Mother’s Day 2026: TV Advertisers Will Ride The Emotional Dollar

People spend on what matters to them, and Mother’s Day is no exception. Despite economic headwinds, the holiday has generated over $33 billion for three straight years. So for brands, the question isn’t whether consumers will spend this Mother’s Day season, it’s whether their advertising strategies are set up to capture that spend. We dug into emerging market trends and MNTN advertiser data to uncover what’s driving Mother’s Day shopper behavior and where the biggest opportunities lie.

Emotion-Driven Spending Thrives Despite Economic Uncertainty

Mother’s Day remains the third-most celebrated holiday in the U.S. — behind only Christmas and Thanksgiving — and continues to be a major commercial moment despite a shaky economic backdrop. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index fell 9.7 points to 84.5 in January 2026. But with spending, wages, and income continuing to grow, Liz Everett Krisberg, head of the Bank of America Institute, called “resilient” the word that best describes today’s shoppers.

When it comes to holidays that carry emotional weight (like Mother’s Day), people are reallocating spend, not reducing. In 2025, Mother’s Day investment on special outings increased by 6.8% year-over-year (YoY), hitting $6.3 billion, while gift cards surged 7.3% YoY to $3.5 billion.

MNTN Performance TV data supports this trend. Comparing the Mother’s Day season in 2024 to 2025, advertiser performance improved at every stage of the funnel:

• +59% Average Conversions per Advertiser
• -48% Average Cost per Visit (CPV)
• +44% Visits per Advertiser
• +42% Average Revenue per Advertiser
• -36% Average Cost per Acquisition (CPA)
• +26% Average Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
• +20% Average Visit Rate

The data shows consumers will spend, and Performance TV advertisers are set up to take advantage. The efficiency story here is especially notable: MNTN advertisers didn’t just see more traffic and conversions, they got them at significantly lower CPVs.

A Record-High Valentine’s Day Bodes Well for Mother’s Day

If there’s one holiday that mirrors Mother’s Day’s emotional spending power, it’s Valentine’s Day. And Valentine’s Day 2026 estimates are the record-breaking kind — the National Retail Federation projects total spending of $29.1 billion, with per-person spending reaching an all-time high of approximately $200.

Our data paints a similar picture. Looking at MNTN advertiser performance from the Valentine’s stretch (1/1/26-2/17/26), both revenue and average visit rates grew throughout the period. Comparing the same timeframe YoY, our customers saw a 75% increase in average visit rate and a 38% improvement in average conversion rate.

This year’s standout Valentine’s Day performance matters as a leading indicator. The two holidays share similar audiences (people spending on loved ones), making Valentine’s Day the closest preview of what Mother’s Day 2026 — both emotionally and seasonally — will look like. As Marketing Charts noted, the Valentine’s Day projection “could portend a strong year for retail spending across major retail days such as Mother’s Day.”

When consumers show up for one emotionally driven holiday, they tend to show up for others (more on this later). And for advertisers planning their Mother’s Day strategies, Valentine’s Day 2026 is an encouraging signal.

Self-Gifting Moms: The Audience Many Brands Are Overlooking

Most Mother’s Day advertising is framed around gift-givers, but there’s a significant audience that many brands aren’t speaking to: the self-gifting mom. Data Axle found that 45% of single mothers purchased a gift for themselves for Mother’s Day 2024.

For advertisers, this represents an opportunity that goes beyond a single audience. “Treat yourself” or “you deserve this” messaging speaks directly to the self-gifting mom. That said, it can also resonate with kids and loved ones who might see the same ad and think, “if mom wants that for herself, it’s probably a great gift idea.” The result: brands can reach everyone in the household, directly and indirectly.

Self-gifting typically skews toward wellness, beauty, self-care, fashion, and subscription services. MNTN advertisers that fall in these buckets saw strong revenue leading up to and through Mother’s Day 2025:

• Jewelry and watches
• Skincare
• Intimates
• Athletic and outdoor apparel
• Vitamins and supplements
• Fitness equipment
• Premium apparel

MNTN advertisers in the following self-gifting-related industries also drove ROAS during this period:

• Household goods (fragrance)
• Intimates
• Formal apparel
• Fitness equipment
• Cosmetics

Mother’s Day Kicks Off a Season of Spending

In 2025, 59% of Mother’s Day shoppers also planned to buy for Father’s Day — a reminder that Mother’s Day isn’t a standalone moment, but the start of a sustained gifting season. From Mother’s Day through Memorial Day, Father’s Day, and into summer, Q2 offers a compressed calendar of seasonal opportunities for advertisers.

Mother’s Day 2025 search interest increased 586% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ), with Father’s Day and graduation season following similar patterns. It’s no surprise, then, that ad platform Wunderkind’s analysis concluded that learnings from Mother’s Day campaigns “can also be applied to Father’s Day, Fourth of July weekend, Back-to-School, and beyond.”

MNTN Performance TV data highlights the power of TV advertising throughout Q2. Advertisers who were live in both Q2 2024 and Q2 2025 saw notable YoY improvement:

Bottom Line

• +68% Average Conversions
• +47% Visits per Advertiser
• +44% Average Revenue
• +25% Average Visit Rate
• +23% Average ROAS

Campaign Efficiency

• -46% Average CPV
• -41% Average CPA

The QoQ results are compelling, too, and underscore the value of an ‘always on’ approach to Connected TV (CTV) advertising. MNTN advertisers who kept campaigns live through both Q1 and Q2 2025 saw meaningful improvement:

• -61% Average CPA
• +32% Average Revenue
• +18% Average Visit Rate
• +17% Average ROAS
• +16% Visits per Advertiser

Collectively, this data clearly shows the opportunity doesn’t end in May. For brands invested in Q2, Mother’s Day is where the momentum begins.

The Bottom Line for Mother’s Day 2026

Regardless of economic conditions, consumers continue to show up for the people who matter most. Mother’s Day remains one of the most powerful seasonal moments for advertisers, with opportunities that extend well beyond May. For brands looking to reach high-intent audiences across the full Q2 gifting season, CTV has proven itself an effective channel for driving both efficiency and performance. Advertisers that invest now are the ones best positioned to carry that momentum through summer and into Q4.