45 Fun Ways to Show Your Customers Some Love

Ahhh, Valentine’s Day.

People say it’s a Hallmark holiday but whether it is or not, it’s a good reminder to express our love and appreciation for those closest to us. It can also be the ideal time to reach out to your customers and make them feel good. Valentine’s Day is, after all, about relationships and the ones with your customers are some of your business’s most important.

So this year we’re here playing cupid and making some suggestions on how you can show your customers some love and build the bond between you. If your customers love you, they’re more apt to buy from you and not become victim to a pricing war with the competition. They’ll be more loyal and will be more likely to buy upgrades from you when you advise them to.

45 Easy Ideas for Showing Your Customers Some Love

It’s important to help them know, like, and trust you. Here are a few ideas on how you can move past like and onto love. Best of all, most of these activities can be done year-round.

Build a mailing and/or emailing list. Send them happy surprises throughout the year; little swag in the mail or discounts in email.
Tweet or share something from their social media account.
Pop a little something in their bag. Even a quote on a nice piece of cardstock can brighten someone’s day.
Send a handwritten note or place one in the bag. Convey your appreciation for their business.
Respond to all social media commentary about you or the things you offer. Be helpful in your approach. If your service or business is not the best fit, tell them. They’ll remember your candor and likely trust you in the future enough to do business with you when what they need is what you do.
Host a Valentine’s Day party for your customers and potentials. Invite your lists. Make it an open house so people can stop by at their leisure.
Keep an eye out for your customers succeeding. Share the news wide and far.
Show them the real you. No one wants to fall in love with a phony. That goes for your customers too. Make sure you are transparent in your communications and they show off the real you, not someone you conjure up each time you post on social media. If you put on a front and pretend to be someone you aren’t, if you meet your customers in person, you better have that persona ready or there will be a disconnect for them.
Always follow your customers back on social media. When in doubt, follow back anyway. You’re in business to make money. Building connections is one way you do that. Not following back is a missed connection.
Train your staff to excel in customer service and support. Be specific about what level of autonomy they have in meeting the customer’s needs. Don’t make them call a manager each time. That diminishes their role.
Surprise and delight a special customer on Valentine’s Day. When they ask why, tell them it’s because you love your customers.
Keep track of services or buying history then personalize the discount offer to what they’ve purchased in the past.
Offer early or late shopping hours leading up to Valentine’s Day for those who need to find the perfect gift.
Publish a gift-giving guide organized by interests and demographics. People always need ideas. Make them as creative as possible and look for opportunities for upsells. Speaking of…
Create specialize baskets for sale by bundling a few of your services or products. This is a great way to upsell and can help you move inventory or introduce people to new products.
Host a contest or giveaway for the best Valentine’s Day outfit or some other theme. Tie it into your business for even more fun.
Pick up the tab. As a special Valentine’s Day treat, pick a random customer and cover their costs. Then give them a special Valentine asking them to do something nice for someone else.
Bake up goodies and serve them at your business.
Give part of your proceeds from Valentine’s Day to a special charity of your choice, something dear to your heart. Make sure your customers know so they feel extra special about their purchases.
Hang a chalkboard, whiteboard, or giant sheet of paper on a wall in your business and ask people to write down things they love, silly or serious. Or invite people to co-create a vision board of all the “love-ly” things you want in your life.
Give people something special if they’re wearing red.
Create a love-themed selfie station with props. Give participants a special hashtag so you can share their pics.
Launch a loyalty or frequent buyer program. Give discounts or free things for filling a punch card or reaching a certain level of expenditure with your business.
Offer a nice distraction of toys, food, or crafts for children when they come into the store. A local department store on Philadelphia used to have a bear on a trapeze high up near the ceiling that children could swing by pulling on a rope.
Serve homemade hot chocolate in a crock pot. Not only will it be a nice treat for customers, but it will also make your business smell fantastic. Take it to the next level with a fixin’s bar.
Offer a Buy One, Get One special in honor of this famous duos day.
Ask everyone who shops with you who their favorite couple is and share the answers on social media. You can also create a poll or contest. Speaking of…
Ask a special Valentine’s Day question and then share the answers. Ask something with choices like what are you getting your Valentine: a card, money, candy, flowers, nothing, something else. Record the answers and create a pie chart for sharing on social media. Or ask a what-if question like would you break up with a significant other if they forgot Valentine’s Day? Publish your results.
Offer samples or demos.
Give away a single red rose or lollipop for everyone who comes in on Valentine’s Day.
Offer a sample upgrade or trial for a short time if they sign up on February 14.
Sponsor a local team or PTA.
Create a business special offering for the day. Could be a special dish, service, or combo. Name it after your first love.
Give your product or service a Valentine’s tie-in, like a special chocolate facial or a sales spin like explaining how a baby monitor can help your customers enjoy a romantic night in with less cause to worry.
Donate an item or a service to a charity or fundraiser.
Create a bundle package with another business. For example, a gym could sell a membership bundled with a massage package for a fun combo. The package could be sold at both locations.
Two words…candy dish.
Surprise someone and live stream their reaction.
Run a proposal contest for your business. Get someone to propose at your place and capture it on video.
Ask people to speak about their favorite people and things. Compile them for a feel-good video montage.
Give out tiny love horoscope scrolls like what you used to get from the gum machine.
Invite people to share “something good” with you. It brightens everyone’s day.
Offer a mystery grab bag of something you love for a discounted price. Decorate it with hearts.
Advertise a flash Valentine’s sale to social media followers. Post it only on your profiles and only valid for a short time.
Offer a refer a friend discount code to customers or give away something special for those who bring a friend in.