7 Valentine’s Day Social Media Campaign Ideas & Trends

Table Of Contents:

1. Approximately 50% of people like to buy gifts online
2. Flowers and chocolates are the number one choices for both men and women
3. Men are 5x more likely to purchase expensive gifts than women
4. Men want jewellery as a gift but absolutely no women want to gift it
5. Men like watches after flowers and chocolates
6. Anonymous gifting is a fad
7. Valentine day is not just for humans

Valentine’s day is gradually becoming more favorite to Amazon, Walmart, Archies than the folks who actually celebrate it. And why not, the total spending on Valentine’s day in the United States alone is estimated to surpass $19 billion. Yes, that’s more than the annual GDP of Mongolia which happens to be the 19th largest nation in the world in terms of size. Kudos America!

Due to this spending spree, several of our e-commerce clients conducted surveys to understand the consumer behavior during Valentine’s season.

The response was recorded over the period of Valentine’s week and hundreds of folks participated in the survey from various metropolitans which gave us a good reason to make some conclusions on Valentine’s day gifting trends. Moreover, although some of the results were totally obvious, some of them turned out to be pretty startling which we believed could be good food for thought for marketers.

1. Approximately 50% of people like to buy gifts online

It is totally understandable why gift stores like Archies heavily decorate themselves during the Valentine season, but they have lesser reasons to celebrate this time. There is a significant shift in how people buy gifts and E-commerce rules even here. A major reason for why our inbox is going to be spammed with Valentine offers and discounts is because we like gifting that way. Of the total respondents to the survey, 51.7 percent expressed interest in getting their gift delivered to their partner through an online store.

Of the total respondents of the survey, 51.7 percent expressed interest in getting their gift delivered to their partner through an online store.

2. Flowers and chocolates are the number one choices for both men and women

We all acknowledge that Rose and chocolate become the next important thing to humans after air, water and internet during Valentine season. Moreover, with specially designated Rose and Chocolate day preceding the grand finale, the obsession is fairly natural.

And this trend was clearly visible in the survey too. More than 70% of the respondents from both the genders have expressed interest in receiving or giving Chocolates and flowers during Valentine’s day.

3. Men are 5x more likely to purchase expensive gifts than women

I am writing this at the risk of being labelled a misogynist, but in my defense, I would tell you that this was surprising to me too. We asked our participants “the ideal price range of the gift you would like to give”. And although the percentage of respondents choosing the ‘priciest range’ was low for both the genders, the proportion of men was five times higher than that of women.

However, this trend could possibly be explained by the expectations of the two genders during Valentine’s season. According to a research conducted by the Georgetown Institute:

For men, Valentine’s Day seems to be about spending and impressing their significant others. For women, the holiday appears to be about celebrating all their loved ones. Men plan to spend more than women in general, and almost twice as much as women for their significant others. However, women plan to buy gifts for a greater number of people.

If we believe the above research, I think men have to learn something from the ladies here and set their priorities right.

Although the percentage of respondents choosing the ‘priciest range’ was low for both the genders, the proportion of men was five times higher than that of women.

4. Men want jewellery as a gift but absolutely no women want to gift it

Yes, absolutely no woman wants to gift jewelry to her partner despite the fact that men do want jewelry as a gift for Valentine’s day.

This could be a good marketing nugget for jewelry sellers running campaigns this Valentine season because despite getting total showdown from women, 9% of the male respondents had expressed interest in receiving jewelry as a gift.

Absolutely no woman wants to gift jewelry to her partner

5. Men like watches after flowers and chocolates

Men have a fetish for watches ever since the watches were actually invented. But despite reading gazillion articles on the Internet, I couldn’t figure out the exact reason behind it.

Anyway, the relation between men and watches is visible in the survey results too. As it turned out, watches were the most preferred gift by men after flowers and chocolates. But the ironic part is, that only a few women happen to know the obsession of their partner for watches as only 17% of the women respondents expressed interest in gifting a watch to their partner this Valentine.

Only a few women happen to know the obsession of their partner for watches as only 17% of the women respondents expressed interest in gifting a watch to their partner this Valentine

6. Anonymous gifting is a fad

Last year, on Valentine’s day, a high schooler from Oklahoma named Dan Williams became the subject of People magazine’s article which has been shared for more than 31k over the Internet. And the reason is that Dan had anonymously gifted all the 1076 female students of his school on Valentine’s day from the money he saved by doing odd jobs during summers. Naturally, Dan couldn’t maintain his anonymity for long and when his identity was revealed, needless to say, he had already become a local hero.

And it seems Dan is not the only fan of anonymous gifting as our survey revealed that more around 18% of the folks are anonymously gifting their partner this Valentine. In fact, I came across a lot of threads on Amazon forum and Reddit which discusses ways of anonymous gifting. I guess, this coupled with the survey results, gives a good reason to gifting companies, both online and offline, to give more thought to introduce the facility of anonymous gifting.

Also, if you are one of those people who like surprise gifts then don’t you worry because chances are not slim.

18% of the folks are anonymously gifting their partner this Valentine

7. Valentine day is not just for humans

Because it is for pets too.

According to a consumer survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics for the National Retail Federation, people in the US are going to spend $681 million to delight their pet this Valentine.

In fact, there are organizations, that are projecting pet adoption as an alternative to “looking for the right relationship”. A certain organization going by the name of Best Friends Animal Society in collaboration with the official media sponsor, Hallmark Channel, are offering pet adoption to help you find “The One.”

The national event is taking place February 1-15 at Best Friends adoption centres in Utah and Los Angeles, and at an event in New York, as well as through participating No More Homeless Pets Network partners across the country.

So pet care companies and retailers, what newsletter are you sending this Valentine’s day to your buyers.

People in USA are going to spend $681 million to delight their pet this Valentine

I guess, that’s enough food for thought for you this Valentine. Do let us know your thoughts or any other gifting trend that amused you this Valentine, in the comment box.

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