New year, new you: Our audience’s 2022 New Year’s resolutions

The start of a new year is a time for everyone to reset, think about what their main priorities are charging forward, and act toward new resolutions and goals they’ve set for themselves. In the past five years, 28% of Civic Science survey respondents cited their resolution would be dedicated to living a healthier lifestyle by improving their diet or fitness routines.¹ Other common resolution categories included improving mental health, working on relationships, and improving money management and spending habits.¹

Since January is widely viewed as a month for change, Microsoft Advertising Insights took a deep dive into past New Year’s resolutions trends to examine what we expect to be our audience's 2022 New Year’s resolutions.

2022 New Year’s resolutions: Health & Wellness

A healthy life starts with a healthy diet: Nutrition & Dieting

While Health & Wellness trends have always been a large consideration for people in the new year, the pandemic magnified the importance of fortifying our bodies holistically. When studying online trends for Nutrition & Dieting, we found that both searches and clicks spiked around March two of the past three years. This is useful information when planning for Q1 advertising budgets, as advertisers may otherwise assume activity would be strongest in January when people are making changes they perceive to be bettering themselves. We expect this trend to hold, which makes eating better or dieting our first trendy 2022 New Year’s resolution.

The health and wellness journey does not have to be done alone: Vitamins & Supplements

In addition to Nutrition & Dieting, our search marketplace also experienced sustained year-over-year (YoY) growth in the Vitamins & Supplements subcategory: Search and click volumes consistently grew overall, and they spiked in March. Notably, Protein Supplements searches grew fastest (+143% YoY) in 2021. We also expect these trends to hold in 2022, so get your campaigns ready now for March.

Recommendation: Stand out amongst your competition by using rich image-based ads, such as Multimedia Ads, which can help you catch shoppers' attention with large visual imagery while building brand loyalty. For the best performance, we strongly recommend you upload multiple ad variations of high-quality images in all four available aspect ratios: 1.91:1, 1:1, 1:2, and 4:1.

2022 New Year’s resolutions: Retail

Wake up and get fit: Workout Apparel & Footwear and Workout Equipment

It’s not only about what you eat, as exercise also plays a key role in improving one’s health. In Retail, Workout Apparel & Footwear and Workout Equipment click activity peaked in January 2021. While indulging in seasonal treats and spending more time indoors for gatherings and cold weather are nothing to be ashamed of, by January, people are eager to burn off the extra calories and pounds they put on eating those treats and sitting by the fireplace or around the dining room table. As we near the end of January, we’re again seeing these categories pop, and advertisers should take note of the Workout Apparel & Footwear and Workout Equipment keywords that have been trending:

• “fitness clothing”
• “best men running shoes”
• “workout bench”
• “workout clothes”
• “best home workout equipment”
• “fitness gear”
• “exerciser bands workout”

Recommendation: Expand your keywords with broad match, which can help you stay on top of emerging queries and expose 2022 New Year’s resolutions search trends and themes. Our algorithms evolve and improve in real time, and matching technology ensures accurate results to help drive high return on investment (ROI).

2022 New Year’s resolutions: Financial Services

It’s all about the money, honey: Money Management, Debt Management & Consolidation, and Credit Cards

According to a 2021 CNBC report, the average American has $90,460 in debt.² Managing debt has become a standard of living, and it’s not uncommon for consumers to make mistakes when learning how credit works and while trying to establish lifelong money habits. Knowing this, it’s no surprise that consumers often choose New Year’s resolutions focused on improving their financial health, and we expect the same in 2022. Search and click volumes for Money Management categories often are high in Q1, but click volumes have been highest in January two of the past three years. But that’s not all: In 2021, Debt Management & Consolidation searches and clicks grew in January and February.

We wish you success in achieving your personal and professional 2022 New Year’s resolutions. Our resolution is, and will always be, helping you reach the right audience at greater scale and with greater efficiency by providing you with actionable insights, intelligent products, and friendly support.