentine’s Day is Single Awareness Day but most marketers don’t wait until after Valentine’s Day to approach their single subscribers with promotions and support.
This message with a subject line and preview text saying, “Single Awareness Day Doesn’t have to Succ – Treat Yo’ Self to Year Round Flowers | 50% OFF,” was sent to subscribers on February 5 so they could place their order and get delivery in time to celebrate their singledom.
Filled with images of the colorful flowers customers can grow with the brand’s seed pod and growing kits, the copy of this email is fun and encouraging.
After repeating the subject line and preview text, a secondary header says, “Dear Cupid: Forget the romance, just send flowers.”
Cute.
Additional copy such as “Fall in love with yourself,” “treat yourself to some homegrown flowers,” and “It’s true you don’t need to have a Valentine to celebrate #selflove!” continue the email’s supportive theme. That hashtag in the copy is one that subscribers may use when they accept this email’s pre-footer invite to join the brand’s community on social media.
💌 Lucky Brand celebrates romance in its fragrance promotion introduced with a subject line and preview text saying, “Love Is In The Air With New Fragrances for Valentine’s Day – Order With Ground Shipping TODAY To Get Your Gifts By 2/14.”
How each person pictures romance and relationships is different and including every ideal in a single email would be hard to do. Lucky Brand uses an animated GIF to illustrate different couples in this “Lucky Valentine: Love at First Scent” email campaign.
The copy inside this Valentine’s Day email sticks to the romantic theme, inviting subscribers to “Fall head over heels for our exclusive assortment of tops, tees, dresses, and accessories,” while reminding them to “order today to get it by Valentine’s Day.”
💌 Craft Beer Club celebrates romance (in its own way). The theme of this email is Valentine’s Day but humor takes center stage in this mostly text email from Craft Beer Club. The inbox copy sets the stage with the subject line, “Romance advice: *pours a glass of beer.*”
The brand notes that Valentine’s Day is only 18 days away so people who have a significant other (SO) or just want to get a gift for themselves need to get moving.
The copy then asks if recipients think a gift like chocolate or flowers that doesn’t last is “how you want to celebrate your undying love and grand admiration for your significant other, and/or yourself?”
“Hell, no!” the copy continues, asserting that recipients and their SO’s “deserve to enjoy endless romance that is reinvigorated each and every month like clockwork,” with a beer of the month delivery.
I have to admit, I’m intrigued. Maybe a coffee of the month plan for me, though.
The email also offers some options for those who wait until the last minute to order their subscriptions. They can opt for expedited shipping or download a card that announces their gift. Keepin’ it classy. 🍻
⚠️Although tailoring your message based on demographic and psychographic information helps you deliver personalized emails that are more relevant and provide value to subscribers, there are risks to getting it wrong.
Look at your customer behavior data, sentiment and feedback analysis, and the results of your multivariate testing to help you avoid making inaccurate assumptions about your list members.
💓 Build Valentine’s Day anticipation with reminder emails before the big date
Valentine’s Day may be a one-day event but your Valentine’s Day marketing season lasts much longer. Valentine’s Day email campaigns may begin as early as January and extend through a post-Valentine’s Day promotion.
Select the best timing for your campaigns by evaluating your data.
Map your customer’s journey and identify their usual buying cycle. Then factor in external conditions such as supply chain issues and seasonal demand.
For instance, if you are marketing a restaurant or event venue with limited Valentine’s Day inventory, give your subscribers an early reminder to make their reservations. With a legitimate cause to promote scarcity, this may be a good opportunity to leverage exclusivity or reward loyalty.
Consider sending out a special early-reservation invitation to your VIP customers.
This strategy also ensures that you don’t miss an opportunity to convert those who plan ahead. (I’m not personally familiar with this life strategy but I hear it happens.)
B2B brands offering Valentine’s products for resell have to get ahead of the rush, too.
💌 Who better to kick off Valentine’s Day email marketing than a greeting card shop?
Before subscribers rang in the new year, Los Angeles-based Red Cap Cards sent a “Valentine’s Day mini-release” announcement encouraging people on its mailing list to place their orders soon for these specially designed Valentine cards.
With Valentine’s cards as their product, choosing the hero image for this email message seems almost too easy. You can use your products to achieve a similar effect. Play with different combinations of product colors and shapes to communicate your holiday theme and showcase your merchandise.
Not sure if your image will strike the right note with subscribers?
Real-time A/B testing can help you make the call. For example, Red Cap Cards could try different Valentine cards for the hero image or trial a single card image versus an array of cards.
Red Cap Cards sells its cards to individuals and resellers. This email’s message, “Don’t forget to place your Valentine’s Day order soon,” works for both its B2C and B2B audiences. Using a message with broad appeal is a good strategy for communicating with new subscribers when you have limited information. Once you learn more about your list members, use segmentation to tailor your message to their needs.
