Get Ahead This Valentine's Day: Hot Trends for Your Advertising Campaigns

Love is in the air!

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, different regions across the globe will celebrate with their own unique traditions and consumer behaviors. In the romantic streets of Paris, lovers stroll hand-in-hand past glittering jewelry shops and fragrant flower stalls, while British couples search for the perfect fashion statement to mark the occasion. German celebrations often center around classic gifts of flowers and sweet treats. But across the Atlantic, Americans embrace both traditional and modern expressions of love. Whether it's a romantic dinner, thoughtful gift, or sweet gesture, Valentine's Day is a golden opportunity for you to connect with your audiences’ preferences.

Shopping Insights in 4 Key Regions

Let's explore regional approaches to this celebration of love by analyzing last year's Valentine's Day shopping patterns.

The rise of Gen Z shoppers

One of the most striking trends from 2024 is the emergence of Gen Z as first-time Valentine's Day shoppers.

Across France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, 26% of Gen Z planned to give Valentine's gifts for the first time – double that of other generations' 13% participation rate.¹

Starting your Valentine's Day campaigns

When it comes to timing your campaigns, our data shows the earlier, the better.

In fact, 61% of Valentine's Day conversions in February² start with clicks that happened in December and January. General Valentine's Day searches start ramping up in late December and continue to increase until February 14, with searches in key verticals rising starting three weeks before the holiday.

While both brand and non-brand searches influence conversions through the search journey, consumers are more likely to start their journey with non-brand searches.

As they move through their journey, non-brand searches increase to 68%.³ Once they’re ready to convert, brand and non-brand conversions are evenly distributed. For single touchpoint users, 69% convert on branded searches. ³

Keep these insights in mind when looking at your campaigns and budgets to focus on the ones driving the most conversions.

Tap into emerging trends

This Valentine's Day season, you have the unique opportunity to stay ahead of the competition. By using and adapting to the insights below, you can create more targeted and effective campaigns that resonate with your audience.

Maintain your brand investment: Top online flower and gifting retailers' brand terms were strong in 2024. Consider highlighting your brand's unique selling points to help you stand out in a competitive market.

Emphasize local gifting: There’s a rising trend in searches for floral and gift basket deliveries that include city/state, “delivery to,” “near me,” and “local.” Focusing on these options in your campaigns can attract customers looking for convenient and personalized gifting solutions.

Incorporating superlatives: Gifting queries that include superlatives like “best,” “top-rated,” “perfect,” and “largest” are becoming more popular. Using them in your product descriptions and ads can capture the attention of shoppers looking for the best gifts.

Offering value: More people are searching for price-sensitive terms like “discount,” “cheap,” “coupons,” and “promo code” in their gifting queries. Promotions and discounts can appeal to budget-conscious consumers and drive higher conversion rates.

Providing curated ideas: Searches are increasing for “Valentine's gift ideas,” “Valentine's inspiration,” and “gift ideas for him/her.” Gift guides and inspiration can help shoppers find the perfect gifts and enhance their shopping experience.

Prepare for competition: Nontraditional GNOs have become increasingly competitive in the GVO vertical. Expect more competitive CPCs around peak dates and adjust your campaigns accordingly.

Maximize your campaigns with Microsoft Advertising

Microsoft Advertising offers a range of tools and solutions to help you make valentine's Day campaigns.

• Performance Max: Using Performance Max in your campaign portfolio can help you boost ads to reach your target audience across the entire Microsoft Advertising Network. Just add your Valentine’s Day assets, and Microsoft AI will handle the rest. Check out how Marks & Spencer enhanced performance with this approach.

• Audience Ads: You can also scale by using Audience Ads to target consumers – like the increasing Gen Z shopper base – effectively.
• Automated bidding: Keep your bids competitive as traffic spikes with automatic bids.
• Multimedia Ads: Reach consumers on mobile devices with engaging multimedia ads.
• Local Inventory Ads: Take advantage of local gifting searches to attract shoppers looking for convenience.

Be sure to target early season shoppers by building remarketing lists to re-engage December and January shoppers close to Valentine’s Day. Along with these insights and tools, you’ll set up your Valentine's Day campaigns for success.