Creative Marketing and Promotional Ideas for Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day Marketing Ideas for Small Business

Last year consumers spent an average of $140 each on Mother’s Day gifts for their moms, wives, daughters, aunts and other special women in their lives. That was up more than 10% from the previous year, and there is reason to believe that this could be another great year for retailers when it comes to the sale of gifts and gift cards for Mother’s Day.

If you sell items that would make great Mother’s Day gifts, or you can transform your goods and services into gift baskets or even non-traditional, creative Mother’s Day gifts, it’s time for you to go into full on Mother’s Day marketing mode!

To that end, here are some Mother’s Day marketing ideas to help you court Mother’s Day shoppers in 2012:

• Make sure you know what women want. More specifically, find out what the women among your clientele, your target markets, or the wives and mothers of your customers actually want.
  
  • Survey your customers as to what they want to receive for Mother’s Day, what their favorite Mother’s Day gift was in the past, or what they plan to purchase for their own mom for Mother’s Day this year. Use your social media platforms to survey your readers using the same questions.
  • Use a poll not only to solicit customer and reader feedback as to what women want for Mother’s Day this year, but to make specific Mother’s Day gift suggestions by listing great Mother’s Day gift ideas as the choices for your poll question.
• Make it easy. Make it very, very easy. Make it easier for people to buy Mother's Day gifts than you ever have before, and easier to buy their Mother's Day gifts from you than from anyone else! 
  
  • Use your email newsletter to make specific Mother’s Day gift suggestions to your subscribers with ‘one-click’ ordering, order ahead for store pickup or that even include wrapping, gift card and delivery service.
  • Make specific suggestions that would be most appropriate for the different women in their lives (moms, daughters, aunts, etc.)
  • Place signage throughout your business pointing out great Mother's Day gifts. 
  • Put a sign or set up a display at your point of sale stating that Sunday, May 13, 2012 is Mother's Day and reminding them of the great Mother's Day gift options you offer.
  • Include gift wrapping and gift cards along with Mother's Day gifts or gift baskets.
  • Provide (and promote) last minute creative Mother’s Day gift options.
  • Prepackage gift baskets for Mother’s Day with themed items; such as a bundled package for outdoor lovers, exercise lovers, food lovers, movie lovers, makeup or pampering products, etc.
  • Create a cross marketing opportunity and create Mother’s Day gift offers which include something from your business along with something from a partnering business and promote this special Mother’s Day gift package to customers and contact lists of both businesses (or all participating businesses).
• Make it a lather, rinse, repeat experience.  Create Mother's Day gifts that come along with a good reason for mom (or the gift purchaser) to come back to your business again, soon. 
  
  • Ideally, a Mother’s Day gift won’t just represent the sale of products for your business one time, but would result in a new customer coming to your business, repeat visits and the opportunity to turn a new customer into a regular, loyal customer. If you offer services (such as a salon or spa), be sure that your Mother’s Day gifts are bundled along with a gift card that mom (wife, daughter, or aunt, etc.) will come to your business to redeem it and experience what your business has to offer.
  • Don’t forget the bounce back! Create a special offer to include with the sale of Mother’s Day gift items in the form of a bounce back offer either for the recipient or the individual purchasing the gift (or ideally, include one for each!)
• Take advantage of the opportunity. The sale of Mother’s Day gifts might mean that people who are not normally your patrons come to your business or visit your website to buy something special for their mom, wife or daughter for Mother’s Day.
  
  • Include a bounce back offer, bag stuffer or special offer along with the customer’s receipt designed to bring them back in for Father’s Day or another future sale or event.
  • Ask them to subscribe to your email newsletter or to follow you on social media, or to be added to your direct mail mailing list to receive future offers from and news about your business.
  • Set up an online customer survey form and invite them to rate their experience with your business. As follow up, extend a special offer via landing page on your website or email thanking them for their participation.
• Get your Mother's Day gift ideas and offers into the places where Mother’s Day gift givers are. Many Mother’s Day gifts are given by men to their moms, wives and daughters. But if your business caters mostly to women (or women are the ones most frequently shopping your establishment) then you face the challenge of getting the word out about the Mother’s Day gifts you want to sell.
  
  • Create strategic partnerships with businesses whose patrons are comprised of the male audience you want to reach, such as mens clubs at golf courses, recreational or outdoor sports facilities.
  • Partner with businesses that serve mainly male shoppers or clients in a Mother’s Day / Father’s Day gift promotion combination or swap (you advertise their Father’s Day gifts to your customers, they advertise your Mother’s Day gifts to theirs).
  • Partner with businesses whose patrons (and email subscribers or direct mail contact lists) have a large male composition for cooperative email marketing or direct mail marketing.
  • Partner with restaurants, bars or clubs that have a high percentage of male patrons and place table tent cards at their establishments advertising your Mother’s Day offer (and making it easy for them to obtain it! Wouldn’t it be great for a guy to be able to buy a salon gift basket with gift card for mom while out with the guys on a Saturday night? Or how about a last minute bouquet of roses? Scentsy burner and scent wax? Gift card for Sunday brunch to take the family out for Mother’s Day? Make up and skin care gift set? Beautiful tote or purse? The possibilities are endless! With a little creative and cooperative effort, cooperative marketing can become a big source of referrals and cross sales for both businesses. 

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Elizabeth Kraus is the author of 365 Days of Marketing.
365 Days of Marketing is available on amazon.com in print or digital format. It contains marketing how-to, inspiration and content for every day of the year -- including Mother's Day and Father's Day to help you build a bigger role for your business in the lives of your clients, 365 days a year!