Performance Is to Advertisers Like Flowers Are to Moms This Mother’s Day

Flowers, gift cards, jewelry, and the like have long reigned supreme when it comes to Mother’s Day gift giving. But as time goes on and the holiday evolves, consumers have found new ways to show their moms appreciation. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), in 2023, close to one-third (31%) of consumers said that they’d gift a special experience, while nearly half (46%) reported that they’d give a product subscription box.

Mother’s Day 2023 was one for the books, with total consumer spend reaching ~$35.7 billion. This was a whopping $4 billion increase from 2022 and marked the fifth year in a row that consumer spend grew year-over-year (YoY). With 2024 promising to be another big year for the holiday, we wanted to better understand what has proved successful for Connected TV (CTV) advertisers around Mother’s Day.

To do this, we analyzed data from MNTN Performance TV customers with an obvious tie-in, and who could benefit from running campaigns around Mother’s Day, from the following industries: arts and entertainment, beauty and fitness, books and literature, fashion and apparel, food and drink, hobbies and interests, home and garden, products (think cleaning products, household gadgets, phone accessories, etc.), recreation, and shopping. Read on to find out everything we learned about advertiser performance during the Mother’s Day season.

One Month Out, CTV Advertisers Upped Campaign Spend in a Big Way

Mother’s Day might fall on the second Sunday of May, but advertiser prep for the holiday begins long before that. We found that Mother’s Day-focused brands really started amping up their CTV efforts a month prior to the holiday. Between April 8 and April 14, 2023, all Mother’s Day-focused industries increased their CTV campaign spend by anywhere from 192% to 900%.

This bump in advertiser spending addressed what we know about consumer behavior during this season — more than half (56%) of Mother’s Day celebrators purchase gifts for mom one month to two weeks prior.

The Week Before Mother’s Day Produced Top Results

While some consumers make purchases a month to two weeks out, per Statista, 28% wait until the week leading up to Mother’s Day. Our findings aligned with this — when looking at data from April 14 – June 14, 2023, all Mother’s Day-focused brands experienced their strongest revenue the week before the holiday. This was even higher than the weeks leading up to and of Memorial Day — a time period that historically produces a huge amount of business for a variety of brands.

Many Mother’s Day-focused advertisers also saw their investments in CTV pay off in a major way. All industries except books and literature experienced their strongest return on advertising spend (ROAS) the week prior to the holiday.

As revenue and ROAS went up, one key performance metric decreased for some advertisers. The week prior to Mother’s Day produced a notably low cost per acquisition (CPA) for brands in the following industries: shopping, food and drink, and hobbies and interests. And, when looking at all Mother’s Day-focused brands, this week generated the second-lowest average CPA of the time period — the first was the week of Memorial Day.

Long-Term Investment in CTV Generated Meaningful Growth

Mother’s Day-centric advertiser results from 2023 alone were significant, but they’re even more impressive when compared to the year before.

When looking at advertiser performance around the holiday year-over-year, we found that Mother’s Day-focused brands spent 24% more overall on their CTV efforts in 2023 than 2022 — this budget increase proved majorly beneficial. Multiple key performance metrics improved by double digits YoY.

These results not only indicate that increased investment in CTV can pay off, they also speak to the channel’s full-funnel potential. While lower-funnel performance metrics like revenue and average conversion rate increased YoY, so did visits per advertiser — which underscores CTV’s effectiveness at driving awareness among engaged audiences. Many may still see linear television advertising as the ultimate reach channel, but CTV has proven itself to be effective on this front, as well.

Mother’s Day-Focused Advertisers vs. Other Industries

It’s clear that Mother’s Day-focused advertisers were able to produce results effectively during this time period, but we were interested to see how they performed compared to other industries. We also wanted to learn if there were any other verticals that really stood out around Mother’s Day. To do this, we analyzed the performance of all MNTN customers who advertised between April 14 – June 14, 2023.

We found that the industries we identified as Mother’s Day-centric did indeed do well overall when it came to revenue and ROAS during this time period — they made up 7 of the top 10 verticals in revenue and 6 of the top 10 in ROAS. Here’s how the rest of those lists shook out:

Though Mother’s Day-focused industries excelled when it came to revenue and ROAS, other verticals also experienced strong performance throughout this time period. Some of the additional industries that performed well across the board around Mother’s Day included: music and video, web portals and search, travel, and lifestyle.

As we drilled down into the data, the variety of advertisers became even starker. Among the top revenue-driving brands around Mother’s Day 2023 were:

• A purveyor of essential oils and diffusers
• A swimwear and lingerie retailer
• A fresh flower delivery service
• An outdoor gear company
• A luxury bedding brand
• A curator of boutique clothing
• An electric transportation manufacturer
• A baby boutique
• A stylish, yet comfort-forward shoe brand 
• A plant nursery

We could go on and on, but for your sake, we won’t. The point we’re trying to make is that a wide variety of industries can benefit from running CTV campaigns around Mother’s Day — not just the obvious ones.

As Consumer Behaviors Shift, CTV Supports Advertiser Growth

What consumers give their moms might be shifting, but enthusiasm for Mother’s Day stays strong — the majority of people (74%) plan to celebrate the holiday in 2024. Consumers changing what they buy has actually opened more doors for advertisers, and now a wider variety of brands can benefit from running promotions around the holiday.

With Connected TV, advertisers — with obvious tie-ins and those without clear associations to the holiday — can produce meaningful results around Mother’s Day. Brands who invest in CTV at least a month before the holiday, as well as long-term, can unlock the full-funnel potential of the channel.