Mother's Day Emails: 20 Amazing Examples (eCommerce)

Average customer spend on Mother’s Day? $220!

Goes to show: everyone loves Mom (and they’re willing to go beyond to prove it).

Last year’s Mother’s Day global spending reached a sweet $31.7 billion thanks to the extraordinary marketing campaign efforts of brands year on year.

If you haven’t started planning your mother’s day email campaign already, there’s still time.

We’ve put together some amazing mother’s day emails and best practices that might help you jumpstart your efforts.

1. Enhance the perceived value

‘Perceived value’ presents an excellent tactic to connect with customers on a deeper level.

It’s often the reason why a customer would pick your product over a competitor’s.

Several ways to enhance it, and one of the best ones includes associating with a charitable cause.

Here’s how Toms’ one-for-one campaign to contribute to society with every product purchase hits motherhood deep. 

‍What works:

• The word ‘help’ intrinsically drives you into action. In their byline, TOMS clearly explains how a customer’s direct involvement can help another person. Goes a long way in building goodwill.
• We love how the brand uses minimal copy and yet every word serves a purpose. This urges the shopper to take action without overwhelming them with cognitive effort.

2. Ease delivery concerns with free shopping

With a day like Mother’s Day, customers are always concerned that the order will not reach in time.

When you assure them it will (and offer free shipping & expedited delivery), this helps ease their anxiety and encourages them to shop with you.

‍Everlane’s free shipping email is as simple as it gets.         

‍What works:

• The “Today-Only: Free 2-Day Shipping” offers a realistic timeline for delivery and eases customer anxiety. 
• We love that they call out the fact that several customers aren’t with their mothers on the day. This pulls on the emotional aspect (something that is VERY dominant on Mother’s Day) and also encourages them into a solution.

Here's an interesting read: Free Shipping Still a Conversion Driver in 2023? (+ Brands Nailing It)

3. Break down product catalog with a quiz

Mother’s Day can be confusing for people (especially sons who aren’t always on the same page). Make it easier for them.

More often than not, customers actively participate in quizzes because they are interested in the purchase, don’t have the time to go through an entire product catalog, and want to checkout as quickly as they can.

These customers are a goldmine. Indulge them with a short series of lifestyle-related questions and offer solutions that will benefit them.

Brilliant Earth does this extremely well by providing a 3-part questionnaire and recommends product categories based on the answers given.

‍What works:

• Quizzes require customers to put in some cognitive effort and look at your offerings, getting you one foot in the door.
• All categories come with product recommendations across budgets, helping customers further break down the catalog into their best fits.

PS: While an email is a good way to initiate such a discussion, it’s best to back it up with a more informative quiz on the website. Convertcart can help you with this.

4. Get personal (step away from the sales)

When’s the last time you called your Mom? Exactly.

Chances are it’s been a while for your customers too. Call them out on it (they’ll appreciate it) and use this day to encourage their relationship.

Sometimes, a Mother’s day wish can just be a Mother’s day wish, no strings attached.

Tuft & Needle, a mattress and bedding brand, shows they care about moms worldwide with simple yet strong advice to all those busy Gen Z’s and millennials out there.

‍What works:

• The “Call Your Mom” campaign breaks through the branded lens of marketing and often highlights the personal touch between a customer and a business owner/operator.
• The copy is emotionally driven, encouraging customers to recognize the hard work of their mothers AND stays away from the salesy aspect of Mother’s Day. We know this builds goodwill.

5. Build an experience around your products

36% moms want something handmade as their Mother’s Day gift.

They want their kids to put in effort on the day. Help them do that.

Showcase the different ways in which customers can use your products to set up a larger celebration for their mum: perhaps a dress for date night, condiments for them to cook with, body scrubs to set up a spa day.

Allset, a marketplace connecting restaurants and local diners, believes a home-made meal is the best way to celebrate Mother’s Day. 

They are ready to help millennials and Gen Z’s with recipes (and something extra) that might bring them closer to their moms.

‍What works:

• Calls out to the emotional appeal by telling customers Moms are the best AND they know how to bring them closer. Considering this campaign was close to the pandemic, we know that’s crucial!
• Offers a variety of experiences customers can have with their mothers using the products they have to offer.
• Encourages a low-effort approach with a virtual gathering (great for busy customers living away from home).
• Extra discounts & referral nudge

6. Give them the option to opt out

The harsh reality is that Mother’s Day often isn’t something all customers can celebrate. If anything, it may make some customers sad as well.

Bombarding them with Mother’s Day email campaigns will only turn them off. Instead, you may want to be mindful of their needs and let them know beforehand that your campaign is starting but they have an option to opt out.

This will help show your customer-first approach.

FreeFly Apparel’s simple yet sensitive messaging puts the ball in the shopper’s court to do the deeds.

