Mother's Day: Insights, Trends and Optimization Tips for Microsoft Advertising adCenter

Did you know Mother’s Day is the 2^nd largest US consumer spending holiday of the year? It’s true! It falls only behind the winter holidays. Last year, the holiday raked in more than $14.6 billion, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). Of the 83% of Americans who celebrate this holiday, the average person is expected to spend around $126 on their mom this Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 8). If you want a piece of this pie, launch your Mother’s Day campaigns in early April to establish a strong performance history so they’re running optimally before the holiday season’s in full swing.

Mother’s Day Facts & Tips:

Here are some important things to remember when you’re optimizing for this huge opportunity: 

• Expand your keyword lists to incorporate Mother’s Day keywords, especially in the strongest gift categories outlined in the graph on the right.  

• Start testing ad copy in early April. Make sure the ads reference Mother’s Day so they resonates with shoppers and what they’re searching for. Mid-month identify your strongest CTR ad(s), determine what aspects are making it successful and incorporate those in the rest of your ad copy.
  • Tip: Attract the searcher by calling out exactly what they're looking for using Dynamic Keyword Insertion in your ads. Another strategy is to ask a question like “Shopping for your Mom? Affordable Gift Baskets Mom Will Love.” Not only will the question pique their interest but the affordable aspect will entice them.

• According to NRF, at least 29% of 18-to-34 year-olds plan to purchase their Mother’s Day gift online. 18-to-24 year-olds are also planning on spending more on their Moms this year. Take advantage of this by implementing incremental bidding for that age group to increase your chance of capturing the sale.

• A significant increase in traffic happens during the last week of April when retailers start sending out their Mother’s Day themed emails. At this time, advertisers will be competing heavily for the top three positions that capture 76% of the clicks.
  • To drive the most traffic to your site, you’ll want to have an average position in these top three spots. If your average position is below that right now, pull a keyword performance report to identify what keywords are missing the mark. Then increase bids on those keywords and continue to monitor the entire campaign/ad group’s average position throughout April and more frequently that first week of May before the holiday.

• Mother’s Day traffic peaks three days before the actual holiday. The closer to Mother’s Day it gets the more urgent shoppers will be. Address this in your ad copy to attract them.
  • For instance, call out “Guaranteed by Mother’s Day” or if it’s a product that will be picked up not shipped “Fresh Daily, Pick Up Anytime. Even on Mother’s Day!”

Finally if you want to take full advantage of the second largest US spending holiday this year, remember to prep your account early with new Mother’s Day keywords and ad copy that captures the shopper’s interest, remain competitive with your bids, and consider incremental bidding to target the age group most likely to purchase a gift for their Mother’s online.

Downloadable resources:

Mother's Day Keyword Suggestions*

* All keyword lists should be reviewed for relevance and applicability to your own campaigns and are not intended for use "as is".  Failure to review and edit keyword lists prior to use may result in editorial disapprovals, a poor advertiser/user experience or both.

All the best!

Erin O’Donnell, Vertical Specialist

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