Besides choosing which day to begin your email campaigns, consider also what time of day to send your messages to maximize their effectiveness. This too will require looking at your customer and performance data to pinpoint the best time to send emails. You may discover that your subscribers have distinctive behavior patterns that merit creating “time to send” segments.
💓Heighten The Allure of Your Valentine’s Day Subject Lines With These Tips and Best Practices
Think of your Valentine’s Day subject lines and preview texts as that BFF that introduces you to that person you’ve been dying to meet. They’re your best route to earning the open.
Use the themes of the season along with the best email subject line strategies to convince subscribers to choose your messages from among all the suitors in their inboxes.
To ensure the appeal of your inbox copy,
- Keep your subject line short and sweet. If your subscribers are viewing your messages on mobile, they may only see the first 40 characters or so. Those first 40 characters are where you want to put the good stuff that will make them want to read more.
- Add color and draw people’s eyes to your inbox line with Valentine’s themed emojis. Think beyond red hearts and select emojis that complement your copy.
⚠️ Be careful about how you use emojis in your subject lines and preview text. If your emojis don’t render, will your inbox copy still make sense? Visit our guide to emojis in email to find out how to avoid emoji errors.
- Employ A/B testing, predictive analysis and other tools to evaluate which subject lines (and subject line elements) work best. Numbers, capital letters, questions, emojis, punctuation and the tone of your subject lines and preheader text are worthy of your consideration.
💓Customize your Valentine’s Day preview text to complement your subject lines
Make the most of your space in the inbox by crafting preview text that continues the story your Valentine’s Day subject line starts. Add emojis or non-essential details that can further entice your subscribers to open your message.
Use HTML code to designate and format your preview text. If you don’t, many email clients will just take whatever appears first in your email’s copy, which could be something unexciting like, “View in Browser.”
The brands displayed in the inbox image below used a mix of methods to attract subscribers to their Valentine’s Day offers.
💓 Keep the romance alive with a series of Valentine’s Day marketing emails
If only you knew exactly when each person on your mailing list was going to shop. But alas, the heart is fickle and unpredictable. You can get some idea of when your subscribers might be ready to make a Valentine’s Day decision by looking at your performance data. But still, it’s best to not count on a single email to win over selective shoppers.
When planning your Valentine’s campaigns, develop a series of complementary emails that will nudge your subscribers forward on their buyer’s journeys. Don’t forget to update your triggered and transactional email templates to include Valentine-themed promotions and CTAs!
💌Starting with a kickoff message on February 4 announcing that the “VDay gift shop is officially open,” skincare brand Biossance engaged subscribers through the Valentine’s Day shopping season with a series of engaging subject lines and enticing offers.
My favorite subject lines from this sequence are, “Ditch the flowers for this one-of-a-kind rose,” for a message promoting a rose oil product, and “Outdo Cupid with the best gifts in the game” for the messaging promoting the brand’s Valentine’s gift shop. The February 14 cap to this series includes a thank-you message and a $25 gift promotion.
💓 Use Valentine’s Day email templates to streamline your production process
You may have noticed that the Biossance email series I shared uses the same imagery for more than one message. This is one way to speed production and maintain a consistent style across a long campaign.
You can change up your messages’ design and copy while still using a standardized set of templates. Just swap out the panels or backgrounds to customize your email. Sticking with your standard header and footer helps prevent errors such as typos, broken links or missing information in these important sections of your email messages.
Prepare your Valentine’s Day email templates by employing all your email newsletter design and copy best practices. Then, pass these templates through all your standard quality assurance checks so that they are updated and ready to use for any holiday or event.
Here’s an example of another brand that adjusts its newsletter template to acknowledge the Valentine season.
💌 In a special Valentine’s Day email blast, LoveCrafts sends subscribers a heart-filled message complete with an animated GIF, 20% off discount and free craft patterns.
Staying on theme from start to finish, the subject line for this email announces, “We love you! Open for a Valentine’s treat 💘” and the discount code is “LoveLetterUs.”
LoveCrafts adds a seasonal touch to many of its newsletters, including the one pictured below that was introduced with the subject line: “It’s Palentine’s Day Share 20% Off With Your Pals! – FREE Patterns for #GreatYarnChallenge >.”
This day before Valentine’s Day newsletter blast invites subscribers to “Refer and friend” and “share the joy of making!” Both referrer and referred receive 20% discounts as rewards. The newsletter also includes the brand’s regular promotions and navigation blocks.
💓 Work your products, services, or brand style into your Valentine’s Day template designs
If your brand’s style isn’t very Valentine-y, you may not want to use traditional Valentine’s Day colors for your email’s design. There are options outside the traditional color palette and hearts and flowers.
