When you have a special occasion like Valentine’s Day, marketers immediately jump at the opportunity to take advantage of this celebrated day of love. They know there will be desperate, last minute shoppers searching for that perfect gift. Everything from kitchenware to vitamin-induced water has been maneuvered to capitalize on the Hallmark holiday often with poorly crafted, off-the-cuff promotions.

How can your product message feel organic, to stand out from the clutter and make a bigger impression than just a palette of red and pinks and a few heart shapes displayed across an ad?

Consumers are smarter and savvier than the “Mad Men” era of the ‘60s. They know when they are being sold to and can sniff out insincerity from a mile away. To ensure greater success with your Valentine’s Day marketing, tell a story and play to your consumers in a way that speaks to them.

Which would grab your attention more and incite action: an image of your product with a catchy tagline or a vignette with a visual setting that your product lives in? A tagline and the product can only say so much, but when a product is found in a space it tells a story. Why is the product there? What is the setting and tone in which the product is being used? The consumer registers the image to try and relate it to his/her own life, creating a story in his/her head.

By enabling the consumer a personal experience opportunity the product or service you are trying to sell becomes more intimate. And not only does this strategy help make what you are marketing more accessible, it also builds rapport with your brand. You are no longer a corporate entity that is seeking to just sell something, but a company that listens and understands their target audience, looking out for their consumer’s best interest.

Use this approach for your Valentine’s Day marketing to produce results. Get in tune as their cupid by being creative and more intimate with your messaging.

-Tyler