Valentine’s Day customs across the world most commonly connect to romantic love. Many people celebrate their love for their partner by sending cards, flowers, or gifts. However, in recent years, Valentine’s Day hasn’t just been limited to couples. According to social media data, people across the globe are recognizing that Valentine’s Day is not just for expressing love for spouses or partners. They recognize that it is also to show appreciation for loved ones.
Valentine’s Day customs have different meanings across the world that aren’t limited to couples. On February 14th, Finland celebrates Ystavanpaiva, which translates to “Friend’s Day.” In Mexico, it is called the Dia del Amor y la Amistad (the day of love and friendship). February 14th is commercialized as a day for lovers, but it is being more-and-more recognized as a day to celebrate love, whether it be between spouses, partners, friends, or family.
What Does Social Media Data Reveal?
The day of love is celebrating loved ones and cherishing each other’s company. Social media data reveals that the majority of mentions for Valentine’s Day across social media are from the 18-25 age group and that 40% of these users are male and 60% are female. The interests of this age group reveal that they are mentioning topics such as love, family, wife, community, and heart — across social media. These topics are drawing a lot of Valentines-related mentions. Of course, this also includes couples who are looking forward to Valentine’s Day festivities with their significant others.
The data also shows that people across social media are excited to celebrate Valentine’s Day with their partners and are keeping an eye out for the best gift ideas.
Closely related, “Galentine’s Day” has also gotten increased attention in recent years. Galentine’s Day was first brought to life when Amy Poehler’s fictional character, Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation recognized it as the day before Valentine’s Day where “ladies celebrate ladies.” On the television show, Leslie Knope states, “What’s Galentine’s Day? Oh, it’s only the best day of the year”. It encourages women to get together and celebrate strong, independent women.
Galentine’s Day is receiving an influx of attention and continues its celebrations every year. Social media data is showing how Galentine’s Day just might be the best day of the year for many people. For those who are not feeling the romance of Valentine’s Day this year, they can get together with their gals and make it a Galentine’s Day.
Excitement for Galentine’s Day has continued to grow across social media. It now has almost the same number of mentions as Valentine’s Day.
Social media data for Galentine’s Day reinforces the excitement for celebrating women. Social media data reveals that there is a strong presence for women empowerment and support within the Galentine’s Day mentions. The social media data also shows how many brands are focusing their campaigns on Galentine’s Day and are not limiting themselves to Valentine’s Day. This recognition of the power of Galentine’s Day is a great way to boost sales for brands.
Valentine’s Day celebrates love in its many forms. With this in mind, brands can optimize their Valentine’s Day marketing campaigns by being more inclusive. This is done by expanding their focus to include everyone instead of limiting their target audience to just couples. People enjoy when brands include them in their campaigns. It makes them feel like they are being heard, which strengthens the brand and the consumer relationship.
Galentine’s Day recognizes that love is not limited to couples. Social media data shows that everyone celebrates Valentine’s Day for all of their loved ones. The conversations around these upcoming holidays provide valuable insights for brands. They reveal how to avoid exclusivity and leverage both holidays in their campaigns.
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