For instance, Shutterstock’s Grace Fussell shares a stunning collection of color alternatives in her article, 10 Non-Traditional Valentine’s Day Color Palettes.
Some brands use copy alone to communicate their Valentine’s theme, while others use their products, animated GIFs or other design elements to set their message’s tone.
Selecting seasonally appropriate products, or items in traditional Valentine’s Day colors to display in your emails communicates your holiday theme without the need for words.
Take a look at these examples of brands expressing their distinctive styles in their Valentine’s Day email designs.
💌 Anthropologie tells a love story with product staging. Anthropologie UK uses a combination of product selections, staging, design accents and fonts to create a romantic feel for the Valentine’s Day newsletter pictured below. The effect is subtle and allows subscribers to imagine their own love story featuring the curated products.
This newsletter’s subject line invites subscribers to pick something for themselves or send someone else a hint. It says, “forward this to your Valentine… – 20% OFF In-Stock Upgrades, ends Tonight!”
Champagne flutes, perfumes, vases are among the suggested gifts. The staging of these images was well-thought out. A selection of initial charms are arranged to spell the word “amore.”
The light CTA above the navigation panel includes the brand’s Valentine’s tagline, “Love is in the air” and invites subscribers to “visit the Valentine’s Day Shop.”
💌 Jane GIFs subscribers a preview of Valentine’s gift ideas. Valentine’s Day colors? Check. Treat yourself entreaty? Check. Valentine’s Day themed gift suggestions? Check that, too.
Gift and clothing retailer Jane.com invites subscribers to “Make this V-Day an I-<3-Me-Day” with a selection of gifts for $14 and under for “you, you, & you.”
The subject line and preview text of this Valentine email newsletter encourage opens with the copy, ”Give yourself a treat today – Snag cuties under $14!”
Inside this email, the top product panel includes heart–framed product image GIFs that rotate through items such as personalized bags, heart-shaped jewelry and accessories and red nail polish.
The brand also gets a head start of upcoming holidays introducing St. Patrick’s Day and Easter goods in subsequent panels.
💌Lucious colors and animated details bring Erika PeñA’s Valentine’s Day promotion to life.
I confess, I’m a sucker for a pretty dress (on my wife, of course). But I think even an anti-fashionista would have to be intrigued by this beautifully designed Valentine from the Erika PeñA Boutique.
“Happy Valentine’s Day to you…– Valentine’s 20% off gift inside. Your Goddess energy starts here.”
The VALENTINE copy behind the hero image and the playing cards in this email are both animated GIFs. The email’s message to recipients? “It’s time to own your Goddess energy… with powerful thoughts of self-love, deep gratitude and appreciation for the beauty of being You.”
There’s also a nice 20% off offer with the code: VALENTINADAY.
The color choices for this email are a knockout. They embrace the colors of the season, then take them to new depths. The effect is attractive and product-focused.
💌 Dylan’s Candy Bar email presents a classic Valentine’s gift in a classic shape. With such a perfect Valentine’s Day gift, what more needs to be said. Limited copy paired with bright images present an irresistible combination in this sweet Valentine’s promotion from a bulk candy and gift shop.
This email’s subject line, “Make Their Heart Sparkle!” has a double meaning. Customers can customize a heart–shaped gift of candy (complete with sparkly wrappers) for their Valentine at this brand’s candy store.
The email introduces several Valentine’s appropriate candy gifts and sticks to the company’s bright color palette while emphasizing Valentine-related hues of pink, red and purple.
💌 This promotional email from watch seller Triwa skips the traditional Valentine’s Day color scheme.
This email opens with a subject line that says, “Celebrate love with 20% off – code VALENTINES20.”
Inside, two hands placed to shape a heart image are the focal point of the email’s bold, minimalist hero image. In case viewers miss it, the overlaid words “Celebrate LOVE” hint at the shape of a heart, too.
The dark-toned watches that models are wearing contrasts nicely with the background and white text in the graphic. More product selections are featured below the image and the “Valentine’s Treat” in this email is 20% off with the code “Valentines20.”
💓Charm your audience with copy that embraces a Valentine-related theme
Valentine’s Day offers you an opportunity to let your creative spirit free.
This is a holiday made for puns, poetry and everything in between. Capture recipients’ attention and click-throughs with witty wordplay, wry humor, luscious language and joyful affirmations.
Phrases referring to the heart are popular for Valentine’s message and Cupid appears often, too. Brands want to help Cupid, help you impress Cupid, or beat Cupid. Love, jealousy, passion, friendship and self-love are all potential Valentine’s themes.
For example, in keeping with the holiday theme, shoe brand Nine West used the phrase “Currently coveting” to highlight the featured item in this Valentine’s email blast.
