6 Mother’s Day promotional ideas that will attract customers and dazzle your guests.

Mother’s Day is one of the most lucrative holidays, representing the potential for profits for stores of all types and sizes. In an era when competition is tougher than ever, you can’t afford to passively wait and hope for the money to flow your way. The following ideas are tried-and-true methods that will make you, your customers, and their moms happy.

1. Product giveaways.

Nothing perks people up faster than the prospect of getting something for free. Take the time to launch a Mother’s Day merchandise giveaway, and you will realize several benefits.

• Greater brand recognition.
• The ability to highlight items you want to promote.
• Increased social media follower count.
• Plumped-up email list.

The possibilities are endless: Do a “Photo of Mom” contest; have a sweepstakes with a gift card as first prize; poll your customers about their favorite mom-cooked meal. There are no wrong ideas here; the goal is customer engagement that brings them into your physical store or gets them to purchase products on your website.

2. Jog customers’ memories.

People are busy, which means they tend to put even the most important things off until the last minute. Especially if your products are to be shipped, you need to come up with ways to nudge consumers into making their purchases sooner. That means having an inventory management system in place that ensures you have everything in stock in plenty of time.

Use your website to remind people of the upcoming holiday. Some vendors even feature a countdown clock. If your customers have subscribed to your business notifications, you can also send push notifications and pop ups to announce flash Mother’s Day sales, promote a holiday-specific event, and thwart shopping cart abandonment. Additionally, be sure that your back-office mechanisms are in place to adjust to extra sales and customer database updates.

If you have a physical store, make some seasonal changes in your signage and window decorations. Change your layout so that special merchandise geared toward mothers is prominently featured. Post signage that lets people know you accept credit cards. If you plan to change or expand your hours to accommodate last-minute shoppers, be sure you disseminate the message far and wide.

3. Create a branded hashtag campaign.

Social media is a vital business tool whether you sell online only or have a physical space. Mother’s Day is a great time to put your pages to work for you to drive digital and in-store sales.

First, come up with a hashtag that represents your brand. Then encourage your followers to use it. You might ask them to send their favorite photos of their moms along with the hashtag; or ask them for their most special memory. Connect this promotion to a Mother’s Day giveaway for even more punch.

4. Leverage the power of Pinterest.

This social media behemoth is nothing less than a search engine for images. Use it to create boards where your Mother’s Day products are featured for maximum effect. Just make sure the images are high-quality, organized based on category and color scheme and are in line with your customers’ likes and interests. Your goal is to make your content so attractive that users will pin it to their own boards.

5. Harness email.

Believe it or not, email marketing remains one of the most successful sales vehicles. Judiciously sent posts that begin two to three weeks before Mother’s Day help to remind customers about the upcoming holiday while keeping your brand top of mind. Some potential email ideas include the following.

• Countdown to Mother’s Day.
• Holiday-specific discounts and coupons.
• Flash sales.
• Last-minute deals.
• Cart abandonment reminders.

As you craft your messages, be sure the subject lines are eye-catching, and don’t forget to make your emails mobile-friendly.

6. Create a Mother’s Day gift guide.

We all need to be inspired sometimes. Gift guides offer you a way to plant ideas into your customers’ heads while increasing awareness of your brand.

There are numerous vehicles you can use to create your guide.

• Blog posts placed on your website and social media pages.
• Printed brochures strategically located in your physical store.
• Email newsletters.
• Infographic or visual mood board to be posted on Pinterest or other social media sites.
• Video gift guides on TikTok or YouTube.

The key is to present a variety of items and price points so that customers of all ages, interests, and budgets will find something they like.

Finally, don’t forget the power of that extra touch. Whether it’s a free gift tucked into a shopping bag, complimentary gift wrapping, a small box of chocolates, or even a discount coupon to be used for a future visit, it’s the thought that counts. People will thank you for adding that final special touch.

Mothers are famous for admonishing their kids against procrastinating, and we hope you haven’t forgotten those words from long ago. Take the time to get your Mother’s Day campaign going now, and you will reap the rewards on that second Sunday in May and long after.