Oh, Valentine’s Day. A day filled with going out to dinner, gifts of flowers, candy, and jewelry, all with sentimental cards professing love and devotion.

Or is it?

How consumers approach Valentine’s Day is changing. This means there are more opportunities for cannabis and hemp CBD companies to take advantage of the holiday. If you’re wondering (and it’s a good thing to wonder) how to market your cannabis or hemp CBD products for Valentine’s Day that can help increase sales, then keep reading. Because we have seven marketing ideas you’ll love.

How Valentine’s Day is Evolving

In 2022, spending is up when it comes to Valentine’s Day gifts. According to the National Retail Federation, the average person will spend $174 on Valentine’s Day, and it’s anticipated that we will spend $21.8 Billion on Valentine’s Day. And while we’ll be spending money on traditional gifts, increasingly, people are buying gifts for “non-romantic” people in their lives. They are also increasingly looking to purchase gifts online, and more unique or custom gifts.

What Does That Mean for Cannabis and Hemp CBD Companies?

Consumers want more unique experiences, and what can help create a more unique Valentine’s day experience than cannabis or hemp CBD Valentine’s Day gifts? Seriously, it’s like Valentine’s Day 2022 was made for us.

Whether your products are for happy couples, the happily single, those who don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, or for our furry friends, it’s easy to get creative and create Valentine’s day campaigns to increase your sales (and your customers will thank you).

Also, most online searches happen the first week of February, so make sure you’re ready!

Before we dive into the marketing ideas to increase Valentine’s Day spending on your products, there are a few things to consider to increase your Valentine’s Day sales.

Know Your Cannabis and Hemp CBD Consumers

Suppose you’re not starting with knowing who your specific consumer then you’re not trying. The key to creating any successful Valentine’s Day campaign is knowing who our customer truly is. If you start talking about celebrating Valentine’s Day in a way that doesn’t resonate with your audience, then you’re better off not trying.

For example, don’t talk up Galentine’s Day to your male consumers, or if you suddenly start talking about hearts, flowers, and love stories but you own a pet brand, then you’ll lose your audience. It’s easy to get Valentine’s Day Marketing wrong (check out any of the ads that say things like, “No one loves you? So why not love yourself!”), so take the time to make sure whatever approach you take it’s true to your audience.

Stay True to Your Cannabis and Hemp CBD Brand

There are many great ways to approach your Valentine’s Day marketing, but you want to make sure whatever you do it’s aligned with your brand and values. For example, don’t talk about traditional romance tropes to your consumers who value your open-minded, rebellious nature; you’ll lose them. You’re better off offering up Buffy the Vampire Slayer and other anti-Valentine’s Day ideas than going with a traditional Valentine’s theme.

You created your company and brand the way it is for a reason, lean into the branding and use it to guide your Valentine’s theme campaign.

7 Cannabis and Hemp CBD Valentine’s Day Marketing Ideas

Valentines Day evokes heightened emotions in the minds of many. Your customer might be in love or disgust with February 14. Dating is incredibly different now than in early 2020, which can be tricky when developing marketing plans. However, the holiday gives us a chance to create and enjoy something cannabis and hemp CBD consumers may even welcome.

Here are seven Valentine’s Day marketing ideas for your cannabis or hemp CBD business!

#1 Live Streaming Your Products

While we can’t technically take advantage of live stream shopping trends happening this year, we can live stream the behind-the-scenes and highlight products and experiences. For example:

Live stream your CBD products, particularly any Valentine’s Day packages you’ve created
Live stream behind the scenes of making your unique products
Live stream about the types of experiences consumers could have with your products
Live stream about anti-Valentine’s Day gifts
Live stream the story of your brand and how that ties into how your products were created
Live stream about your pet products and celebration ideas for “Pawlentine’s Day”
Live stream last-minute gift ideas

You get extra points if you tie your live streams into your larger Valentine’s Day marketing campaign (versus just a one-off live stream).

Unsure about using video, or live streaming about your products? Then check out this stat:

Reach out to people with large followings on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube that might enjoy your product. Ask them to share a picture of themselves using it or tagging your company (depending on what is allowed per their terms of service). Try to find people who have shared posts about similar products before; these individuals may already know other users with large social media followings, which can help you connect with the right people.

Remember, though, that social media influencers and content creators have come a long way, so you want to approach them the right way and don’t assume they’ll be willing to trade for products.

For tips about working with influencers, check out our interview on Cannabis Marketing Live!

Sorry THC companies, this one isn’t for you (assuming state regulations prohibit giving away cannabis THC products). But if you have hemp CBD products, you can do a Valentine’s themed giveaway. Create packaging for your product that appeals to Valentine’s Day and offer it up as a free giveaway on your company website during this holiday. You could ask them to share their love stories, why their best friend could use the gift package, or give it away to your loyal customers.

Share it with others on social media to encourage participation. You will have new followers who may be interested in your future marketing campaigns or products!

#4 Create a Cannabis or Hemp CBD Gift Guide

Who doesn’t need gift ideas when the time to celebrate Valentine’s Day rolls around? Seriously? Everyone. Nearly everyone could use help thinking outside the traditional Valentine’s Day gift ideas, so why not help them out? Creating a Valentine’s day gift guide helps your customers make better gift buying decisions and position your cannabis or CBD product as great Valentine’s gift ideas, and it also helps them find the perfect gift.