💌 Gillette’s products aren’t the most romantic, but the brand still used the language of love in this Valentine’s Day themed promotion for razors and shaving care items.
The subject line and preview text kicks off the V-Day theme saying, “Ends today: Get 20% off a shave you’ll love – Handcrafted with care for the ones you are about.” Inside, after announcing that this is the last day of the sale, a subheader says, “We’re crushing on these picks for Valentine’s Day.”
Paired with the hearts in the hero image, this copy is just enough to acknowledge the holiday without getting gushy. On-brand and not over the top.
👀For a refresher on how to craft masterful copy by popping over to our epic guide, How to Become an Email Copywriting Master. Leverage dynamic email content to personalize your Valentine’s messages and make your recipients feel extra-special.
💓Promote the experiential elements of your Valentine’s Day offers in your email campaigns
Although there’s always room for physical gifts including jewelry, cards, and candy in shoppers’ hearts, experiences such as travel or dining out are rising in popularity.
A survey by travel booking platform GetYourGuide.com found that 62% of respondents preferred experiences over physical items as gifts. (I say, why choose when you can have both?)
💌 Travel search engine Kayak offers unforgettable experiences in a January email reminding them that Valentine’s Day is just 36 days away. The subject line beckons with a promise of “Romantic destinations under $300*.”
Inside this email, Kayak shows a selection of destinations to help subscribers “get in the mood.” There’s also a cross-promotion encouraging readers to make their reservation at OpenTable before Valentine’s Day gets away.
How can brands selling goods capture audiences seeking experiences?
Emphasize the experience your products deliver by offering specially curated bundles, showing unboxing videos and demonstrating how people use your merchandise to create experiences.
💌 In the example below, Snowfeet uses words and images to show and sell the experience its products deliver. The edgy brand also reveals its anti-Valentine stance (or does it)?
“Which Olympic Sport You Choose? 😎”, is the subject line for this email. Inside, ski equipment seller Snowfeet exposes how it really feels about Valentine’s Day. (If brands can have feelings.)
”Valentine’s Day Sucks. Get Snowfeet* for your most significant one… yourself!” reads the mid-message header.
“Single? So what? Show yourself some love, you’re worth it! Get red, yellow or blue Snowfeet for $15 off and let yourself be seen. Remember, you can find your soulmate anywhere,” continues the copy.
The emai’s design eschews the traditional pink and red color theme, but doesn’t lose the hearts. They’re a cool shade of teal.
The last third of the email shifts to a deal for non-singles.
“Not single this year?” asks the text. “Well, nevermind… You can be a hero for this Valentine’s day and get Assled, Snowfeet, Skisakes or Snowblades in a set of 2 products for a special price.”
This email is packed with animated emojis of the brand community playing in the snow, too.
Finally, you may not have noticed it among all the action images, but this email message also included a real-time countdown timer (located between the anti- and pro-romance sections) to push subscribers’ urgency buttons.
Action-packed, humorous emails are on brand for Snowfeet, so the brand’s subscribers won’t have been surprised by this cheeky Valentine’s Day campaign.
💓Cue your Valentine’s next best action with irresistible CTAs
Thinking about how to appeal to your audience during the Valentine’s shopping season isn’t an idle pursuit. Your Valentine’s Day email campaigns have an objective. Make sure your CTA brings home the win with proper placement and clear copy.
Use your email’s design and messaging to lead your subscribers toward a call to action that takes them to the next step in their buyer’s journey. We detail how to bring everything together in our email Call-To-Action guide.
Test these Valentine’s Day email CTAs with your subscribers:
- Get your gift now
- Yes, please
- Get [discount] now
- Ship it to me, baby
- Book my experience
- Claim my reservation
- Share the love
- Refer a friend
- Find the one (Hat tip to RallyHouse.com specialty sports store for this one.)
- Discover more
- Shop the gift guide
- Shop Valentine’s Day gifts
- Shop Valentine’s Day sale
- Send love or Send with love (Gift delivery services.)
- Shop sexy looks or Shop date night looks (Credit to Forever 21.)
- Give green (Plants and eco-products.)
- Find a store or Find your store
- Get your gift card here
Looking for short phrases to pep up your Valentine’s messaging? Try a box of conversation hearts.
💓Show your subscribers you care by making sure Valentine’s Day emails are mobile-friendly and accessible
Love looks different depending on who is looking and so do your emails. Make sure your Valentine’s messages reach all your subscribers by following the best practices for mobile-friendly design and accessibility.
Ensure your audience can read (or hear) your email message by:
- Using single column designs.
- Setting your minimum and maximum widths for mobile and desktop viewing.
- Adding responsive settings for mobile viewing.
- Including a plain text version of your message that has been edited to include image descriptions and raw (fully written out) URL links.
