Valentine’s Day insightsSuccessful strategies for digital marketers

Audience insights

Seasonal trends

Industry

trends

Industry trends

Last year, over 50% of Americans celebrated

Valentine’s Day1

INDUSTRY TRENDS

$4.3B

$3.8B

$2B

$1.9B

$1.7B

$1.4B

$1B

Jewelry

An evening out

Flowers

Clothing

Candy

Gift cards/gift certificates

Greeting cards

1. “Valentine’s Day,” 2. “2017 Valentine's Day Consumer Spending Survey" conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, National Retail Federation (NRF), February 1, 2017, (https://nrf.com/media/press-releases/nrf-says-consumers-will-spend-182-billion-valentines-day).

2017 U.S.

Valentine’s Day

gift spending2

Greeting cardsCandy JewelryAn evening out Flowers Clothing

Candy and greeting cards were the most popular gifts

INDUSTRY TRENDS

Source: "2017 Valentine's Day Consumer Spending Survey" conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics, National Retail Federation (NRF), February 1, 2017, (https://nrf.com/media/press-releases/nrf-says-consumers-will-spend-182-billion-valentines-day).

47% 19%35%50% 37% 16%

Gift cards/gift

certificates

19%

Pro tipUse Enhanced

Sitelinks to

showcase popular

gift categories

1. "2017 Valentine's Day Consumer Spending Survey" conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics, National Retail Federation (NRF), February 1, 2017, (https://nrf.com/media/press-

releases/nrf-says-consumers-will-spend-182-billion-valentines-day).

The majority of shoppers planned to buy gifts in-store

INDUSTRY TRENDS

Pro tipUse Location

Extensions to

target customers

near you

Audience insights

20%PETS

20%FRIENDS

90%SIGNIFICANT OTHER/SPOUSE

54%OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS (CHILDREN, PARENTS, ETC.)

Consumers are shopping for Valentine’s Day gifts for:

Source: "2017 Valentine's Day Consumer Spending Survey" conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, National Retail Federation (NRF), February 1, 2017, ((https://nrf.com/media/press-releases/nrf-says-consumers-will-spend-182-billion-valentines-day).

AUDIENCE INSIGHTS

Use demographic targeting to personalize

featured gifts, depending on the audience

1. “Groupon Survey Reveals Men Think They Put the Most Effort Into Valentine’s Day,” Business Wire, February 8, 2017, (https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170208005828/en/Groupon-Survey-Reveals-Men-Put-Effort-Valentine’s).

AUDIENCE INSIGHTS

Men spend

two times more

than women on

Valentine’s Day.1

Millennials are most

interested in gifting

an experience for

Valentine’s Day.

AUDIENCE INSIGHTS

Source: Cullen, Katherine. “How Valentine’s Day is Evolving,” National Retail Federation, February 10, 2017, (https://nrf.com/blog/how-valentines-day-is-evolving).

45% 40% 31% 19% 11% 7%

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Consumers giving a gift of experience

(by age)

Pro tipBundle products

for in-home spa

or dinner

experiences

49% 36% 32%

A really good sale or

promotion

Seeing the perfect gift

for someone I didn’t

originally plan to buy for

A free gift with purchase

Entice shoppers to

spend more.

Highlight price

points or free gifts in

your ad copy.

AUDIENCE INSIGHTS

1. Cullen, Katherine. “How Valentine’s Day is Evolving,” National Retail Federation, February 10, 2017, (https://nrf.com/blog/how-valentines-day-is-evolving).

Top reasons shoppers would spend an extra $10

on Valentine’s Day gifts1

51.4M604.2M74.1M 32%

Your dream audience on the Bing Network

AUDIENCE INSIGHTS

Source: comScore qSearch, Explicit Core Search (custom), U.S., September 2017, PC only, industry categories based on comScore classifications.

total retail PC searchestotal retail PC

searchers

of all retail PC paid

clicks

retail PC searchers not

reached on Google

13.2 M

11.5 M

6.6 M

6.1 M

2.7 M

2.6 M

2.3 M

2.1 M

Bing Network

Apparel searchers

Searchers not reached on Google

Bing Network

Consumer electronic searchers

Searchers not reached on Google

Bing Network

Flowers/gifts/greetings searchers

Searchers not reached on Google

Bing Network

Jewelry/luxury goods/accessories searchers

Searchers not reached on Google

Reach millions of PC

searchers not found

on Google.1

AUDIENCE INSIGHTS

1. comScore qSearch, Explicit Core Search (custom), U.S., September 2017, PC only, industry categories based on comScore classifications.

Compared with Google, the Bing Network

audience is:

AUDIENCE INSIGHTS

Source: comScore Plan Metrix, U.S., October 2017, custom measure created using comScore indices and duplication. Includes both online or offline purchases

Seasonal trends

The week leading up to Valentine’s Day was the peak

time period

SEASONAL TRENDS

Source: Microsoft internal data, Bing Ads, February 1 – 15, 2017.

Pro tip

Choose an

appropriate

budget option

across top

categories

Valentine’s Day searches

Valentine’s Day clicks

Feb 1 Feb 3 Feb 5 Feb 7 Feb 9 Feb 11 Feb 13 Feb 15Feb 2 Feb 4 Feb 6 Feb 8 Feb 10 Feb 12 Feb 14

Valentine’s

Day

Extend your campaign to capture

late celebrants

1. Hutchinson, Michelle. “Facts + Stats, Happy Belated V-day,” Finder.com, February 6, 2017, (https://www.finder.com/americans-celebrating-valentines-day-after-the-fact).

SEASONAL TRENDS

Two in five (39%)Americans celebrated

their love after

Valentine’s Day1

46% of millennials

36% of generation Xers

27% of baby boomers

45% of students

celebrated their love after

February 141

Weekends were the most cost-efficient

SEASONAL TRENDS

Source: Microsoft internal data, Bing Ads, February 1 – 15, 2017.

Pro tipDrive more sales

with weekend-only

deals for weekend

shoppers

Mobile PC/Tablet

Mobile clicks spiked during the weekend as shoppers were

on-the-go

SEASONAL TRENDS

Source: Microsoft internal data, Bing Ads, February 1 – 15, 2017.

Retail clicks by device

Pro tipOptimize your

mobile campaign

with bid

modifiers

Valentine’s

Day

Ensure coverage across these top Valentine’s Day

search queries

SEASONAL TRENDS

Appareljewelry

engagement rings

jewelry stores

online jewelry stores

[brand] store

Food and grocerieschocolate covered strawberries

chocolate

candy

cake

cupcakes

Occasions and giftsflowers

flower delivery

roses

Valentine cards

Valentine crafts

Valentine-related queriesvalentine’s cookies

romantic things for valentine’s day

unique valentine’s day gift

easy valentine’s day recipe

valentine dessert recipe

Source: Microsoft internal data, Bing Ads, February 1 – 15, 2017.

20%

80%

24%

76%

Non-brand keyword coverage is essential to capture your

potential customers

SEASONAL TRENDS

Source: Microsoft internal data, Bing Ads, February 1 – 15, 2017.

Searches by brand and non-brand

Clicks by brand and non-brand

Pro tipUse Keyword Planner for

keyword expansion

ideas

© 2018 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, and other

product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S.

and/or other countries.

The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current

view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation.

Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not

be interpreted as a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot

guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date

of this presentation.

Microsoft MAKES NO WARRANTIES–EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY–

REGARDING THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.