SmallBusinessNewz

With Valentine's Day approaching close to half of U.S. small businesses (46%) anticipate strong holiday sales according to Constant Contact's 3rd Annual Small Business Valentine's Day Outlook survey.

This is an increase over last year, when 37 percent of survey respondents anticipated strong Valentine's Day sales. A majority of U.S. small businesses (68%) plan to reach out to their customers this year with special Valentine's Day promotions in order to attract more business, an increase over last year's 53 percent.

"Even with a slowing economy, many small businesses recognize Valentine's Day as an opportunity to attract customers and it's not surprising that more of them are relying on cost-effective ways to market themselves to current and prospective customers this year," said Gail Goodman, CEO, Constant Contact.

"While tools like email marketing can have a large impact on businesses during any economic climate, they are particularly important when consumers are faced with many choices for their Valentine's Day spending."

Close to half (44%) of respondents consider Valentine's Day an important holiday for their businesses and are turning to cost-effective marketing methods to get their promotions out. Email marketing (42%) was identified as the main marketing method, followed by online marketing, including paid search and banner ads (20%). Forty-two percent said email marketing had the greatest impact on driving sales, an increase from 38 percent in 2007.

Small businesses also expect online sales to play a big role in this year's Valentine's Day sales. More than half (59%) expect online sales will increase this year.

Constant Contact surveyed 600 small business owners online who are current customers with the firm.