Written by: Rinni Finley
If you look at any major social media platform in the weeks preceding February 14th, your feed will most likely be sprinkled with a variety of red, pink, and heart-filled advertisements. Valentine’s Day is one of the most marketed days of the year when it comes to purchasing gifts. According to statista.com, the United States is projected to have over $23.9 billion spent on Valentine’s gifts, flowers, and cards. That being said, it is an extremely important opportunity for businesses to use Valentine’s Day to advertise their products and services.
As far as the audiences of the advertisements, even those who know their partner extremely well can still benefit from ideas and gift guides here and there. In our current times, these ideas and gift guides largely stem from social media. Not only in the sense of advertisements but just with inspiration gained from following other people’s content. When it comes to the advertisements, Forbes conducted a study regarding shopping via social media ads and the numbers are fantastic. Their study showed that two-thirds of people shopping do some type of shopping through their social media. To be more accurate, 23% of the baby boomer generation and a whopping 77% of millennials and gen z’s use social media to shop. Businesses have definitely noticed these upward trends and have used them to their advantage.
One of the companies that has been able to use social media to not only advertise in general, but for V-day specifically, is Target. Target has used Instagram to post videos from shoppers of them buying products from Target’s V-day line. This is a great strategy to show other customers a real example of someone shopping for and buying their holiday-specific products. On top of this, Target made a #TargetDate filter that anyone can use. The filter puts a box of date ideas that one can do either at or with things they get at Target, and eventually, the filter stops and you’re able to see one random date that the filter has landed on, that being the one you are supposed to do. Target has even posted videos from people who have used the filter and then actually gone to a Target store to complete the date the filter gave them. With these advertisements, Target is not only reminding those that see the ads that Valentine’s is coming up soon, but also advertising their products with a special twist that will encourage more consumers to use Target as their shopping destination for all things Valentine.
Many times, social media advertisements that are specifically targeted to Valentine’s Day shoppers are from companies that already use social media to advertise their products or services regularly. I have personally been able to see a shift in the advertisements I see from specific companies on a regular basis making the transition to those heart-themed graphics or products. One of the notable companies that seem to have a heavy influence in the social media advertising world is the clothing store Cider. Cider has had ads popping up in my feed and in my stories on Instagram for nearly a year, however, now they are themed around Valentine’s Day. While I am not shopping for gifts for someone for Valentine’s Day, I was wanting to wear a fun outfit that is themed around the holiday. Therefore, having these ads from Cider gave me more ideas and inspiration of what to buy, as well as a newfound interest in their products altogether. Companies are then able to use social media advertisements in partnership with the Valentine’s Day holiday to further promote their business, not only for holidays, but for future purchases as well; whether that be someone seeing the ads and thinking of that someone special or looking to treat themselves. Valentine’s Day advertising campaigns, especially through social platforms, are the way to win for businesses right now. Companies will gain more customers and increase the loyalty of their returning customers, all while providing fun and different advertising from their typical avenues. There are a plethora of advantages to using Valentine’s Day as a concept for ads, but above all, the ability to influence consumers across social media platforms into purchasing their products and becoming consistent customers.