Valentine’s Day giveaway ideas, campaigns, and promotions help brands connect with their audience while offering gift recommendations and special deals. As such, you can create Valentine’s contests tailored to your target market and use them to increase engagement and build relationships.
The holiday is a chance for your customers to give gifts to their loved ones (including pets) and even treat themselves. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), consumers spent $21.8 billion on gifts for Valentine’s Day in 2021. Indeed, many retailers and restaurateurs are hopeful that 2022 will see even higher sales due to fewer pandemic-related restrictions.
Select audience-specific prizes and use interactive media formats to share the love with your fans. Use these Valentine’s Day giveaway ideas and Woobox templates to create custom and out-of-the-box campaigns.
Valentine’s Day Social Media Contests
The NRF says that “52% of US adults planned to celebrate Valentine’s Day in 2021,” and Synthesio data shows that the “majority of mentions for Valentine’s Day across social media are from the 18 to 25 age group.” Social media users jump on their favorite platforms to wish their friends and family Happy Valentine’s Day and share the details of given and received gifts.
In the weeks before the holiday, consumers scan their social media feeds and email inboxes for gift ideas and discounts on popular Valentine’s Day gifts. Capture their attention before and during February 14 by personalizing these Valentine’s Day social media contests.
1. Name a Dynamic TV Couple
Is there an iconic partnership that drives your audience wild? Learn about their television preferences by asking your fans to list their favorite on-screen duo in your comments for a chance to win. Or create a poll with one to four choices and ask followers to vote on their favorite. In each case, you can pull a random contest winner using the giveaway picker.
2. Most Loved Pets Valentine’s Day Contest
Valentine’s Day isn’t just for humans. The NRF says 27% of 2020 survey respondents plan to purchase “Valentine’s gifts for their pets” and spend $1.7 billion. Host a photo contest for your fans to share images of their pets in Valentine’s gear, opening their gifts, or simply their favorite photo.
3. Celebrate Galentine’s Day
Galentine’s Day falls on February 13 and honors independent, strong women. It stems from the famous “Parks and Recreation” show where Amy Poehler’s character, Leslie Knope, says it’s the day where “ladies celebrate ladies.”
Synthesio data shows that Galentine’s Day garners plenty of social media attention, falling less than four percentage points away from Valentine’s Day. Delight your social media fans by designing a comment entry or hashtag contest on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
4. Valentine Babies Facebook Photo Contest
If you have a wellness or parenting-focused brand with a private Facebook group, a Valentine Babies contest can help community members build stronger relationships with each other. Ask your audience to post a photo of their loved one and hand out bonus contest entries to children born around Valentine’s Day.
5. Use Video to Announce Your Valentine’s Contest on Instagram
Hosting a February 14 contest on Instagram? Launch or end your competition with a video. According to Social Insider, users engage with video posts much more on Valentine’s Day than they do with images or carousel posts.
Write a caption asking Instagrammers to comment for a chance to win:
- What’s your favorite candy to receive on Valentine’s Day?
- Will you buy greeting cards this year?
- Share a sentimental valentine or love quote in the comments.
- Is your flame on Instagram? If so, tag them!
Small Business Ideas for Valentine’s Day
In 2015, NRF added a question to their annual Valentine’s Day survey that asked where people shopped for the holiday. And 2021 was the first year “consumers listed small businesses as a top-five shopping destination.” On February 14, drive sales to your eCommerce or brick-and-mortar store by promoting your small business status. Use your campaign to differentiate your brand from big-box stores.
6. Offer Custom Giveaway Prizes
Valentine’s Day is an excellent time to showcase your most-loved items or share sales statistics on popular picks. Consider hosting a fill-in-the-blank contest and ask your audience to insert a product from your brand. Give one (or more) lucky winners their request as a giveaway prize. Here’s a good caption for your fill-in-the-blank giveaway idea: “All you need is love, but (add your wish) wouldn’t hurt.”
According to the NRF, people give the following gifts on Valentine’s day:
- Candy
- Greeting cards
- Flowers
- An evening out
- Gift card
- Clothing
- Jewelry
7. Develop a Custom Quiz and Complimentary Giveaway Entry
People head online early to look for gifts for loved ones. But what gift expresses their feelings fully? Create a Valentine’s quiz or holiday gift guide. Encourage each person who downloads your buyer’s guide or takes the quiz to opt into your contest. The combination of a helpful quiz and giveaway can help your brand recall.
