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- As advertisers, we know that Mother’s Day advertising campaigns often revolve around flowers, chocolates, and warm embraces – all for the brand we represent. But how do you infuse your campaigns with genuine love and relevance?
- Even though last year’s spending numbers are slightly down, there’s still much anticipation for 2025 Mother’s Day celebrations. Online shopping is still the top choice for buyers, making social media ads a great way to get to audiences first.
- According to Numerator’s 2025 US Holiday Preview, 74% of US adults are expected to celebrate the Mother’s Day festivities. Being the third most anticipated holiday just behind Christmas and Thanksgiving, are we bound to see high peaks in ad spending during this season?
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This post was updated in March 2025 to provide you with the latest information.
How to Create Successful Mother’s Day Advertising Campaigns
In 2024, Americans allocated up to $33.5 billion for Mother’s Day gifts and festivities, according to the National Retail Federation. While this marked a slight dip from the steady increase in Mother’s Day spending since 2019, it still ranked as the second-highest recorded spend for the holiday.
For advertisers, this emphasizes the importance of staying top-of-mind during Mother’s Day advertising season. How can you make your brand stand out and capture more sales? Explore the strategies in this blog to learn how to make the most of this much-awaited holiday.
Analyzing Consumer Behavior for Mother’s Day Marketing Strategies
Before we strategize how your brand can make its mark, you must understand first how consumer behavior shifts during this holiday.
Online shopping remains the top destination for Mother’s Day purchases, making digital ad strategies more important than ever. By analyzing past trends and spending patterns, you can uncover key insights to optimize your 2025 Mother’s Day campaigns.
Shopping Destinations
According to NRF’s survey, online spending surged in 2020 due to limited in-store options. However, the past four years have seen a resurgence in physical store visits, with specialty stores gaining popularity as shoppers seek curated Mother’s Day gifts and unique experiences.
Despite this shift, online retailers continue to attract the most shoppers during the holiday. Thus, your Mother’s Day sale ads must be strategically targeted to the right audiences to drive clicks and engagements where it matters most.
Gift Choices
Flowers, greeting cards, and special outings have remained the top three gift choices for three consecutive years. The allure of “gifts of experience” continues to grow, reflecting consumers’ desire for meaningful presents that foster lasting memories.
Although jewelry and electronics dominate consumer sales and spending, special outings continue to claim the second spot, highlighting the preference for unique experiences. Mother’s Day gifts are increasingly focused on the memories people want to create with their loved ones, as spending on special outings continues to rise in 2024.
Purchase Planning
Unlike other holidays that require extensive planning, most Mother’s Day gifts are purchased within one to two weeks before the holiday.
With Mother’s Day 2025 falling on May 11th, brands should time their Mother’s Day advertising campaigns strategically. While the majority of shoppers buy last-minute, 30% of purchases happen one to two months in advance.
Tapping into this early shopping window allows brands to build awareness, capture high-intent buyers, and maximize conversions leading up to the holiday.
Further Reading
Advertising Strategies to Build Up Your Father’s Day Campaigns
With Father’s Day just around the corner, brands have a prime opportunity to capture attention. As the celebration kicks off near summer, now is the time to refine your paid social campaigns for greater reach and engagement.
How Advertisers Can Spark Buzz for Mother’s Day Promotions
Now that we understand shoppers’ preferences and behaviors during this retail holiday, how can we align our Mother’s Day advertising strategies to stay at the top of our minds? Here are the tips to keep in mind:
Engage Your Audience with Interactive Ads
Did you know that audiences are 47% more likely to engage with interactive ads compared to static formats? By creating Mother’s Day advertising campaigns that invite participation, brands can capture attention, encourage clicks, and ultimately drive conversions.
Take France Luxe’s Mother’s Day Facebook ad, for example. Using carousel ads, they transformed their promotion into a Mother’s Day gift guide, enticing audiences to swipe through multiple product options.
Carousel ads on Facebook are a powerful tool for driving engagement, as each card swipe counts as an ad interaction. This Facebook ad format is especially effective for highlighting multiple offers or discounts across different products.
Explore the cost-per-engagement (CPE) benchmarks during the Mother’s Day purchase planning period:
CPE costs increase by up to 23% in the 1-2 months before Mother’s Day, indicating a competitive period for engagement-focused ads. However, in the 1-2 weeks leading up to the event, CPE drops by 16%, making it a prime window for driving conversions. This trend highlights the importance of focusing on engagement early, ensuring your Mother’s Day ads drive awareness and lead consumers toward making purchases in the weeks leading up to the big day.
