Love is in the air – and on the internet. From couples to singles, many people are looking for unique ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day. With the rise of online businesses and digital consumerism, Valentine’s Day marketing campaigns present a prime opportunity for brands to boost awareness, enhance customer loyalty, and drive revenue. In 2017, consumers spent an incredible $19.5 million on the event, an average of $146 per person.
Likewise, publishers and content creators can also create interesting Valentine’s Day content to capitalize on social buzz and set the stage for more content consumption after the holiday.
So what kind of content gets the most engagement from the Valentine’s Day audience?
We analyzed over 4.4 million social signals (including shares, searches, and social referrals) around Valentine’s Day content published last year to uncover interesting Sharing Intelligence insights.
Top Trending Content around 2017 Valentine’s Day
Based on our 2017 Valentine’s Day data, social sharing spiked on V-Day, especially on Pinterest. When compared to the general audience, Valentine’s sharers are 188% more likely to share on Pinterest, 162% more likely to share on WhatsApp, and 49% more likely to share on Facebook.When compared to the general audience, Valentine’s sharers are 188% more likely to share on Pinterest. Click To Tweet
Considering that Pinterest is the preferred channel for Valentine’s Day sharers, brands, and content creators can boost their Valentine’s Day marketing strategy by making it easy for followers to save photos, videos, and photos onto Pinterest boards via the Pinterest Share Button.
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In terms of browsing behavior, our data shows that users who shared on Valentine’s Day were 41% more likely to share on mobile devices. Therefore, make sure that all of your Valentine’s Day marketing campaigns and materials are mobile-optimized, or you may lose some valuable engagement.
You might be wondering: other than an interest in Valentine’s Day festivities, what other content topics are these sharers engaging with?
Our data around passion points shows that Valentine’s Day sharers were 549% more likely to share party games than the general audience year-round.
Likewise, Valentine’s Day sharers were also:
- 380% more likely to share content related to drama films
- 307% more likely to share content related to costumes
- 260% more likely to share content related to beauty pageants
- 249% more likely to share family-related content
Insights Into Pinterest Sharers Around Valentine’s Day
In 2017, ShareThis captured an average of 1.2 million shares to Pinterest each month globally. But in February, Pinterest snagged over 2 million shares, smashing the monthly average.
Since Pinterest is a top-performing social channel around this holiday, it’s a good idea to optimize this platform for your Valentine’s Day marketing campaigns.
Looking for ideas on how to generate more engagement on Pinterest? Understand the top trending content topics that experienced a spike in sharing around the time of the holiday:
- Not surprisingly, share volume around Romance Films experienced the highest growth during V-Day and the weekend leading up to it (about 32-57% daily growth).
- Surprisingly, share volume around Thriller, Crime, & Mystery films also experienced a growth on the Sunday before Valentine’s Day and the actual day of the event (18-23% daily growth).
- Share volume around Gifts, Flowers, and Gourmet & Specialty Foods experienced steady growth (5%-21%) throughout the three days leading up to V-Day, but share volume significantly dropped on the day of the event.
- Users continued to share content related to Cards & Greetings starting from the three days leading up to the event and until the day of the event (3-14% daily growth).
Surprisingly, share volume around Thriller, Crime, & Mystery films increased on the Sunday before Valentine’s Day and the actual day of the event Click To Tweet
As you can see, both the content and timing of posts matter for audience engagement. To tap into the sharing frenzy and become part of viral conversations, publishers and brands should hone in on these top categories and post relevant content at the optimal time to appeal to their target audience.
Valentine’s Day Marketing Campaigns & Ideas for Pinterest
In addition to the statistics we’ve discussed, here are more tips for shaping and optimizing your 2018 Valentine’s Day campaigns, especially the Valentine’s Day social media campaigns :
- If you’re encouraging gift purchases from partners or advertisers, focus on older millennial men. ShareThis data shows that men make up 53% of social media activity on Valentine’s Day. Bing found that on average, they spend twice as much as women. Additionally, consumers aged 25-34 generate the most social activity (more than 25%) and purchases (about $234 per person).
ShareThis data shows that men make up 53% of social media activity on Valentine’s Day. Click To Tweet
- You can win over Valentine’s Day shoppers with fun, creative, and light-hearted content. While a romantic candlelit evening is a stereotype, keep in mind that half of all consumers are single, and one-quarter of them will engage in an activity on Valentine’s Day. In addition to these romantic marketing campaigns, you can also take a page from Galentine’s Day, which is a nonofficial holiday that started as a viral episode of the TV series Parks and Recreation andbecame a popular real-life event among millennial women who embrace Feb 13th as a day for “ladies celebrating ladies.”
Image: The Reading Date
Image: LinkedIn
- You may also consider promoting content related to gifts for pets. While it may seem counter-intuitive, Bing found that in 2016, 19% of consumers bought gifts for their pets. They spent $681 million total, averaging $26 each shopper.
Image: Entrepreneur
- Create Pinterest boards with these topics in mind. Experiment with different versions of titles that appeal to people’s needs for shopping and spending quality time with friends and loved ones. Consider boards like Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Galentine’s Day, Valentine’s Day: Friend Edition, or Be Your Own Valentine.
- Consider working with influencers on Pinterest to craft visually appealing boards that showcase your brand and products in the best light. In fact, Pinterest encourages such partnership — its Pin Collective program matches brands and content creators to leverage the power of micro-influencers on Pinterest.
A Year-Round Look at Pinterest Data
Examining activity around Valentine’s Day specifically is a powerful way to generate positive results from your efforts. But don’t forget to look at overall data trends throughout the year for a more holistic view of Pinterest’s strengths and opportunities.
Top Shared Content to Pinterest in 2017
Pinterest surpasses Twitter and Facebook for sharing activities around certain categories such as:
- Arts & Entertainment: tied with Twitter for 15% of total shares, in comparison to 11% on Facebook
- Food & Drink, including restaurants, dining, and consumer packaged goods: 8%, in comparison to 5% on Twitter and 4% on Facebook
- Home & Garden: 7%, over 4% on Twitter and 5% on Facebook
If you’re planning to target Pinterest specifically, consider incorporating these topics whenever you can.
For more granular insights to complement our research, you can check out the Pinterest 100 insights by Pinterest, which covers 100 global trend predictions across its top categories.
Top Countries by Pinterest Activity
Curious which countries are more active on Pinterest? The following countries are more likely to share to Pinterest than the global average, so keep this in mind for your global campaigns.
- France: 2.8x more likely
- Germany: 2.5x more likely
- Italy: 2.4x more likely
- Vietnam: 1.7x more likely
- United States: 1.7x more likely
Use the Data for Results You’ll Fall in Love With
Publishers and marketers looking to drive traffic and hit their revenue goals through 2018 Valentine’s Day campaigns should dig into key data points around online social behaviors. We hope our insights and social media buttons including the Pinterest Share Button can help you drive massive traffic, promote your business, and win over new readers and customers.
