6 Creative Tips for Valentine’s Day Advertising

If you’ve been following the news about our friends at Maximum Effort, you might know about “fastvertising.” In a nutshell, it means making extremely agile marketing moves to create content that can comment on a viral trend. For Maximum Effort, that could mean turning around a video ad in less than 12 hours to capitalize on a celebrity endorsement.

But what does that mean for all those small businesses without access to Hollywood talent? With the right processes in place, you can make video ads in a fraction of the time.

And if you’re still considering running an ad to coincide with Valentine’s Day, “fastvertising” means you still have time to make a significant impact.

As many shoppers scramble for last-minute gifts, there’s time to absorb some important lessons about what makes for the best Valentine’s Day ads to connect with them! Like the holiday itself, Valentine’s Day ads come freighted with expectations. They have to be moving but not cheesy; romantic but not overwrought; and funny but not so funny that the romance is undermined.

Here are some top tips for keeping your Valentine’s Day ads appealing and winning your audiences’ hearts.

Want to skip to your favorite part?

• Focus on Engaging Storytelling
• Have a Thumb Stopping Hook
• Add Dynamic Design Elements
• Don’t Forget Sound
• Highlight What Makes Your Product Unique
• Always Prioritize Diversity

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1. Focus On Engaging Storytelling

You can lead your audience anywhere with an engaging story, and they’ll follow. The basics of storytelling include: 

Investing in Your Characters

Spend time crafting your characters into people your audience can relate to and enjoy watching. You’ll also want to make sure their goals are clear and bold. Your characters need to be appealing enough for audiences to root for them to achieve their goals—otherwise, they might check out before you get the chance to tell them about your business. 

Creating Interesting (and Relatable) Obstacles

The obstacles your characters face inform the stakes and tension of the story—and Valentine’s Day ads are all about the challenges. You might see someone trying to find true love in an unlikely place or trying to avoid being bombarded with Valentine’s Day celebrations while just trying to go on a trip. 

Want to see these Valentine’s Day ads? Check out 10 Valentine’s Day Ads to Fall in Love With.

If your ad’s main characters can overcome the obstacles in front of them, it’s a happy ending. And chances are, one way or another, your Valentine’s Day ad will have a happy ending.

An Exciting Conclusion

At the end of a Valentine’s Day commercial, your characters will probably spend time together, give each others gifts, or somehow show love for each other. Even if the ending’s a foregone conclusion—or, looking at it another way, the obvious point of the ad—you can still make it memorable. 

While not every ad is long enough to have a beginning, middle, and end, you still should find ways of distilling the story of a romance to its essence.

If you don’t have time to consider the formalities of story structure, remember: storytelling is all about emotion. Find a strong emotion and go with it!

2. Have a Thumb-Stopping Hook

As the name suggests, a hook catches your attention and pulls you into an ad. And these are more important than ever before. 

Your competition these days isn’t just TV shows or streaming content; it’s also the millions of other distractions in the form of TikToks, tweets, and Instagram stories. 

If you want to stand out from the pack, you have to start with a bang. It could be: 

• A provocative title card
• An eye-catching graphic
• A striking image of an actor poised to charm or surprise the audience

Think about what would stop you from scrolling on to the next outrage or story of gloom, and then try that! Brainstorm and come up with something that stops scrollers in their tracks—whether that’s because it’s funny, interesting, or unique. 

3. Add Dynamic Design Elements

In our world filled with digital content, many people simply skim highlights, glance at headlines, and make snap judgments. 

As technology continues to influence our attention spans, it’s critical to immediately get your consumers’ attention. Now, you have just a few seconds—and according to this study, just one second—to grab viewers’ attention. 

You want to get more imaginative and intentional with your video marketing when you have limited real estate. One way to do this is by adding engaging graphics to compel viewers to keep watching.  

What are you trying to say? Consider putting that message in a stylish on-screen text or graphic. Try to:

• Experiment with colors, shapes, and word art to add energy to your spot.
• Intersperse footage with graphics in a cool, rhythmic way.
• Integrate footage with graphics, so you’re always holding your viewers’ attention.

4. Don’t Forget Sound

A few years ago, you might have been able to get away without using audio on your videos. On-screen text or captions might have been enough—but those days are gone. 

TikTok revitalized audio in social media video, causing consumers to expect a sound-on experience. Sound is a powerful storytelling element and can help your Valentine’s Day ad reach a wider audience. 

Whether you use a popular sound, a romantic melody, or ear-catching sound effects, don’t forget the power of sound when you craft your Valentine’s Day ads! 

See what QuickFrame can help you create.

5. Highlight What Makes Your Product Unique

Ads have to stand out, which is partly a matter of style and content. If you have a product that’s different from others, you have to say so—quickly!

“Get to know yourself” isn’t just good life advice; it’s also good advertising advice! 

Your ad campaign depends on a clear, expressible message. If you know what makes your product distinctive and can express it quickly, do that. If you can’t, it’s time to figure out how. 

6. Always Prioritize Diversity

Diversity is critical in every advertising campaign, no matter the time of year. Representation allows more people to see themselves on screen, driving inclusion and relatability. 

While some improvements have been made, there’s still a long way to go. When crafting your campaigns, ensure you’re considering and creating an accurate representation of your customers and the world as a whole. You might also want to consider groups of people you don’t often see represented in a meaningful way, and see how you can bring them into your campaign.

Creative Tips for Valentine’s Day Ads: The Takeaway

When it comes to Valentine’s Day ads, some are funny, others are romantic. No matter the theme, all of the most effective ads immediately catch the audience’s attention. To create compelling Valentine’s Day ads: 

• Focus on storytelling.
• Have a thumb-stopping hook.
• Add graphic design elements, like dynamic onscreen text.
• Don’t forget the sound.
• Highlight what makes your product unique.
• Always prioritize diversity. 

QuickFrame is excited to connect brands of all sizes with expert video content creators and video production teams around the world who have a fundamental understanding of the elements that make for a great campaign. 

Contact us today to get started on your upcoming advertising campaigns!