- Adding alt-text to non-decorative images and GIFs.
- Checking your typefaces, font sizes and colors for readability and legibility.
- Assuring sufficient color-contrast and using text along with buttons for important elements such as your CTA.
- Testing your copy using a screen reader.
- Reviewing how your messages download and render across multiple devices and email clients.
It’s also a good idea to tone–check your emails. Ask people with tastes, lifestyles, ages or other characteristics to read your email’s copy and tell you what they think of it.
Okay friends, now that you know how to say it best, let’s look at some ideas for what to say this Valentine’s Day to win your subscribers’ affections and loyalty, starting with your Valentine’s campaign subject lines.
60+ Catchy and Creative Valentine’s Day Subject Line Ideas and Examples
Before you craft your Valentine’s, Galentine’s, Palentine’s, Single’s Day, Un-Valentine’s or Anti-Valentine’s subject lines, crack or click open your favorite thesaurus.
Look for fresh ways to spice up your Valentine’s copy with the words of amore, love, affection, fondness, admiration, passion, desire, obsession, devotion, belovedness. You get the idea.
For fun and puns, look for words that are close but not quite, have a similar meaning or other types of wordplay.
Let me help you get warmed up with some attention-grabbing Valentine’s Day subject line ideas.
General Valentine’s Day subject lines
- Make this Valentine’s Day magical
- Keep the romance going (subscription services or lasting items)
- Share the love with [discount] off
- Share the love with [community or group] (good for charitable campaigns or friend-focused emails)
- Fall in love with [product, service, or travel destination]
- Love is in the air
- Everything your heart desires
- Make their dreams come true
- Something special for you this Valentine’s Day
- Get [discount] off [products] you’ll love
- You’ll love these deals
- Fall head over heels for
- Celebrate love with… (love, friendship, romance, etc.)
- You’ll both adore this…
- Everything you need for one enchanting evening
- Express your affection
- Calling all Valentines: Order your gifts now (Credit: Lucky Brand)
- Make this the best Valentine’s Day ever
- Tell them they’re still the one with…
- It’s Valen–time to celebrate (Credit: Louisa)
Cute or punny Valentine’s Day subject lines
- Happy hearts day
- Cupid approved
- Make Cupid jealous
- Who needs Cupid?
- Give Cupid some help
- Love is in the hair (Credit: Mayraki hair care)
- Love is in the pair (Credit: Conscious Step socks)
- Get their heart racing
- Better than flowers
- Skip the flowers
- Candy is so yesterday
- Valentine’s Day again, didn’t we just do this last year?
- It would break our hearts if… (Credit: Biossance)
- Some things just go together (Credit: Newbridge Silverware)
- [Product, gift category, etc.] that [seduces, enchants, captivates]
- Couple up for Valentine’s Day or Double up for Valentine’s Day (Two for one deals)
- Charm your Valentine (Credit: Agento UK jeweler in an email promoting charms)
- [Gifts, outfits, accessories, dresses, shoes, etc] that are [Fresh and flirty, sexy, perfect for date night, perfect for staying home, hot, irresistible, sweet]
- Make their hearts go wild
- Knock their socks off
Treat yourself, singles and anti-Valentine’s Day subject lines
- More self-love -The greatest gift yourself (Credit: Peace Collective)
- Treat yourself
- All the single ladies (or gentlemen)
- For all our Palentine’s friends
- Shop your heart out
- One for you, one for your (Galentine, Valentine, friend)
- Didn’t get what you wanted? A little self-love never hurt anyone.
- Skip dropping hints. Get the gift you want with [discount] off now
Customer affection and appreciation subject lines
- Thank you for sharing the love
- Be our Valentine
- We appreciate you
- Your special
- With love
- To our amazing community this Valentine’s Day
- Showing you some love
- We ❤️️ heart our customers
Out of time and don’t forget Valentine subject lines
- Did you forget?
- Don’t arrive empty handed
- Our Valentine’s Day treat for you (Gift, treat, offer…}
- sellers)
- Order now and get it in Valen-Time
- Valen-time is almost running out
- Oops, you did it again. There’s still time to order your Valentine’s Day gift.
- Dodge the doghouse with the perfect Valentine’s Day gift
- It’s not too late to shower them with affection
- There’s still time to show you care
Are you in the mood for a few more examples of Valentine’s marketing emails? You know I got you.
Valentine’s Day Email Campaign Ideas (with examples) to Attract Subscribers at Every Stage
Many of the ideas and offers that your company uses for other holiday blast campaigns and newsletters will work for your Valentine’s Day email campaigns, too. Like your templates, these ideas just need a little tweaking to give them the right vibe for the season.
