Meh: That’s how I’d describe the Valentine’s Day-related e-mails I viewed the week prior to the big day.

Never mind your personal opinions regarding the day (“meaningless Hallmark holiday” is muttered frequently in my house). Valentine’s Day is the first major spending event of the calendar year. The National Retail Federation estimates that Americans will have spent an average of $103 this year on Valentine’s Day merchandise and cards for their significant others, offspring, friends, co-workers, and yes, pets. That totals $14.1 billion in consumer expenditures.

Why, then, were marketers’ efforts to woo customers and prospects so lackluster?

The emphasis on price may be to blame. “In the retail sector in particular, it’s clear that what was hot for Valentine’s Day this year was price point,” says Scott Hardigree, CEO of e-mail marketing agency Indiemark. That’s why inboxes were filled with far-from-sexy subject lines such as “2 Days Only… Free Shipping Upgrade” (gifts cataloguer Sundance), “Enjoy a Free Shipping Upgrade from See’s Candies”, and “Limited Time! FREE Express Shipping on $60+ for Valentine’s Day Delivery!” (toiletries brand L’Occitane). Okay, maybe those subject lines are sexy to Scrooge McDuck. If you’ve received multiple such subject lines in your inbox, however, they all begin to blur together.

Which brings us to what Loren McDonald, vice president of industry relations for marketing solutions provider Silverpop, refers to as “a fundamental problem, and not just with the Valentine’s Day e-mails”: the failure of marketers to capture relevant data about their customers and prospects and to use that information to target them appropriately. A jeweler, for instance, could probably benefit from promoting different products to younger customers than older ones; a gifts merchant would likely do well to send different offers to its most-affluent consumers than to the rest of its file.

McDonald contends that by using just three data points—age, relationship status, and gender—marketers could increase conversion rates, not to mention bolster their relationships with their customers. Heck, simply sending different offers to men and to women would be a start. My female colleagues received myriad e-mails promoting jewelry and flowers—gifts that women traditionally receive rather than give.

For that reason, an e-mail that one of my male co-workers received from 1-800-Flowers.com was arguably the most sophisticated of those I saw this year. “Score Big with Roses” was the headline, beside a silhouette of a basketball player making a jump shot. The copy proceeded to explain that with each purchase of long-stem roses, you were eligible to win a trip for two to the college basketball championships in Indianapolis. Stereotypical or not, it’s the only promotion I saw that seemed to use any sort of segmentation and targeting.

It also was one of the few that seemed to have some sort of strategic thought behind it, with the creative (including the names given to the featured bouquets—The Layup, The 3 Pointer, The Slam Dunk) tying in to the overall theme. Most of the e-mails appeared to be “just another excuse for a sale and an e-mail,” McDonald says. “The mentality seems to be to send out more e-mails and drive more top-line revenue.”

Or as Hardigree says, “Unfortunately most of these campaigns are simply the retailer’s usual practices, wrapped in a heart-shaped box.”

And not even well wrapped at that. The e-mail from Amazon Payments (and no, I don’t know how Amazon Payments differs from Amazon.com) resembled a jumble sale: Its “Top 10 Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas” ranged from “Brand Name Watches” to the tearjerker novel Dear John.

A few at least managed to work a clever turn of phrase or two into their creative. This subject line from the Pacific Cookie Company, “Don’t forget sweets for your sweetie! $5 off coupon inside,” wasn’t Wildean, but at least it injected some personality into its offer. Ditto Harry & David’s “Red Roses + FREE Delivery = a Sweetheart Deal for Valentine’s Day!” It helped that the main image of the Harry & David e-mail was a stunning bouquet of long-stemmed red roses.

The e-mail from Onlineshoes.com suggested that the creative time had spent more than a half-hour slapping it together. “Sweeten Your Valentine’s Day with $20 Off” read the subject line. “Have them slip into something a little more comfortable this Valentine’s Day… with name-brand shoes at sweet savings,” read the message, which was accompanied by a candy heart with the words “Be My Sole Mate.” Awww….

My personal favorite was from Trader Joe’s. The eclectic grocer sent out a very brief e-mail with the subject line “romantic notions.” “First Law of Romantic Notion: If you do nothing romantic for Valentine’s Day, nothing romantic happens” was the theme of the message, which proceeded with a recipe of sorts. It listed four ingredients (Pink Salt, Piquillo Peppers, Fresh Mozzarella, and Rosy Outlook Bouquet), the cost of which it helpfully tallied ($11 in all), then gave the instructions: “Prepare to sprinkle Pink Salt. Place Roasted Piquillo Peppers on a platter. Slice Fresh Mozzarella into medallions and arrange slices alongside Piquillos (pattern after Rosy Outlook Bouquet). Adorn with savory pink crystals, and put bouquet on display… is the color rising to the cheeks? Ah, how ‘blushingly romantic.’” It perfectly embodied the Trader Joe’s brand, presented the softest of sells (Pink Salt? Who knew?), and was distinctive enough to stand out in the crowd.

Generally speaking, though, this year’s crop of Valentine’s Day’s e-mails seemed to be more about the retailers’ needs (revenue!) and less about the consumers’ needs (solving the problem that is finding the perfect affordable Valentine’s Day gift and ensuring it arrives on time). “The best e-mails were customer focused and driven,” McDonald says, “and this has to be the trend that marketers follow going forward.”