By Jonathan Baker Valentine’s Day will be here in one week. Recent statistics on the popularity of February 14th and how couples in love seek to spend money are worth sitting up and taking notice of. If you own a business or brand, find out how you can maximize your marketing opportunities by next Friday. Valentine’s Day Campaigns are Strong How popular is Valentine’s Day? Campaign targeting has been in the works since the end of the holiday season in December—and for good reason. As reported in MediaPost, last year was a record-breaking year for Valentine’s Day, with sales reaching $5.28 trillion (yes, trillion)—an increase of 3.6 percent. And certain well-known tech companies are answering the call to help make 2025 a memorable Valentine’s Day for marketers. Google Gets into the Act If you utilize Google Ads, pay attention. Recently, the iconic search giant released a variety of tools to help brands enhance their Valentine’s Day marketing strategies. For example, features were added to the Performance Max component which enables performance advertisers to access Google Ads inventory from a single campaign. Google, however, is not the only tech giant helping to aid advertising efforts for February 14th. Microsoft’s Contributions A couple of weeks ago, Microsoft presented new capabilities that included reporting updates, conversion value rules, acquisition goals among new customers, and targeting on LinkedIn as an audience signal. Additionally, an article in Microsoft Advertising listed the most popular shopping categories for Valentine’s Day, giving advertisers a head-start as to whom and where to target their campaigns. What are couples purchasing? Traditional Tokens of Love Unsurprisingly, as Microsoft Advertising noted, flowers, clothing, and jewelry are the three most sought after items. Interestingly, 40 percent of these purchases were made online, which means 60 percent of sales were or will be at brick-and-mortar locations. This proves that the in-store experience is strong beyond the holiday season. Ready to make the most of the next few days? The Seven-Day Stretch Even though marketing campaigns for Valentine’s Day start early, over 50 percent of customers may wait until the last week before the holiday to shop. If any of the points listed below are relevant to your business, begin applying them now. TikTok (for now, anyway) leads as an inspirational source for finding the latest trends of what couples in love are seeking. Significantly, members of Generation Z make up a prominent percentage of these couples. As with flowers, clothing, and jewelry, an elegant dinner is also a pleasing Valentine’s Day gift. If you operate a restaurant, consider offering a “one-day special discount” this Saturday. Creating customized Valentine’s Day gift guides is an inventive method to connect loving couples with products that hint at romance. The online component of your business can also benefit by sending specially targeted Valentine’s Day emails with details of sales and specials. Additionally, offering free shipping helps to sweeten the deal—on any day. Finally, gift cards are always popular—for those who wait till the last minute as well as shoppers who simply can’t decide on what their significant other would like. Show customers love this Valentine’s Day. Who knows? If your campaign makes enough of an impact, these customers may become regulars beyond February 14th. To learn more about EGC’s full range of marketing services, get in touch with us. We will provide your brand with tender loving care.
