Valentine’s Subject Lines – Copywriting to Fall in Love With?
Posted on February 17, 2012 by Pure Ink | Leave a comment
It was Valentine’s Day this week and companies wanted their customers to know they felt the love. As with Christmas, Easter, Halloween and any other special date, companies go all out to tie in the season with what they’re offering via email marketing.
Copywriting for a seasonal email should be relatively easy as you’ve got a lot of material to work with; the event (Valentine’s Day), target audience (people in love or who want to be in love) and the proposition (giving gifts) are already laid out. The difficult part of copywriting projects like these though is that most things have been said before.
People have been giving gifts and cards on Valentine’s Day since the 15th century which means modern day marketers have around 600 years of love hearts, chocolates and cherubs to deal with. Thinking of something original to say to persuade customers to buy from them on Valentine’s Day is a real challenge for copywriters. Clichés litter the subject lines of all emails sent out for special occasions from ‘Christmas All Wrapped Up’ to ‘All Treats and No Tricks this Halloween’.
We wanted to see if Valentine’s Day email marketing had fallen into the same trap. We took a look at all the emails that landed in our inboxes which use Valentine’s Day, or a variation of this in the subject line, to see what tactics companies were using to promote their products on this day of love. Interestingly, there was no overriding theme or cliché but there were a number of key themes used to hook people in to open the email…
Guilt and panic
No surprise that many of the emails centred on the guilt and panic people experience when they leave Valentine’s shopping to the last minute. The message is delivered with a reassuring tone that ‘you’re not a bad person as long as you buy this from us now!’ Copywriting like this works as people in a panic are looking for a quick solution. These types of emails took the form of…
It's not too late to get away for Valentine's Day – warming cottage holidays from only £133
Left Valentine's to the last minute? We're here to save the day with free guaranteed delivery and two amazing Deals of the Week!
Order by 8pm tonight and delight your Valentine tomorrow!
Unrelated offerings
In some of the subject lines the connection between Valentine’s Day and what the company was offering wasn’t clear. With the example below the connection was revealed when opening the email as the company were promoting outfits to wear for a hot date but this could have been made more obvious in the subject line where Valentine’s is mixed up with keeping warm in winter.
Happy Valentine's Day! Shop our latest look New Wave and stay warm with cosy knitwear.
The following example is a slightly different situation as the story is obvious, ‘Valentine’s in the Workplace’, but the other stories are unrelated so perhaps a more focused subject line or email would have worked better.
February | How to Make a Million, Valentine's in the Workplace & Your World Without Technology
Perfection
Many companies sold the hope of perfection on Valentine’s Day and subject lines were littered with the word ‘perfect’. These subject lines tempt us to click on the email and have all our worries solved as we’ll find the perfect gift. By luring customers into the email and not presenting all of the information, the subject lines will either tempt people to find out what the perfect gift is or frustrate them and turn them off completely.
Valentine’s Day Dinner Perfection | Do you Dare to Wear Red?
Perfect Valentines Gift - 35% off - Offer closes 10th Feb
The perfect Valentine's gift…
Individuality
Who wants to send chocolates and flowers for Valentine’s every year? These emails have tapped into the growing number of people who prefer to send a more personal gift to their loved one. Some creative copywriters even focus on the negative side of Valentine’s Day in a bid to ensure they target the entire market.
Whether you're a Valentine's lover or hater, we've got it covered! Plus, win a trip to Romania's Ice Hotel
Say it your way this Valentine's Day
To the point
These companies have something to say and they get straight to the point and say it in the subject line of the email. These short subject lines tell you exactly what you’re going to get when you click on the email. Concise subject lines work well on a practical level as the message won’t be cut off by customers’ email providers. Focusing on one offer or one product could be risky as if your customers aren’t interested in that particular product, they won’t click on the email. On the other hand though, at least the people who do click through will know what to expect and if the subject line clicks through to an equally clear and targeted email then there’s a higher chance of converting them.
Canvas Printing for Valentines!
In Store Special – Kindle for Valentine's!
Shop SJ for Valentine's Day!
The most effective email subject lines tell you exactly what you’ll get when you open the email. Confusing people or purposely duping them will simply ensure your email is deleted, or worse, future emails are blocked. The key to successful seasonal subject lines is to show what makes you different and centre your email on one key concept.
By being to the point and showing your company’s individuality (a combination of the last two sections listed above) you can ensure that your copywriting will be tailored, clear and consistent throughout the subject line, email and landing page so your customers know exactly what you’re offering.
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