Happy Mother’s Day Email Campaign Ideas You Will Adore

Happy Mother’s Day Email Campaign Ideas You Will Adore
19 April, 2023 • ... • 4053 views
Valeria Shulga
by Valeria Shulga

Mother’s Day is around the corner! This year, the holiday is celebrated on May 14th in the US and most of Europe. It’s time to honor our brave and hardworking mothers — and run a Mother’s Day email campaign to boost sales and strengthen customer relationships.

In this article, we’ll give you guidance on launching an effective Mother’s Day email marketing campaign. We’ve compiled a list of tips and best practices on writing a catchy holiday email, and collected the best examples to get inspired from.

The importance of Mother’s Day emails

Mother’s Day may not seem as big an occasion as Christmas or Thanksgiving –– that’s why many email marketers refrain from sending Mother’s Day emails. That’s a mistake: according to National Retail Federation,, 84% of Americans celebrated Mother’s Day in 2022:

Percentage of people celebrating Mother’s Day in the US
Source: National Retail Federation

The popularity of the holiday is not steadily growing — but it’s not as important to us. Let’s look at NRF’s spending statistics:

Mother’s Day spending statistics 2009-2022
Source: National Retail Federation

As you can see, Mother’s Day per person expenses have been steadily growing since 2018, and reached a record $245 in 2022, with a total spending of $31.7 billion. Looks impressive, doesn’t it? So sending emails for Mother’s Day would be a wise decision for everyone who works for e-commerce. Help your customers choose gifts for their mothers and guide them through your products –– email marketing is a great tool for that.

What gifts for Mother’s Day were the most popular in 2022?

Mother’s Day spending statistics popular gifts 2009-2022
Source: National Retail Federation

When it comes to Mother’s Day gifts, the trends haven’t changed a lot since 2020. Aside from gift cards, outings, and greeting cards, the most popular spending categories include flowers, clothing, and jewelry. If you sell one of these, Mother’s Day is your chance to significantly increase sales. But even if you don’t, you still can profit from Mother’s Day emails. For example, lots of people give presents not only to their mothers, but to their wives, daughters, grandmothers, and friends –– everyone who experienced the joy of motherhood:

National Retail Federation Mothers Day survey gifts

And if you have no sharp ideas about what to offer, 52% of Americans planned to purchase gift cards for Mother’s Day.A little more than half can be considered popular — don’t hesitate and use the opportunity.

Mother’s Day email marketing ideas and best practices

Let’s see how to make the most of your holiday email marketing campaign. In this chapter, we’ll observe the most effective and unconventional ideas and practices to use infor your Mother’s Day emails.

Share personal stories

Storytelling is an underestimated way to make more “human” content and show the readers that there are real people behind your brand. They all have their fears, desires, and challenges similar to yours. Customers will be happy to see a more genuine email in their inboxes cluttered with “50% discount expires now” messages. When it comes to Mother’s Day newsletter, you can share some family traditions, recipes, or photos –– anything that correlates with your brand and allows you to feature your products.

Mother’s day email example by Clinique
Clinique shows the prospects which products the mothers of team members prefer. Source: Sendpulse

Create a sense of urgency

Showing that your offer is limited in time will help the customers make quicker decisions. Add a countdown timer to your templates, use a temporary promo code, or simply say it in the email body –– it depends on you. This tip also works great for subject lines — setting a deadline will make your email more noticeable in customers’ inboxes.

Mother’s day email example by Miadonna
Miadonna gently reminds late shoppers about the upcoming holiday and offers expedited shipping for those who haven’t bought a gift yet. A great balance of a sense of urgency and an empathetic tone. Source: Klaviyo

Present a full set as a gift

Offer a set of your products as a Mother’s Day gift. You’ll save the customers’ time, and, in case you give a discount for the whole set, money. Such sets can also act as sample boxes which is great for a first touch with your brand and may lead to gaining a new customer.

Mother’s day email example by Native
Native offers the set of its three best-selling spring scents as a great gift for Mother’s Day. The promotion “refer a friend, get a gift” makes an offer even more attractive. Source: MailCharts

What if you’re just a retailer who sells different products from different brands? Offer gift bundles! Take a look at this email from Gourmet Basket. In their Mother’s Day campaign, the brand offered several gift sets with indulgent treats and drinks for every taste.

Mother’s Day email from Gourmet Basket

Offer discounts and special deals

Help the audience choose a gift by starting a promotional campaign on all your products or some particular categories. It can be a discount, free gifts on orders, free shipping, you name it. If you consider sending an email like this, don’t forget to add a clear CTA and highlight the benefits of your offer.

Mother’s day email example by Shapermint
Shapermint has made a generous offer for Mother’s Day: up to 70% off on all the items, an extra $5 off on any purchase with a time-limited (remember about a sense of urgency?) code, and free shipping. Looks really impressive! Source: MailCharts

Gamification

Invite the prospects to participate in a festive contest. It will help you to increase engagement rates and entice the customers to visit your website. Before sending an email, make sure you’ve clearly explained the rules, and that the prize is attractive enough to battle for it.

Mother’s day email example by SweepSouth
SweepSouth offers the readers an opportunity to win gifts for Mother’s Day. Unfortunately, we don’t see the rules in the email –– to read the explanation you’ll have to visit a website. Try to avoid situations like this and give a clear picture of what’s required from participants. Source: Chamaileon

Offer a piece of gift-giving advice

Moms are always too nice to tell what presents they want. So, very often your recipients have to figure it out by themselves. Your goal is to help them in this challenging task –– pick the most appropriate products from your assortment that would make a good present.

You can offer individual items, or highlight the most suitable product categories in your templates, just like John Lewis did in their Mother’s Day campaign:

Mother’s day email example by John Lewis
Source: Really Good Emails

Combine presents for mothers and charity

Mother’s Day is a good occasion to be kind and help those in need. In the example below, St.Baldrick’s Foundation offers to send your mom an ecard –– all purchases will be donated to help kids with cancer and heart diseases. It allows your audience to participate in making a positive impact while celebrating Mother’s Day.

Mother’s day email example by St.Baldrick’s Foundation
Source: Really Good Emails

Make it easy to find presents on a budget

Everyone wants to make their moms happy but not everyone has enough disposable money. You can help them by creating a guide with gifts categorized by budget.

Mother’s Day email from Najo
Source: Milled

Look at this Mother’s Day email from Najo. They created several gift guides, including the guide for those on a budget — and they put the latter on top of the email so customers can easily find how to save money but still buy a great present.

Use a catchy call-to-action

CTAs like “Shop now”, “Read more”, and “Choose a gift” usually work well, but sometimes it’s great to choose something more enticing and non-trivial. Create a call-to-action that immediately grabs the attention and creates a cozy holiday atmosphere.

Mother’s day email example by UncommonGoods
Here’s an interesting gift guide by UncommonGoods. They divided moms into several categories and offered a selection of presents for each. Clever CTAs coax the subscribers to visit the website to see what it can offer especially for their mothers. Source: Danielle on Pinterest

Choose powerful images

Real photos of real mothers sometimes boost sales even better than perfectly designed illustrations. They create that cozy family atmosphere, and, at the same time, humanize your brand. Such emails strengthen the relationship with your audience.

See how Everlane applied this method and created a cute collage with their employees’ mothers:

Mother’s day email example by Everlane
Source: Really Good Emails

Give an option to avoid Mother’s Day emails

This time of year can be sensitive to some of your subscribers. If you don’t want to hurt their feelings and increase your unsubscribe rate, allow them to update the subscriptions preferences and not receive Mother’s Day newsletters. It shows that you care about your audience and makes them more loyal to the brand.

You don’t have to write a short novel of an email — gently expressing the concern and giving a link is enough for a nice example of good email etiquette. Here’s an awesome example from Daily Blooms:

Alt=Mother’s Day opt-out email from Daily Blooms
Source: Milled

Top Mother’s Day email subject lines to use in your campaign

When planning a subject line for your Mother’s Day campaign, use our quick tips:

  1. Keep the subject line short and concise — it should display correctly on all devices. 50 characters tops is the sweet spot. 
  2. Add personalization: use the subscriber’s name in the subject line and make unique offers based on readers’ experiences and preferences.
  3. Emojis will help you spice up your subject line and highlight it in a cluttered inbox. Just be careful — don’t overdo it.

Here are some helpful ideas for your punchy Mother’s Day subject lines that will draw attention in the inbox:

Expressing love and gratitude

  • Mom Will Love This
  • Happy Hour for Moms
  • Moms Are Made to Be Loved
  • Mother’s Day Treat – She Deserves It
  • The Secret Art of Making Moms Happy

Making gifts for mothers

  • The Perfect Mother’s Day Gift
  • Free Shipping for Mother’s Day Gifts
  • For you, Mom, and the whole family!
  • Moms like surprises —– and so do we!
  • The Best Mother’s Day Treat

Empowering moms

  • Super Gifts for Super Moms
  • Moms Run the World
  • Gifts for the Neighborhood Rockstar | Mother’s Day Special
  • Amazing Deals for Amazing Moms
  • Don’t Worry – Mom’s Got This

For last-minute shoppers

  • Last Chance to Get the Perfect Mother’s Day Gift!
  • Save it for Mom – Order Now and We’ll Deliver Today
  • Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute → Buy Mom a Gift Now
  • Today’s Mother’s Day Discount is Almost Gone
  • Don’t Forget Mom! Get Her a Special Gift Before It’s Too Late!

With emojis

  • Mum deserves to be spoilt this Mother’s Day 💖
  • Bring Joy to Mom’s Heart 🌹
  • Find the perfect gift for the #1 Mom ❤️
  • Mother’s Day Offers 💕💐
  • ✨ Remember to Send Mom Your Love ✨

Amazing Mother’s Day email examples you must see

We’ve collected a couple more noteworthy and beautiful Mother’s Day email examples and templates for your marketing inspiration.

Kate Spade

Mother’s day email campaign example by Kate Spade
Source: Anna Wilson Schnitzler on Pinterest

What we liked about it:

A wonderfully performed guide by Kate Spade helps to get rid of the problem of making a gift choice. They highlighted several purposes their bags are suitable for and offered the most appropriate ones for every category. Such an approach saves the subscribers’ time and entices them to visit the company’s website to see more.

Saje

Mother’s day email example by Sage
Source: MailCharts

What we liked about it:

What we love about this campaign is its simplicity, focusing the email on one clear purpose: to shop for Mother’s Day gifts. The structure of the email is also worth your attention. It is user-friendly, with a minimum of text –– just highlighting key categories of Mother’s Day presents.

Allset

Mother’s day email example by Allset
Source: Really Good Emails

What we liked about it:

Allset created a ready-made guide on spending Mother’s Day using their products. A very cozy, warm, and beautiful email, with unobtrusive advertising and no endless “buy now”, “go shopping” CTAs. Sometimes such a delicate approach works even better.

Endota

Mother’s Day email from Endota

What we liked about it:

A sleek, non-overloading layout, creative CTAs, and a vast array of gift options including quality time and experiences — it’s a textbook Mother’s Day email campaign for health and wellness brands. We also can’t help but appreciate an empowering message behind the campaign. Moms care for others all the time — why not let them take care of themselves at least this day so they can replenish their physical and mental resources?

T2

Mother’s Day email from T2

What we liked about it:

It’s another awesome example of a Mother’s Day gift guide email. We appreciate the variety of options, a subtle yet effective introduction of limited edition products, and a copy that includes all the motherly figures. Also, we like that the brand added an opting out option — it shows that the company cares about their customers’ feelings.

Frank & Eileen

Mother’s Day email from Frank and Eileen

What we liked about it:

Mother’s Day emails don’t have to be aggressively promotional — this email by Frank & Eileen is a great example of that. Instead of directly selling gifts, the brand opted for an immaculately designed greeting card that expresses the company’s values and their appreciation for customers and customers’ mothers. And, if you still need a gift, there are a couple of links at the bottom of the email. It’s a more subtle yet still effective approach to holiday campaigns.

The bottom line

Mother’s Day is frequently ignored by email marketers as many of them consider it a minor occasion if compared to Christmas, for example. However, statistics from the National Retail Federation prove them wrong. Spending your budget for a Mother’s Day email campaign is a great investment — try out our email marketing ideas this year and thank us later! 

To make your Mother’s Day email campaign effective and create newsletters that stand out in subscribers’ inboxes, use the tips and best practices from our article:

  • Share personal stories –– show the readers that there are real people behind your brand, use some family-related content: share your family traditions, recipes, etc.
  • Create a sense of urgency –– make your promotional offers limited in time to help the prospects make quicker decisions.
  • Present a full set as a gift –– it will save the subscribers’ time and, in case you give a discount for the whole set, money.
  • Add some gamification enticing readers to visit your website.
  • Offer a piece of gift-giving advice — create guides, checklists, and other materials to help the prospects pick the most appropriate products from your assortment.
  • Combine presents for mothers and charity –– donate a part of the revenue to non-profit organizations.
  • Make it easy to find presents on a budget –– if a person is limited in money, it doesn’t mean they can’t choose a gift for their mothers. Help them and create a guide where gifts are categorized by budget.
  • Use a catchy call-to-action and a punchy subject line to immediately win the attention of customers.
  • Choose powerful images –– real photos of real mothers sometimes boost sales even better than perfectly designed illustrations.
  • Give an option to avoid Mother’s Day emails –– for many people, the subject of the holiday can be sensitive, so allow them to update their subscriptions preferences and not receive Mother’s Day newsletter.

Hope these recommendations will help you create a Mother’s Day email that works. Happy holidays!

19 April, 2023
Article by
Valeria Shulga
A writer by nature, study, and trade with more than 7 years of experience. Contributor at Selzy wearing many hats: I create special content projects, write articles, and own Facebook and Reddit communities. My expertise lies in email and content marketing, but I also have experience with the topics of real estate and immigration. Outside of work, I like spending my free time learning foreign languages, seeing plays at our local theaters, and doing yoga.
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