LOVEly ways to stand out in your subscriber inbox. 

Valentine's Day creates an opportunity for brands to really shine in the inbox and be creative with their marketing. As with any other holiday or celebration, it gives brands a chance to add something special to their design, messaging and brand promotions.

With this in mind, here are a few examples we particularly enjoyed receiving in our Valentine's inbox because they were mindful, inclusive or just beautiful to open!

Giving subscribers the option to opt-out with Tesco and Zizzi

Simply being aware that some people might be sensitive and giving them a chance to opt-out before the campaign starts to run is thoughtful to your subscriber. Supermarket retailer Tesco and Italian chain Zizzi told their subscribers in advance and gave them the chance to opt-out before promotions started - they were also really clear in their messaging that the opt-out would only be for the Valentines campaign.

Also let's appreciate Zizzi's email for creating really clear unsubscribe links and preference options. It's always great to see brands showing they are doing their best to be easy to navigate around!

Screenshot-2021-02-10-at-11.19.56.png#asset:2341Screenshot-2021-02-10-at-11.23.24.png#asset:2344

Screenshot-2021-02-10-at-11.33.00.png#asset:2345

Doughnut Time is known for their creative and cheeky nature, especially in their marketing, so it's no surprise that their Valentine's Day email was exactly that.

The email makes no assumption that Valentine's Day is only for two people; they offer a range of 2-6 packs of doughnuts for you to enjoy - even hopping on the DIY kit trend which has been so popular over lockdown! In the current climate, Valentines Day isn't about one person, you might be in a houseshare, with your family, living alone or with your partner. All these living situations might dictate how you celebrate and Doughnut Time have provided options for you to do this in a fun way.

They have lots of little details throughout the email to pick up on:

  • <1 Vegan options (yay to being inclusive!)
  • No stereotyping with who you should be gifting with their messaging whether it's for your BFF, fam, lover/or lovers (we won't judge)
  • Handmade fresh daily stamp on the postcard (a lovely reminder that what you order is fresh!)
  • High quality imagery to really make the email pop out

The Body Shop deliver with a promise

The Body Shop lead their Valentine's Day campaign with the promise to deliver, and deliver your gifts on time (because who wants a late Valentine's present? >7)

Screenshot-2021-02-10-at-11.44.23.png#asset:2346

They promised to deliver your Valentine's goodies in time if ordered before 11am on the 5th February - with this messaging in bold to help it stand out. This is a nice touch especially because a lot of the time you have to put the items in your basket before realising it might not arrive in time. The design itself is really simple but has some great product shots, and a GIF to show a product breakdown - overall really enjoyable to read!

Screenshot-2021-02-10-at-11.46.17.png#asset:2347

>r Be body confident with My Undies

My Undies are a well known underwear brand, and unlike a lot of lingerie companies they use women and men of all sizes - not just the stereotypical underwear model you are likely to see elsewhere. And for Valentines they stuck to this, which is a great way to promote healthy body relationships especially when the clothing sold is more revealing.

Their inclusive marketing features all body and relationshiptypes, uses a diverse range of models and promotes being happy over anything else. Their email has a few cool things going on:

  • Identifying immediately that you don't need a specific other half to celebrate with (even your dog will do!)
  • Promises your items will be with you if ordered by a certain date
  • Offers a Valentine's Day promo code

Love isn't cancelled just because of lockdown with Leon 

Like many brands, Leon turned to DIY at home kits. These have proved very popular after the last year with a completely carbon neutral and vegan burger kit to share with your valentine, gal-entine or pal-entine. 

What's a nice touch here and quite similar to The Body Shop is the GIF of the product. In The Body Shop it was the product being unwrapped, whereas Leon's is putting the product together. You don't really need to read the full email to understand what their campaign is about as the imagery and highlighted text does it for you. Really clever campaign from Leon and a very positive way to engage with the reader!

Do you have more examples? We'd love to see them.

Did you spot any Valentine's Day emails you particularly enjoyed? Share them with us on Twitter or send us an email — we'd love  to see them and add them to this post.


See how Taxi can help your team

Taxi helps marketing teams make better quality email, quicker, at a larger scale.

Let's set up a conversation→


44,916 email campaigns and counting.

Join the smart marketers using Taxi to make better email.