‍What works:

• Customer-first tone and messaging that is mindful of the differences and empathetic to customer needs
• Single-click opt out options for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day emails that offers convenience
• Highlights the brand’s commitment to only sharing content that resonates with their shoppers

7. Highlight the value add

Remember: the best gifts are often those customers can use every day.

Whether it’s an electronic product that can help working moms, maternity wear for moms-to-be or senior-friendly gadgets for retired moms, find something they can use every day and build on it with a benefit-focused approach.

Apple draws parallels with working moms through high-performance products that they can use for various purposes.

‍What works:

• Image-heavy design filled with colorful whitespace and vivid images depict its applications/modes of usage
• Benefit-focused copy that helps the customer match products with mom’s persona through a rundown of uses
• Free two-day delivery nudge and alternative financing options that bring in customers with a final nudge

Fancy some nudge marketing examples? Here are 30 Best Examples of Nudge Marketing in eCommerce

8. Don’t forget the moms-to-be

That’s the thing about Mother’s Day: it celebrates Mothers of all ages.

In fact, 60% of pregnant women anticipate a Mother’s Day gift. Think about how your brand can help alleviate the issues they experience in their journey: bath salts that ease pain, snack boxes with food that’s safe for their consumption, apparel that’s maternity-friendly, jewelry to brighten their day, etc.

Pai, a skincare brand, promotes a stretch-mark remover for pregnant women.

‍What works:

• Witty copy with ‘Mother’s Day’ stretched out to ‘Mothers-to-be Day’; instills a sense of inclusivity
• Clear visual hierarchy with minimal design elements that keep information overload at bay

9. Check in on the last-minute shoppers

Customers procrastinate. It’s a fact.

Account for these last-minute customers in your Mother’s Day campaign.

Ensure you have products that are ready-to-ship and delivered the same day or the next. This will help encourage customers to choose you over a competitor that can’t offer the same.

Here’s how Miadonna does this. They write their email content in a light-hearted and casual way to make the users action it as quickly as possible.

‍What works:

• Displays a sense of urgency while being empathetic with “Ready-to-Ship” products that can bring in the last leg of customers.
• “Order by noon today” sets a deadline and prompts customers into action.

10. Bring in the people

What a cool way to personalize your emails! Talk about breaking the fourth wall.

It’s important to remember: people like connecting with other people. That’s why we’re always trying to humanize brands. Perhaps the best way to do that is with a Staff Picks collection, like Artifact Uprising has below.

‍What works:

• Clean visual hierarchy that introduces the people behind the brand and puts the focus on them
• Layered template to make it mobile-friendly and plenty of CTAs for customers to get the guide, see staff picks, and use the coupon code
• Coupon code ‘FOR MOM’ also builds an emotional appeal

11. Have something special for everyone

Every person is different, right? Not every shopper deciphers the fashion sense of their loved ones.

In that case, the best idea is to narrow down your target persona and recommend products that suit their lifestyle.

For example, if a mom loves to wear black for any outdoor gathering, she might need colorful, matching handbags, earrings, and so on.   

J. Crew reinvents their brand with a contextual title. The fashion brand details the contents of the bundle so customers can be certain they’re purchasing a gift that their mother will love.

‍What works:

• Addresses a specific category of moms who have a unique fashion sense and offers relevant product recommendations
• Excellent incentives pre-event (free shipping and gift wrapping) and additional discounts for the day (available in-store and online)

You might like: Product Recommendation Strategies, Examples, Do's/Don'ts

12. Show off your curations

Make hay while the sun shines. Take full advantage of Mother’s Day to announce the new launch of a product line in the women’s section.

Be sure to include an ‘Editor’s Pick’ section to personalize the email further.

We love this concept from Birchbox.

‍What works:

• The copy: they’re calling out the appeal that they’re the best AND that it’s done better while also highlighting the value-add
• The visual hierarchy is clean & designed to direct the customers to the ‘Gift Now’ CTA

13. Simplify product catalog & categorize for preferences

Customers like seeing a list of things they can pick out of: breaking down your entire catalog to fit segmented audiences makes the game significantly easier.

When you categorize products by budget, lifestyle orientation, or even customer personas, you’re making the process easier for customers and reducing the cognitive effort required by them.

Goes a long way. See how Kate Spade does that below.

‍What works:

• The problem statement in the headline is relatable to the audience and the hero image displays their best-selling product, showing customers the problem AND a solution
• Category section caters to all audiences–budget (shop under $100 and under), premium customers (classics), frequent shoppers (indulgences)
• The additional gift option drives an incentive & extra push and helps seal the deal

14. Encourage urgency with countdown timers

Mother’s Day presents an emotionally-driven campaign. Stuff like urgency tactics & psych triggers actually work even better here.

Go ahead and bring in countdown timers but be mindful of them.

When implemented tactically to compliment an email strategy, countdown timers can see an increase in click-through rate of up to 30%. 

The key when using countdown timers and similar urgency tactics, is that the information should be useful to the shopper, helping them to make their minds up.