8. Host a Valentine’s Hashtag Contest
Create a branded hashtag and ask your customers to share your giveaway on their social media page with the hashtag. Or host a photo or video contest and give one entry to everyone who posts an image or video on their page with your branded hashtag.
Don’t forget to include other popular hashtags, such as:
- #valentine
- #valentinesday
- #love
- #bemyvalentine
- #valentines
Valentine’s Day Competitions
Design Valentine’s Day giveaway ideas and contests with competitive spirits in mind. Invite your audience to tell their story, share a meme, or help other customers with their Valentine’s Day makeup looks. Give bonus entries to people who share your giveaway post on their Facebook page or encourage a friend to sign up. Go viral this year with the following giveaway ideas.
9. Best Anti-Valentine’s Day Meme or Photo
Get a hilarious thread or gallery on social media with funny memes and photos opposite Valentine’s Day. Encourage fans to have fun, play nice, and upvote their favorites. Use a Woobox gallery to display the images and give everyone a good laugh. Entrants can vote for their favorite, and the winner gets an anti-Valentine’s Day prize. Need more anti-Valentine’s Day ideas? Check out “How to Promote Valentine’s Day to People Who Hate Valentine’s Day.”
10. Cutest Couples Contest
Who in your audience thinks they’re the cutest couple or want to nominate their favorite duo? Invite your customers to add a photo or share a story about the cutest couple in their lives, from humans to pets. Remind your fans to tag the couple when entering your contest!
11. Best Valentine’s Day Makeup Tutorial
Got a quick tip to share with your audience? Jumpstart your Valentine’s Day campaign with a tutorial that ends with a call-to-action (CTA). Ask fans to share their tips, videos, and photos of Valentine’s styles designed for the holiday. Hand out bonus entries to entrants who call out your business and use products from your store!
Valentine’s Day: Giveaway Ideas & More
Valentine’s Day is a great time to share a promotion with your audience, whether you call it a “Cupid’s Contest” or a “Be Mine” giveaway. Charm your customers with a special prize and promote your event across several channels to maximize your reach and number of entrants.
12. Cherished Friends and Family Giveaway
Valentine’s Day isn’t just for couples and spouses. According to GWI, “44% of single, widowed, or divorced internet users intend to purchase a gift this Valentine’s Day. They may buy presents for parents, children, friends, or pets. Think about your audience and develop a simple giveaway idea that speaks to their experience on Valentine’s Day.
13. Nominate a Loved One Giveaway
Valentine’s Day is a time to show your appreciation for others, and who couldn’t use an extra treat on February 14? Encourage followers to nominate a loved one or a community member who needs a pick-me-up. Randomly pick a winner and volunteer to send a treat to their special someone.
Create a personalized card or email to accompany the prize or gift card. Plus, let the recipient know who nominated them.
14. Take a Multi-Cultural Approach With Your Giveaway
Celebrate friends with a giveaway idea borrowed from another region. For instance, Finland celebrates Ystavanpaiva, which means “Friend’s Day.” And Mexico calls February 14 the day of love and friendship or Dia del Amor y la Amistad. Consider a two-for-one giveaway, where you hand out a prize to the entrant and their bestie.
15. Who’d Narrate Your Love story?
Showcase your team on Valentine’s Day by asking fans to pick one employee or executive to tell the winner’s love story. You could complete the entire giveaway on social media, but we’d recommend turning this into a longer campaign with a landing page.
Start by sharing video snippets of each speaker describing their story and sharing why they’d love to narrate an audience member’s anecdote. Instagram Stories is a perfect spot for this! Next, encourage fans to vote for their favorite commentator and tell you why in the comments.
Then introduce your Valentine’s Day giveaway with a link to your landing page (with a checkbox to subscribe to your email newsletter). From there, entrants can write their story and submit it. Keep the winner under wraps until you go live on Instagram.
Personalize Your Valentine’s Day Giveaway Ideas
Since most people celebrate Valentine’s Day, there’s a good chance your customers do too. Develop a holiday campaign that means something to your audience, and use one of these Valentine’s Day giveaway ideas to jumpstart or end your promotion.
Need help setting up your next giveaway?
Woobox provides out-of-the-box templates for your contests and giveaways. Plus, you can reach out to our team for support from 8 am to 5 pm PST, Monday through Friday. Call the Woobox team at 1-360-450-5200 or email us support@woobox.com.