6 Mother's Day email marketing campaigns to learn from

Mother’s Day, an established holiday, it’s a time where inboxes will be full of promotions to entice shoppers. It’s a great opportunity to take the day and make it work for your brand. Here are some of our favorite examples.

Preferences matter

Radley have sent emails to their customer base ahead of time, to ask if they’d prefer not to receive Mother’s Day emails. This is a trend we’ve seen grow in prominence over the past few years, and with good reason. Mother’s day can be hard for some people, for a whole host of reasons.

If you’re planning on sending more than one email about Mother’s Day, it’s a nice touch to give your subscribers the chance to opt out. It’s a way your brand can show your customers that you care about their emotional well-being, thereby strengthening the relationship, and it makes business sense too as you are giving people another option to unsubscribing in full. The same goes for Father’s Day too, so if these are dates your brand tends to celebrate, you can always include these sometimes sensitive holidays in your preference center too.

Loyalty rewards

In this email, exclusively for ‘VIP’ members, which is Hotel Chocolat’s loyalty scheme, Hotel Chocolat have partnered with the brand thortful, who send greetings cards designed by independent creators. By partnering with thortful, Hotel Chocolat are offering something different to their VIP members. By offering something they don’t sell, it feels more valuable than a discount code or free gift, it is truly tangible for the customer.

Partnerships like this can work great for both parties, in this case, utilizing a holiday such as Mother’s Day which is synonymous with sending a greetings card is a fantastic pairing which adds value and makes those VIP members feel appreciated. The two brands aren’t in competition as they sell different products, but their products compliment each other – it’s the perfect partnership.

The campaign also showcases some products, a spend and save offer, and gives the option to opt out of future Mother’s Day emails. It’s got it all.

Smart messaging

This email from jewelry brand Monica Vinader drops the Mother element almost instantly. A subject line ‘Gifts handpicked for Mother’s Day’ leads into an email that focuses on the message ‘To the women who inspire’. Strong imagery set the scene for the brand and a personal quote from their founder, introducing the edit, explaining it is for all of the women who inspire you is a great touch.

This ensures the email appeals to a wider audience, and glosses over what can be a sensitive subject. The email goes on to showcase a few product picks and offers a gift guide CTA. The campaign also highlights their gift wrapping service with the messaging: ‘When you can’t say it in person’ – as many people won’t be seeing their mother, or mother figure on the day, this is a smart upsell to keep emotion into the sometimes detached act of sending something online direct to recipient.

Flip the narrative

Mattress company Purple acknowledge the day, but flip it on it’s head by saying treat yourself. This is likely due to the fact that mattresses are a high price point and a personal choice, which doesn’t lend itself to gifting. By swapping the messaging to be about the recipient treating themselves, it makes business sense. We love to see brands take on these occasions and make them work for them.

You might think mattresses and Mother’s Day don’t go hand in hand, but it’s no secret that most mother’s are sleep deprived. The change up in traditional messaging, along side the image used is a powerful combination, they’ve done a great job of making their product relevant. Purple have also showcased some of their lower price-point items you’re more likely to impulse buy, such as pillows and pajamas which is another clever move given the campaign context.

A gift guide

A good ol’ gift guide, you can’t beat it. For an occasion where a lot of your customer base will be buying gifts, but at different budgets, and for different people – people you don’t have insight data on, it’s great to offer a variation in products.

They’ve also nailed their copy, by addressing that Mother’s Day isn’t reserved only for the traditional ‘mother’ role, Smythson cleverly say ‘whoever ‘Mum’ might be to you’. This again glosses over a sensitive area and opens up the potential customer base. Smythson have also added complementary delivery shown by a banner right at the top of the email, and are enticing customers to spend more with a Mother’s Day offer of complimentary engraving when you spend over the $200 threshold.

For the dog moms

We love this from Wild One, a campaign for all of the dog moms among us. The dog accessory brand have used Mother’s Day in an untraditional way and made it work for them.

Wild One use personal stories to showcase a select few products, creating emotional buy-in. Even if you’re not looking to buy, it’s a great email to receive – who doesn’t love a picture of a cute doggo, or four, in their inbox? Wild one keep this campaign relatively simple with a pleasing design and clear CTAs, and a final push by throwing in an adorable free gift to encourage orders over the period.

Summary

Mother’s Day can be a sensitive occasion for your subscribers, so be sure to handle with care and offer an opt-out. With that said, it’s a great opportunity to showcase brand values and share some emotive messaging. These examples show that whatever your brand, you can take established occasions and make them work for you.