Here’s how Thorntons does it.

‍What works:

• Headline indicates a final reminder email with the “last chance” nudge
• Creates an urgency nudge by issuing a deadline and backs it up with a countdown timer that plays on that urgency

15. Get creative with your copy

Sometimes, a good wordplay is all you need to send out a strong message on Mother’s Day!

Promoting your bestseller as the “mother” of all does get viewer attention. 

If you recommend products by highlighting their health benefits, moms are most likely to buy from you.   

Here’s how the Californian wine brand Fitvine promotes their low-sugar, vegan, premium wine bottle (keeping diabetic moms in mind).

‍What works:

• Promotes their best-seller as the mother of all wine to get contextual 
• Discount and a coupon code with a deadline to create urgency
• Great use of real estate to display the product

More on eCommerce copywriting: 23 inspiring examples from the US

16. Tell customers WHY they should extend gratitude

Mother’s Day is the best occasion to say thanks.

Whether mums are younger or older, they can all remember the day of birth & raising their kids like it’s tomorrow. Build on that and encourage customers to give gratitude.

Here’s how Steven Alan does that with age-agnostic products.

‍What works:

• Hero image includes a virtual gift card with a “thank you” note to honor all moms
• Recommends 3 categories of products that are appropriate across generations
• Creative use of copy–thanks mothers for “carrying them,” “watching over them,” and “tying their shoes”

17. Address moms directly (and offer giveaways to their children)

Not everyone is old enough to buy gifts for their moms. 

Target all those aspirational moms who are in the know about the current fashion trends. 

Encourage them to pass on their fashion statement to their kids. 

Women’s fashion brand Shoe Dazzle addresses moms directly and helps the next generation mirror their fashion sense.        

‍What works:

• Displays the deal in the headline to promote their new arrivals, while nudging the user to sign up for a VIP membership
• “#MOMGOALS” supported by “Show your mini-me how it’s done” adds more context and emotions to the realistic image that follows
• Product recommendations followed by pictures of social media influencers instill trust while the #300 giveaway builds incentive

18. Remind them with a gift guide

Want to get one foot in the door? Make ‘em smile.

Humor goes a long way in boosting brand recall by humanizing the brand and making the email seem less promotional.

Jack Spade unleashes its comic sense to engage with their subscribers, while also ensuring that it is in line with their branding. 

‍What works:

• Witty and relatable copy which is also on-brand
• Different use of font sizes guides the user to the CTA
• Email’s header is in line with what the user might find on the website–creating brand familiarity

19. Think of all the moms/friends in the neighborhood too (budget-friendly deals are a huge plus)

Let’s not forget: Mother’s Day isn’t only for moms.

It’s also for step-moms, grand-moms, adoptive moms, aunts who became moms…

Customers are celebrating the day with all kinds of mother figures. Encourage them to reach out to all of them. This can be with a small gift, a shareable asset, or even digital cards alike.

‍What works:

• Simple & crisp design work that highlights the copy and calls attention to the emotional appeal of Mother’s Day.
• Lays out the convenience of this option while also reminding customers that this is a free service, often run as an act of goodwill or value-add to a purchase.

20. Plan an experience for them

Mother’s Day is also about celebrating the day together: 57% of customers invest on special outings. They often get additional gifts alongside this.

It’s all about finding the common ground here. Find a way to involve your brand into special outings and help them build the day with your products.

Entertainment brand SeatGeek recognizes the different interests of a family and steers their campaign based on common ground.

‍What works:

• Simple SMS creative which is easy-to-understand by anyone and is super relatable
• Personalized headline that encourages an experience that they both can share (something a fair percentage of customers want)

12 Persuasive Subject Lines for Mother’s Day

‍

1. Are you set for Mother’s Day?

2. Mother’s Day Shipping Cutoff is SOON!

3. 18% Off The Way To Mom’s Heart

4. Nourish the one who nurtures you | Mother's Day ❤️

5. Perfect Gifts For Any Mum | Silk, Pyjamas & More

6.💐Gifts for Mum? You're Getting Warmer...

7. For Moms, by Our Moms - A Nimble Gift Guide 💛

8. Mother's Day Gifts She'll Love

9. It's not too late! Order personalized gift now to receive by Mother's Day

10. 🚨LAST CHANCE🚨: Order By 5/6 for Mother's Day Delivery

11. Mom Deserves the Best - Give the Gift of DIY!

12. OOPS, WE OVERSTOCKED 🤷📦 MOTHER'S DAY SURPLUS SALE!

Final words

Designing a well-crafted email campaign must be as hard as finding the perfect gift for moms. It’s our hope that our roundup of some amazing Mother’s Day email campaign examples inspires you to get your own creative juice flowing. 

It’s time to jump in and start planning. Remember, the sooner you begin your email campaigns, the better. Get ahead of your competition and start rolling out your best deals.