But just in case you missed our spectacular Christmas newsletter article packed with 56 content ideas, here’s a quick list of Valentine’s Day email campaign ideas and suggestions to inspire you.
💐 Send Valentine’s Day preview emails to warm-up your audience before your big proposal
Put your subscribers in a Valentine’s shopping state of mind with early nudges such as coming soon announcements and sneak peeks of seasonal products. You can also leak the details of upcoming menus or entertainment coming to your venue for Valentine’s Day.
Inviting your subscribers to join waitlists or become loyalty members for VIP access are also effective early holiday warm up techniques.
💌 In the example below, Virus sportswear heats things up with a 50% off early access sale. Encouraging early orders with a sale can help you get a feel for demand and get out in front of shipping deadlines.
In this February 2 email promotion, Virus invites subscribers to “shop now” and share the love with up to 50% off select items.
“❤️️ is 50% Off! Early Access – Share The Love Sale – Be the first to shop here!”
A large hero image featuring a hand-holding couple wearing the brand’s clothing is the main attraction in this message. Supporting the Valentine’s Day theme, red and black are the dominant colors of the clothing, and design with a few hearts worked in here and there for good measure.
Pre-spring is a great time to turn your subscribers’ attention to romance and new athletic wear. A smart combination for Virus.
💌 Hampers with Bite stresses getting an early start on Valentine’s gift shopping. Urgency, scarcity and FOMO! Oh, my! Hampers with Bite pushes all the right buttons to convince subscribers to get their Valentine’s Day shopping completed early in the February 2 email newsletter pictured below.
The subject line, “This Valentine’s Day Deal won’t last,” is paired with preview text that urges subscribers to “BE QUICK! Up to 20% off ALL Valentine’s Day Gifts ends this…”
Colorful design elements, an array of attractively displayed products from which to choose and an unboxing GIF give subscribers plenty of reasons to click through to grab the early bird deal which ends on February 7.
The brand also offers links to curated gift recommendations such as “Chocolate gifts,” and describes the available adds on such as a card or rose petals. To reassure reluctant shoppers, there are also customer reviews (with pictures!) and links to key information about delivery times and customer services.
Offers, answers, and great images make this a winning proposal.
💌 For photo gift seller Snapfish pushing early orders is a necessity. Snapfish has to get subscribers moving if it wants to deliver their completed gifts in time for Valentine’s Day. It pushes subscribers to get a move on with a sale that ends on February 2.
“LAST DAY to save on something sweet!”
Shades of red and pink and sprinkled hearts in the top panel, along with the punny phrase, “Love at first snap!” mark the occasion for this message. The theme is one of urgency though. The email’s header states, “Be sure to order early for Valentine’s Day gift!” This is a reasonable request since each item needs to be custom printed using the customer’s photos.
Snapfish incentivizes early action with a series of gift codes, a series of gift recommendations sorted by price and an “ending today” sitewide 50% off sale.
You may not be able to tell from this example, but all the product images in each panel are friend, family, romance or love related. The images of pets, kids, romantic partners, friends, hearts, flowers serve as product examples and how-to inspiration for shoppers!
💐 Make sure your subscribers don’t run out of Valen-time
Valentine’s Day is one of those dates that if you miss, you may not get a do-over. So ensuring that your subscribers’ gift purchases arrive on time should be a top priority in the days leading up to February 14. Use shipping and delivery disclosures and, as the big day draws near, countdown timers to keep your subscribers informed.
Also send inventory updates such as low- or back-in-stock advisories so your audience knows what items are available and for how long.
💌 Sldiebelts helps subscribers avoid showing up empty-handed. In a last-chance email alert, belt, watchband and wallet retailer Slidebelt reminds subscribers of the exact dates and times by which they have to place their orders for them to arrive on time using either First Class or Priority shipping.
What happens if they don’t order their gift in time?
The subject line and its heartbreak and embarrassed face emojis tell the story. But every good story has a hero. In this one, that hero is announced by the preview text:
“💔LAST DAY to get your gift by Valentine’s Day with First Class shipping! 😳” – But gifting help is here”
This email also contains links to a best sellers list and his and her gift guides to help procrastinators choose the perfect present.
💌 Papyrus crosses the online-offline divide to help last-minute shoppers. Realizing that the procrastinators among its subscriber list may need an assist, Papyrus sends them a February 10 Valentine’s Day email message with a prominent link to its store locator.
The message of this email is that “It’s almost time for Valentine’s Day” but not too late to head to a local Papyrus retailer to get the perfect card. The hero image is a GIF that rotates through several Valentine-themed cards to show subscribers what they can expect to find when they go shopping.