Highlight Relationships and Motherly Love
Mother’s Day is fundamentally about celebrating relationships, particularly the bond between mothers and their loved ones. Tailor your campaigns accordingly:
- for women aged 30 and above, expressing gratitude towards mothers in general may resonate;
- younger demographics like Gen Z and millennials may appreciate assistance in finding the perfect gift for the maternal figures in their lives.
On TikTok, 73% of ad viewers get inspired by recommendations for special occasion gifts. Brands can take advantage of this engagement to capture their target audience and drive purchase intent.
Short-form ads certainly hit the spot, much like Bath and Body Works’ ad with a 21-second duration. The specialty retail brand promotes their seasonal fragrances while tapping into nostalgic memories of the content creator’s childhood with her mom. This emotional connection aligns with what shoppers seek when choosing Mother’s Day gifts.
While uncertainty around TikTok’s future in the U.S. lingers, advertisers still have an opportunity to capitalize on declining CPMs. See the TikTok CPM benchmarks during this period:
The 2-3 weeks leading up to Mother’s Day is when shoppers actively seek sale ads and gift ideas on TikTok. CPMs rise steadily in March and April as brands compete for visibility, with costs peaking up to 17% higher in the final week. Still, up to 20% of TikTok users make their Mother’s Day purchases during this time, presenting a last-minute opportunity for brands to drive conversions.
Communicate Your Mother’s Day Marketing Offers
Don’t hesitate to promote your Mother’s Day offers prominently. Whether it’s discounts, promo codes, or seasonal packages, make sure your audience knows about them. Since special outings have consistently ranked among the top three gift choices for this season, being explicit about your offers can significantly impact your Mother’s Day advertising campaigns.
Take a look at this ad from Ancient Lore Village, which showcases bookable experiences like wine dinners and brunches—activities that moms and wives can enjoy. By tapping into Mother’s Day celebrations, they create an engaging and compelling reason for viewers to take action.
Starting your Mother’s Day advertising early helps build momentum and keeps your brand top of mind when consumers are ready to purchase or book. Using Advantage+ audience retargeting, you can re-engage ad clickers and engagers, guiding them down the funnel toward conversion.
To help guide your Mother’s Day ad costs for 2025, here are the Facebook CPC benchmarks for clicks campaigns targeting website traffic objectives:
Cost-per-click (CPC) peaks in March, aligning with the surge in Mother’s Day purchases, before dropping by 37% as the holiday approaches. However, costs spike again at the end of May, driven by early ad spend for 4th of July and summer campaigns, as brands prepare for purchases made 1-2 months in advance, as well.
Find New Audiences with Influencer Communities
Influencer campaigns have proven effective across various brands and social media platforms. In fact, a leading CPG brand saw up to a 70% lower CPLC (cost-per-link-clicks) from its influencer campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. This highlights the power of influencer marketing in driving engagement—especially when partnerships align well with the brand and are targeted to the right audience.
For their Mother’s Day promotions, Sephora partnered with Bustle, a digital media brand catering to women-focused content like beauty and fashion.
One of Sephora’s key collaborations was with @audreypatriciaw, a lifestyle content creator with over 17,000 Instagram followers. In her video, she shared her personal fragrance recommendations for Mother’s Day gift ideas and directed viewers to shop for them on Sephora’s website.
Download the Multi-Platform Influencer Case Study
For a leading CPG brand, utilizing influencer-driven content is the key to driving engagement across audiences in different paid social media advertising platforms.
With Strike Social’s campaign activation and management expertise, the team successfully optimized the performance and cost-efficiency of influencer campaigns in TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram.
Celebrate Your Brand This Mother’s Day 2025
While Mother’s Day might seem like just another retail event, it’s a golden opportunity waiting to be seized. With online shopping continuing to dominate this season, there’s no better time to leverage the hype and dive into the frenzy.
We understand your love for your moms and the brands you represent. So, why not make this Mother’s Day 2025 a win-win? Craft compelling campaigns that tug at heartstrings and connect with consumers on a deeper level. By delivering what they want and need, you’ll ensure your brand feels the love it deserves.
As you gear up for Mother’s Day 2025, keep your finger on the pulse of consumer trends, think outside the box, and offer irresistible deals. With the right strategy, you’ll make this Mother’s Day one to remember.
Article by
Syd Olivarez, Strike Social’s SEO Content Specialist
Syd crafts content on paid digital advertising strategies, blending 5+ years of writing expertise with 3 years in digital marketing. She keeps up with the latest trends to deliver valuable insights that keep brands informed and competitive.
