• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, February 14, 2022

The Super Bowl took place on Sunday, February 13, 2022, marking the first time since 2003 it had not been held on the first Sunday in February. The reason, according to one media source, is the National Football League’s expanded, 17-game, 18-week schedule.

The biggest question for marketers who focus on Valentine’s Day is how it affected advertising. StitcherAds -- which delivers dynamic ads across Meta, Pinterest, and Snapchat -- released data on Monday that looks at spending for campaigns around Valentine’s Day across several social platforms.

To determine the outcome, StitcherAds analyzed 378 client campaigns spending at least $100,000 per month between 2021 and 2022.

The technology identified similar trends for this time of year versus 2021 and 2020. 

During the week prior to Valentine's Day in 2021, data shows a 50% improvement in conversion rates. StitcherAds also found a 50% increase in online sales as a percentage of total sales, both online and offline, in 2022 compared to 2021. 

In 2022, data shows a similar trend, with the conversion rates increasing by 40%.

CPM trends were approximately 15% higher in 2022 compared with 2021, leading up to the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day.

In 2021, data saw more volatility leading up to Valentine's Day, but this year CPMs held steady. 

Bryan Cano, director of media strategy at StitcherAds, believes the stability in CPMs this year was likely due to competition and inventory being more consistent in 2022 vs. all the changes and challenges with lockdowns and inflating ad inventory or budget volatility that marketers had to face.