💐 Invest in building long-term relationships with your brand’s community
Valentine’s Day is a relationship-focused holiday. Take this opportunity to build your relationship with subscribers by sharing a holiday greeting, a message of appreciation, news about your community or value-adding information that gives without asking anything in return. Here are some examples of relationship-reinforcing Valentine’s Day emails.
💌 Woolx shows its soft side with a staff photo. Showing the humans behind the brand, this Valentine’s Greeting from Woolx features a photo of the founder and director of fun inside the clothing retailer’s distribution warehouse.
“Happy Valentine’s Day From our Director of Fun. – From the founder and director of fun at Woolx!”
Smiling faces, balloons and a 20% off code. What’s not to love?
💌 Paws shares an informational blog with love. Recognizing the season in its February 12 newsletter, pet brand Paws shares a blog article titled “14 ways your pet says ‘I love you’” with its subscribers.
“The ways our pets show us affection – Some are stranger than others…”
Paws stimulates a little curiosity with that preview text, and I noticed that both cats and dogs were represented in the images. Awwww. 🤗
Your holiday-themed email blasts and mass emails don’t have to be promotional. Giving them value-added content enhances your credibility and strengthens brand loyalty.
💐 Help your subscribers find the perfect way to celebrate Valentine’s Day
Guide your subscribers to the perfect ending to their love story with gift guides, trigger a little FOMO with best-seller lists, or offer them self-treat suggestions that will make them smile.
Add user generated content and testimonials for extra persuasive oomph.
💌 Love yourself or someone else, either way Sambag’s got your gift. Embracing Valentine’s Day from every angle, shoe and accessory brand Sambag invites subscribers to shop its Valentine’s Day edit “for self-love, your ‘Gal-entines’ or significant other…”
It’s all good.
“Gift or be Gifted – We’re in the mood for LOVE…” is the inbox lede for this email message.
In addition to featuring a selection of products for gifting, Sambag draws its community close by featuring an independent artist’s work in its evocative hero image and inviting subscribers to join them on Instagram at the bottom of the email.
💌 Terrain delivers Valentine’s gift ideas for all the ones you love. Home and gifts brand Terrain takes the stress out of shopping for gifts with a Valentine’s themed email that features gift recommendations for several categories including book lovers and home cooks.
“Valentine’s Day gifts for loved ones – from the heart”
Sent to subscribers in January, message’s copy, “Our most heartwarming gifts for everyone you dig. Explore the Valentine’s Day Shop,” sets the tone. But it’s thematic product images like the heart shaped-bowl that really do the talking in this email.
💌 This appealing email from Urban Outfitters strikes a friendly tone with a you-focused headline and a smiling model in the hero image. Inside, the copy invites subscribers to “Show some love and share some love with date-night dresses, gifts and more.”
“We love this for you – Valentine’s day gifts, red + pink everything, romantic tunes and…”
To nudge clicks and conversions, Urban Outfitters placed its “free shipping on orders of any size” offer at the top of this message.
Did you notice that the images and background colors begin with reds and pinks but transition to other colors of the rainbow as the message progresses? Inclusiveness is the underlying theme of this Valentine’s Day email.
After opening with free shipping, a free Spotify playlist closes out this email message.
💐 Seduce your subscribers with savings and value
Who doesn’t love to save money? Use selective discounts and other offers to move inventory, encourage early orders and lift average order values.
Then, let’s hear it for stickiness! Deals that allow your subscribers to gain reward dollars, future discounts or credits can convince them to click the buy now button and gives them a powerful incentive to show with your brand again later.
Gift card and referral offers are also great ways to extend the impact of your Valentine’s Day shopping promotions and increase your revenue.
💌 Misfits Market makes the moment last with a buy now, save later offer. This email from Misfits Market has a lot to love about it. First, there’s the tantalizing heart-shaped hero image created using fresh produce in beautiful shades of red. Then there’s “Give $15, get $15” referral bonus offer.
The email also includes a link to recipes using the fresh produce Misfit Market sells and information about the current week’s produce selections. Tasty!
“Give $15, Get $15 + What’s in Our Boxes This Week – Plus our favorite veggie-packed desserts”
Inside this Valentine’s Day update, Misfits Market encourages subscribers to “Keep spreading the love with this sweet deal,” writing “Here’s your chance to celebrate love month a little bit longer, with the gift of delicious food.”
💌 Hearst Magazines supports sharing as caring (and self-love). Thoughts of pairing up or sharing the day with friends naturally inspires thoughts of two-for-one deals. (Okay, maybe just for marketers.) Well, anyway, Misfits Market wasn’t the only brand encouraging subscribers to do for others and themselves for Valentine’s Day. Heart Magazines sent a twofer offer too.
“Share the love with TWO for ONE on beauty boxes – A treat for you and a gift for someone special”
This promotional newsletter gave subscribers the chance to pick up a beauty box for a friend or loved one and one for themselves. Double treat! The email’s hero image features items from the beauty kit appropriately arranged in the shape of the season. Throughout the message, animated GIFs reveal the details about what’s inside each gift set.
