Valentines day- The one day a year when flowers are 105% more than average, chocolates are expected and love fills the air.
But where 90% of the world is preparing for this important day, and men everywhere are scrambling to make last minute reservations, when you look at what people are confiding in Google for, the let’s just say some of the searches are, um, interesting.
But the good news, within these statistics there have been 3 very powerful lessons that any business can use to cash in on any holiday, special occasion and celebration of the year.
Before we jump straight in and share what these lessons are, here are 6 of the weirdest Valentines Day searches of 2014…
- The Haters: There is a whopping 54,000 people that are looking for ‘anti-valentine’s day’ related merchandise and products
- The Dog Lovers: Over 6,000 loving dog owners are looking for gifts for their four legged friend this valentines day
- The Not-So-Romantics: 3,500 people searched for ‘Valentines Day Stuff’ this year looking for inspiration for this special day.
- The Cheap Skates: Men, for once we have conclusive proof that we get the short straw on Valentines Day, with 26,000 women searching for cheap gift ideas, vs 8,000 searches by men.
- The Unorganized: Last but not least we can’t forget the 13,000 guys who leave things to the last minute and search for last minute gifts. For your sake guys, I hope you find something because 52% of women will end a relationship if you fail…
- The Unique Givers: There are over 11,200 searches for all kinds of ‘unique’ gifts idea’s. But this list is simply too long to quote them all.
3 Valuable Lessons You Can Learn From These Statistics
As a business owner or marketer there is a lot that we can learn by analyzing buyers behavior, and below I’ve distilled it into 3 powerful lessons.
1. Not everyone’s the same
On the surface Valentine’s Day is all about flowers, chocolates, jewellery and dinner reservations. But as you can see from the statistics above, there are a lot of other angles that you can use to cash in on the day of love.
For example, there are 11,200 people alone who are looking for unique gift idea’s. This opens the door for you to promote whatever it is that you sell as a ‘unique’ alternative.
Action Step: Next year (or next holiday or celebration), publish a ‘unique {Holiday name} Gift guide on your website 4-6 weeks in advanced showcasing your product and highlighting why its a unique and fantastic gift for your readers.
A great example for anyone in the pet industry is ‘5 Unique Valentine’s Day Idea’s For Your Pet’.
2. Holiday Selling Is For Everyone
Whether you sell chocolates or TV’s, there is room for all retailers to make the most of holiday selling.
Any business can host a ‘share the love’ sale in honor of Valentine’s day. Just like any ecommerce business can offer free express shipping during the last 3 days before Christmas holidays to cash in on the ‘last minute’ market.
Action Step: Choose a holiday promotion idea and prepare for it 3 weeks before the next major holiday.
3. Flip your offer
Once you learn how to write a compelling offer, you’ll have the power to use any holiday or current event as a perfectly logical reason to hold a promotion.
For example – Do you really sell TV’s, or do you actually sell ‘the perfect date night in full of cuddling and romance’?
Could you take this offer 1 step further and throw in a ‘date night’ hamper with every TV sold in the lead up to Valentines Day? This hamper could include some nibbles, a bottle of wine, chocolates, a romantic movie, some fake rose petals and some candles.
Action Step: To help you position your product in a way that appeals for any holiday, here are the 3 steps to writing the perfect offer:
I) How does your product link to the holiday?
Do your pool slides provide a fun adventurous day in the sun? Or perhaps your handyman service could ‘fix all the problems your husband never gets around to? Think of a way that you can link to the holiday. There is always a way.
II) What does the receiver (not the buyer) of your product or service really want on that day?
For Valentine’s Day it’s easy. Women want to feel loved and cared for. For Christmas people want to celebrate and be merry. Take a moment to think about what the receiver of your product really wants and then give it to them.
III) Link your product with what the receiver wants.
The third and final step for creating a compelling holiday offer is to link the 2 points above. How does your product give the receiver what they want?
Sometimes you’ll need to add an extra bonus to link the 2 together effectively.
If we take our TV example from earlier. The TV provides the date night, where the gift hamper makes the lady feel loved and cared for, so they go perfectly together.
Conclusions:
Holiday’s provide a lucrative opportunity for all businesses to cash in and take their cut, but only if you know how. By following the 3 lessons mentioned above, next time a holiday rolls around you’ll be in the position to profit wildly from it no matter what business you’re in.
Read more: