Moms do it all, especially during the last three years of a worldwide pandemic. And their loved ones are putting their money where their gratitude is this Mother’s Day, typically the most lucrative retail sales event behind the winter holidays.
Consumers are expected to spend a record $35.7 billion this Mother’s Day, up $4 billion from last year, according to an annual survey by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. Shoppers will shell out $274.02 per person, the highest in survey history and up from last year’s record high of $245.76. Most consumers will give gifts to a mother or stepmother, a wife, or a daughter. At 74% each, flowers and greeting cards remain the most popular gifts, but NRF expects all gift categories to see more spending, with jewelry, electronics, and apparel the primary growth drivers.
With more Mother’s Day shoppers than in previous years, your brand must cut through the noise to capture attention with the right message and creative. One way to do this is through relevant direct mail, which produces an average ROI 23% higher than digital channels. If you’re running a digital campaign, Programmatic Direct Mail can help drive significantly higher conversion rates. In a 2022 study of 500,000 households, those exposed to both a digital retargeting ad and a piece of PDM retargeting mail had a 290% conversion rate lift (compared to 45% for digital only and 152% for PDM only). By blending digital and physical media, you engage prospects in a way that decreases competition for their attention.
Here are some examples of Mother’s Day creative designed to help your brand stand out this holiday.
- Evoke the emotion
Thinking of our mothers, or mother figures, makes us emotional. So don’t pass up the opportunity to use sentimental imagery in your postcard creative. FTD chose to have a sweet moment between mother and child dominate their Mother’s Day postcard space with a clear, urgent, well-placed offer and call-to-action (CTA).
- Deliver on a digital CTA
Speaking of CTAs, data from the USPS and Comscore shows that 42% of retailers use CTAs that drive to a digital asset in their direct mail—the highest of any vertical. That’s because this approach allows retail brands to seamlessly guide consumers directly to a landing page or webpage with more details about the offer and how to use it while avoiding the ability of online advertisers to engage the same consumers. Ensure your CTA web link is short and sweet so that consumers can quickly type it into their web browser.
- Bring out your branding
If you’re using acquisition direct mail, prospective consumers must be able to tie your brand to your postcard design. The Sill does a beautiful job with this, employing the same imagery and color scheme in their Mother’s Day assets that they use on their website and in other marketing materials. Meanwhile, the message of the offer, “Celebrate her beyond the day,” connotes a gift—and a brand-customer relationship—that can keep giving.
- Choose your words wisely
With limited real estate, you must watch your word count on your Mother’s Day postcards. The good news is you can use the front of your postcard to highlight images of your items and concise offer messaging while displaying the details on the back to conserve space. In this example from Kendra Scott, the brand shows specific Mother’s Day jewelry and a brief offer on the front of the postcard and then includes its mission and the fine print on the discount on the back.
- Or, sometimes, choose none at all
Sometimes, you can let the creative do all the talking in your targeted direct mail piece. Applying an approach similar to Kendra Scott, Brighton goes a step further in its Mother’s Day postcard by only including an image and their brand name on the front. The eye is drawn to the necklace the model is wearing and then to the coordinating jewelry on her wrist. Once again, the back of the postcard includes the company’s mission, offer details, and a link to its website.
If you want to prove your love for all the mamas out there, consider these creative best practices when designing your Mother’s Day campaign postcards.