This email leverages several persuasive best practices. Not only does it emphasize the value of specific items in each set, but it also includes customer testimonials. The copy also name drops the brands whose merchandise is included in the gift sets under the heading, “The bestselling brands you’ll find in our boxes…” Savvy.
💐 Save your subscribers’ bacon with last-minute Valentine’s gift offers
Can you believe it? You started marketing for Valentine’s Day back in January. Yet here it is, the day before–or even the day of–and some people still didn’t finish their shopping. Can you save them? Yes, you can.
February 13 and 14 are “Purchase an e-gift card” days. Send your forgetful subscribers a relationship-saving offer.
💌 Home interior goods brand Sack it saves the day, er, date. “Did you forget?” asks the personalized subject line of this email blast that went out to Sack it subscribers on February 13. “Don’t worry! We’ve got your back…” reassures the preview text.
Inside the message, the brand presents the problem and offers a solution with witty copy.
The header, “”Do you know what day it is tomorrow?” is followed with a hint: It starts with “Valen” and ends with “tine.”
The CTA button in this last chance message makes the need action clear– Click it to “Get your gift card here.”
The brand also generously offers to take the blame for a late delivery if subscribers want to take advantage of a 15% off offer and purchase an actual Valentine’s gift signing off with, “We are totally okay with you blaming shipping issues as an excuse to why the gift hasn’t arrived before Valentine’s Day.”
💌 Drizly offers Valentine’s procrastinators a rescue in almost real-time. Drizly is a delivery service for alcoholic beverages. They reached out to subscribers on February 14 to remind them they could still get a gift delivered to their door in time to celebrate the day of romance or “whatever.”
“Last minute drugstore candy won’t cut it. – Hurry and send your [whatever]-entine something.” is the subject line preview text combo for Drizly’s down-to-the-wire promotion. Continuing this humorous tone inside the message, the brand writes, “The heart wants what it wants. And spoiler: It wants drinks this year.” The CTA invites subscribers to “Send Love.”
I have to share a bit more of the copy from this message as it illustrates a nice thematic use of humor.
The below CTA paragraphs says,
”You know what’s scary? A flying baby wielding a bow and arrow. You know what’s even more scarier? Waiting until the last minute to get Valentine’s Day gifts. So make sure your vel-entines, pal-entines, gal-entines and [insert relationship status] -eintines can feel the love tonight. How? By sending them a drink. Or two drinks.”
Employing humor in your marketing emails is a good way to deflect from implying guilt. Use humor in your last-chance message to save your subscribers and make them smile.
💐 Capture after-Valentine’s Day conversions with timely sales messages
We all have that one person in our lives that just isn’t good at buying gifts, don’t we? They either forget or choose something you don’t want. Your subscribers have those someone’s in their lives too.
Help them overcome Valentine’s Day disappointments with treat yourself promotions like the examples below.
💌Capitan Boots invites men to engage in self-love, too. Men can be disappointed on Valentine’s Day, too. Capitan Boots’ wry post-Valentine message empathizes with subscribers’ plight an email that says, “Did she really get you chocolate and new boxer briefs again this year? Get what you really wanted… BAD ASS BOOTS.”
“Chocolate again? – Get what you really wanted”
I hope the brand got their segmentation right for this one. 😅
💌 Slate & Tell offers subscribers a chance to get the gift they wanted. Jewelry shop Slate & Tell sent this email the day after Valentine’s Day inviting subscribers to engage in some self-love and get what they want on sale.
“Go gift yourself! – SALE EXTENDED: 30–40% OFF!”
Whether you call it self-help or self-love, Slate & Tell offers a solution to its subscribers whose significant others failed to deliver on Valentine’s Day. The email’s message, “Didn’t get what you want? Time to gift yourself!” is confident and encouraging (while also encouraging conversions).
A free gift offer, sorted-by-price recommendations and free shipping and returns add to this promotion’s appeal. A countdown timer ticking away the remaining moments of this extended offer tops off the email with a touch of urgency.
One last Valentine’s Day email optimization tip
Wow! That was a hearty helping of advice. Get it? “Heart-y.” Yeah, yeah, I know. Don’t quit my day job. Since it’s my job to help you get the most out of every email marketing campaign, let me offer you one more tip.
Setting up automated campaigns that reach your subscribers at their moment of need (or intent to act) can significantly boost your conversion rates. Our article on email automation explains how to set up these triggered campaigns and which campaigns your brand can’t do without.
And last but not least, a special Valentine’s Day shoutout to Milled.com for collating all of these beautiful and heart-warming email examples. ♥
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