2026 Lunar New Year: Campaign tips for increased conversion
TL;DR
The 2026 Chinese Lunar New Year is from February 17 to March 3, 2026
2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse, a rare event occurring every 60 years; Advertisers should use visuals featuring horses, fire, and the color red.
Boost conversions by understanding the cultural values in China: Understanding significant symbolism and what’s taboo and acceptable to add to your campaign creatives.
Check out our campaign tips to ensure your campaign is delivered to the right audience: How you can target the right audience with ExoClick’s tools.
2026 Lunar New Year: Campaign tips for increased conversion
The 2026 Lunar New Year welcomes the Fire Horse, a rare astrological event that occurs only once every 60 years. In the Chinese Zodiac, this combination represents the absolute peak of energy. This year combines the Horse’s natural vitality with the intensity of the Fire element. It predicts that 2026 will have the following characteristics: bold, expressive, and decisive.
Consumer behaviour during the Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year will begin on the 17th of February and will conclude on the 3rd of March 2026. It is a critical period for global commerce, with Alibaba noting a 28% increase in sales during the two weeks leading up to the Chinese New Year 2024 when compared to the same period in 2023. The top categories that saw an increase include: luxury goods, electronics, and health products.
So if you are an Advertiser, especially in the eCommerce vertical, read this article for our top tips for your creative campaigns in 2026!
2026 Lunar New Year Campaign tips: Cultural values to inspire your campaigns.
It is important to note that dignity and prestige are values that are deeply ingrained in Chinese culture. Always be careful with historical or cultural references. It is important that you also research the customs and culture to avoid misinterpretation that could damage your brand in China.
- Taboo gifts for Chinese New Year: If you are an ecommerce brand, keep in mind that some gifts are seen as bad luck to be given during Chinese New Year, like handkerchiefs, umbrellas, sets of four, and white flowers. Creating campaigns for these products may reduce your campaign clicks and conversions.
- Numbers: There are a lot of significant numbers that bring luck in Chinese culture, like 1,6, 8, and 9. But it is important you avoid including the numbers 4 and 13 in your campaigns because they are considered unlucky.
- Red Envelopes: Red is a colour that signifies good luck in China. It is used during the Chinese New Year, especially to give gifts in red envelopes. Advertisers who want to make a splash should use plenty of red to symbolize the mythology of warding off the monster Nian.
- Chinese Zodiac elements: 2026 is the year of the Fire Horse, so using images of Horses and fire in your ad creatives for your campaigns is a good idea. But, you can also use traditional Chinese iconography like Koi fish, Bamboo paintings, dragons, and mythological figures.
- Know your Chinese platforms: Remember that in China, social media platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, Little Red Book, and Douyin are popular. If you would like to grow your brand in China, consider creating a social media account for your brand. This will increase trust in your audience and help you build brand recognition.
2026 Lunar New Year Campaign tips
- Localize your campaigns: There’s a total of 302 spoken languages in China, including Standard Mandarin, Min Chinese, Wu Chinese, Cantonese (Yue), and Jin Chinese. Make sure to have your ads translated especially for your target audiences. Also, especially if you are using push notification ads, remember to use dynamic tokens for regional targeting to reach specific locations.
- Mobile-First Strategy: Ensure that your website and landing pages are Mobile-friendly. A seamless Mobile experience will enhance user engagement and increase conversion rates.
- Run special promotions for the event: Offer special sports promotions that run only during the New Year festival. For instance, if you are promoting a Casino or Sports Bettings site, you could offer extra free promotional tokens that can be used on your site if they make a deposit for this specific event. Also, run welcome bonuses and promotions for new users, and reward loyal players with some additional packages that are specific to bets placed during this time.
- Lead with the value, not the pitch: Maximize engagement by funneling traffic to “tips-based” prelanders and blogs rather than sales pages. Anchor the content in organic, emotional themes like family and the joy of giving, and integrate live product demonstrations, when possible, to build trust. This will help you drive conversions. Try hyper-niche targeting, such as marketing VPNs specifically to anime fans seeking region-locked content, to solve precise user pain points.
Make the most of the Chinese New Year with targeted Campaigns
This Chinese New Year, focus on localized creatives and targeting that resonate with this market to boost your conversions this festive season. If you are not yet using ExoClick for your campaigns, sign up today to create campaigns and boost your brand’s visibility ahead of the 2026 lunar New Year!
