Celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Mother’s Day with Bing Ads

Did you know that this year marks the 100^th anniversary of Mother’s Day?  Hats off to President Woodrow Wilson for signing a bill to recognize Mother’s Day as a national holiday in 1914![1]  Mother's Day is the 3^rd largest retail holiday, to the tune of $20.7 billion spent in 2013.  With 87% of people celebrating Mother’s Day, this is a retailer’s heyday.[2] 

Check out our top tips below, as well as our Mother’s Day infographic and Mother's Day Insights for Digital Marketers presentation (at the bottom of this post) to prepare for a great season of sales and celebration!

1.   Get schooled on Mother’s Day

Wondering what this year’s top gifts for mom will be or how much will be spent?  Check out the snapshot of the Mother’s Day holiday below.

• Dollars spent. $169 was spent on average per person for Mother’s Day gifts.² Half of shoppers will spend less than $100 and a third will spend more than $100.3  On average, men spend more than women ($217 v. $123) and young adults aged 25-34 spend the most on Mom.²   
• Gift givers. Daughters make up the majority of the gift givers.[3]
• Top gifts for Mom. Mother’s Day retail spending goes won’t come as a surprise.  1/3 of people plan to buy jewelry and 2/3 will pick up flowers.  Other popular gifts include a special outing like dinner or brunch, gift cards, clothing, a day at the spa, and consumer electronics.2
• Tech gift spend nearly doubled from last year.  Spend on consumer electronics Mother’s Day gifts grew 44% from 2012, hitting $2.3 billion sales – about the same amount spent on flowers for Mother’s Day.  Top tech gifts purchased were tablets (46%), smartphones (27%), computers (20%), cameras (13%), and e-readers (11%).³

2.    Go mobile: Mother’s Day shoppers prefer bricks over clicks

The majority of Mother’s Day shoppers plan to shop in brick-and-mortar stores, including specialty, department, and discount stores.  28.5% of shoppers will shop online.²

Customers use smartphones differently than their PCs or tablets.  Smartphone customers are often close to a point of purchase, in search of deals, and doing price comparisons.  Design campaigns that reach your customers near your location and on their mobile devices with these top tips:

• Consider running search campaigns set up separately for smartphones, tablets, and PCs.  Bing Ads makes it easy target specific devices with ads.
• Smartphone customers are looking for deals and comparing prices -promotional ad copy in your mobile ads.
• Make it easy for a shopper to reach you by phone - use Call Extensions to surface your business phone number inside your ad.
• To drive foot traffic into your store, leverage Location Extensions, where your clickable phone number and directions will be displayed to help customers find your store – not just your website.
• Consider our new ad format, Product Ads, to showcase your products with your own custom images, promotional text, pricing, and your company name – a great option for online retailers.

3. Use Mother's Day ad copy and promotional text

Anticipate what your customers will be searching for around Mother’s Day and create dazzling ad copy to draw attention.

• Sweeten up your ad copy to target Mother’s Day shoppers.  For example, “Add some sparkle to Mother’s Day with jewelry” or "Nurture Mom with a day at the spa."
• Promote shipping options, especially "Guaranteed Delivery" if available.  Be clear on shipping timeframe options and guaranteed delivery – you don’t want to disappoint customers if they don’t receive their order in time for Mother’s Day.
• Promote your deals.  Tactics Mother’s Day shoppers found most influential were free shipping (54%), price cuts (44%), and coupons (41%).²
• Include Mother’s Day keywords in your keyword lists; consider using broad match to send more searchers your way who may be searching for related Mother’s Day gift ideas.

Now, go help your customers show Mom how special she is with the best Mother’s Day gift yet.  Happy Mother’s Day from all of us at Bing Ads!

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