You could do it alone or partner with complementary products or services that can help you reach a broader audience and level up your guide. Seriously, who wouldn’t want to have access to a gift guide that included edibles, oils, tinctures, topicals, food items, beverages, and even hemp products (e.g., textiles). You can arrange the gifts by gender (hers, his, theirs), keep them neutral, and organize them by personality or interests. Then you and your partners can promote the hell out of it to make it worth your while.

In the end, you’re helping your audience find the perfect Valentine’s Day gift, which makes them the hero, and they won’t forget you for it.

#5 Email Marketing Campaign

Create a Valentine’s Day-themed email (and video!) series that tells a story (not just promotions) and includes discounts on your products as well as information about them.

If you’re feeling creative (and it fits your brand), you could create personalities for your products and “match” them together with the consumers. “This is good for people who love long walks in the rain, tea on a cold day, journalling, and crying alone to emo music from the 2000’s”. Tease them out as part of your larger Valentine’s Day campaign.

Make sure this message is sent out early enough, so people have time to look over their options before resorting to last-minute purchases.

(And if you need a good email marketing tool, check out our post about what email marketing companies actually ALLOW cannabis and hemp CBD companies to use their services).

#6 Create an Experience

One way to market your cannabis or hemp CBD products is to create an unforgettable Valentine’s Day experience for your consumers. From self-care and pampering experiences to fun Valentine’s Day themed events or helping create romantic, sexy time for those in love, experiences are increasingly preferred over gifts. And what better way to celebrate this than by creating an experience for your customers? It can be as simple as hosting a DIY-themed event where you teach them how to cooka delicious meal together with their loved one, or organizing something more extravagant like a lit escape room. The key thing is that it’s unique, fun, romantic and memorable!

By creating an engaging experience, that is highly unique and memorable, you can market your unique CBD products as a fun escape from the ordinary. Once you have created this experience then it’s all about awareness and finding those customers who are most likely to appreciate what you have to offer. Another example could take advantage of the fact that everyone loves being pampered. So what is more luxurious than using cannabis infused skincare products, with a music playlist designed for relaxation, combined with candles and chocolate.

#7 Host a Cannabis or Hemp CBD Valentine’s Day Workshop or Talk

These can be in-person or virtual, but they include an element of education or learning. Have someone come in and educate others about the benefits of this product so they can understand why it might support their health. Or you could go a level further and do a CBD massage workshop and highlight products and their benefits while teaching the basics of massages.

The topic is only limited by your creativity (and logistics). People tend to be interested in topics they don’t know much about yet, so they are intrigued when learning. Oh, you want examples, did you say?

CBD Cooking Hour – teach your audience how to make a delicious dinner
Couple’s cannabis/CBD Massage Clinic – you got the idea from the description above, but we wanted credit for including it
Ignite your inspiration and mindset meditation – once again, they buy your products in a package and you lead them through a session/talk
Spark Self Care – focus on the five things people can be doing to improve their self-care and pampering in a fun way (with your products of course)

The list is endless; the key is that they’re learning something.

And if this isn’t enough, here are a few extra tips to help increase your success!

Extra Tips

Drive Urgency

From helping early-bird customers find the right gifts to catering to the last-minute shoppers, a smart way to increase sales is to increase urgency. For example, combining scarcity-driven copy or a countdown timer are great ways to increase demand for your procrastinating last-minute shoppers. There are ways of doing this without causing guilt or shame, and little things like email reminders that they still have time for their gifts to be delivered before Valentine’s Day can go a long way.

Don’t Forget the Singles and All the Different Types of Love

The amazing thing about today is that Valentine’s Day isn’t limited to the traditional concept of a couple and love. It can be for friends, singles, families, pets, and essentially all kinds of love. In fact, in other countries, the Day is called “Heart Day.”

So remember, not all of your clients are part of a traditional couple, so don’t make them feel left out. It’s possible to prevent this by presenting Valentine’s Day themes and messaging that is open and respectful instead of constrained by an outdated idea of who Valentine’s Day is for and who it isn’t for.

Use All Your Marketing Channels to Promote Your Valentine’s Day Campaign

Don’t just stop at posting a few times on your social channels. Get creative! This is a limited-time campaign, so you only want to hit it hard for a few weeks. Sure, you want to use your social media accounts, but you also want to include email, blog posts, videos, perhaps a landing page on your website that highlights your Valentine’s day gifts and packages. Make short videos about the products or the experiences you’re creating.

Help ensure that the shopper feels smart and savvy. They want to know they are purchasing the perfect gift, so find subtle ways to reassure them that their Valentine will appreciate their thoughtful and unique gifts (even if their Valentine is themselves). You can even follow up with the purchases with links to Spotify music lists or include a blank Valentine’s Day card with the gift.

What Will Your Valentine’s Day Marketing Campaign Include?

There are so many ways you can help your consumers who might be celebrating Valentine’s Day (or Galentine’s Day, or Pawlentine’s Day) in 2022. From live-stream shopping to inspiring spa bliss (with your CBD oil) to hosting events like cocktail making, we hope you found the perfect way to inspire your marketing and Valentine’s Day offers.

Marketing your CBD business for Valentine’s Day doesn’t need challenging, and there are plenty of ways to make it more successful. Use any (or all!) of these seven marketing ideas, and you won’t have to worry about getting the word out – plus, you will see an increase in sales!

What Are You Waiting For? Let’s Get Started!

If you’re looking to tackle your Valentine’s Day marketing, or create/refine your marketing strategy designed for growth, then you’re in the right place Schedule an intro call today so we can discuss your goals!