Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, and Bing has released insights based on last year’s shopping behavior and advertising performance in the US to help inform marketers’ plans for this year.
Just over half of US adults say they celebrate Valentine’s Day, and they continue to spend more, online in particular, according to the National Retail Federation. Who’s spending the most? Unmarried men ages 25-34, according to a composite of studies. However, when it comes to search, it seems women are the most active. Bing says that last year, 17 percent of “Valentine’s Day gifts for …” search queries on the engine were for “boyfriend”, whereas just 4 percent were for “girlfriend”. “Husband” topped the list at 22 percent, while “wife” came in at 16 percent of Valentine’s Day gifts for” queries.
Most Valentine’s Day-related searches occurred within 2 weeks before February 14 in 2015. Last-minute shoppers sent searches soaring on Valentine’s Day. Clicks on ads rose significantly in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day and peaked the day before.
Click to enlarge.
Interestingly, that final week is also when CPCs have historically trended down from the highs of January. They then rise again starting February 11th, when panic presumably sets in. Bing also notes that CTRs are highest and CPCs are lowest on weekdays.
In 2016, Valentine’s Day searches on Bing were split nearly evenly with 48 percent occurring on mobile (up from 40 percent the previous year) and 52 percent on PC/tablet from January to February. That’s somewhat surprising given Bing’s relative weakness on mobile compared to Google, and something for advertisers to keep in mind when optimizing their Bing Valentine’s Day campaigns this year. Mobile click share rose less significantly year over year on Bing, increasing from 18 percent in 2015 to 21 percent in 2016.
See the complete report on SlideShare for more on Valentine’s Day trends and optimization recommendations.
