Holiday Breakdown: Mother’s Day Spend Hit an All-Time High in 2022

Mother’s Day is producing increasingly more sales each year. And, with the vast majority of consumers planning on spending on the holiday in 2023, brands can benefit from running advertising campaigns in the months leading up to mom’s big day.

Key Insights: Mother’s Day 2022

Spend on the Holiday Reached an All-Time High

Since 2018, consumers have consistently spent more on Mother’s Day annually. Last year was no exception. In 2022 people spent ~$31.7B on the holiday, up from $28.1B in 2021.

A Disconnect Between What Moms Wanted and What They Received

Picking out the perfect gift for the mom(s) in our lives can be anxiety inducing—no one wants to give an underwhelming present. Unfortunately for some consumers, the nightmare of choosing the wrong gift became a reality on Mother’s Day 2022. According to online lending marketplace lendingtree, there was some disconnect between what moms reportedly wanted and what they actually got (more on this below).

Mothers Value Thoughtful Sentiments and Quality Time

The most sought after gift reported by mothers wasn’t what you might think it would be—turns out that words from the heart matter more than gifts, with greeting cards taking the top spot. On this front, gift givers exceeded expectations—36% of moms wanted a card while 57% of consumers gave one. The second most popular gift wanted by mothers was quality time together. Just 21% of gift givers planned on doing this in comparison to the 32% of moms who hoped for it.

Similar to cards, the number of people who planned to give flowers far outnumbered how many moms wanted them. But, the gift of a special meal resonated with the same amount of moms and gift givers.

Here’s how the rest of the list shook out:

A Look at Mother’s Day 2023

Gift Givers Will Let Their Love Bloom and Grow

A whopping 88% of consumers intend to celebrate Mother’s Day in 2023 and 52% of celebrators will purchase something special for the mother(s) in their life. This year, flowers and plants top the list of Mother’s Day gifts—48% of people reported that they will purchase this type of item. Following this are gift cards (36%) and apparel (23%).

The State of the Economy Continues to Impact Holiday Spend

According to the same Numerator study, 85% of respondents said that they expect inflation or economic slowdown to have some kind of impact on their 2023 holiday celebrations and shopping.

The fluctuating state of the economy is certainly something for advertisers to keep in mind. The good news? Consumers still plan on making purchases—88% of people will spend on Mother’s Day celebrations in 2023. This is how they plan to save money:

Mother’s Day Season Produces Top Performance for Connected TV Advertisers

Because many Mother’s Day celebrators also plan to spend on the holiday, we wanted to learn more about how Connected TV (CTV) advertisers fared during this season. We turned to first-party data pulled from MNTN’s Performance TV platform, which uses an AI-driven optimization engine that determines bids and inventory decisions using performance goals (like return on ad spend, cost per acquisition, etc.).

Here’s what our data revealed:

Connected TV Drove Significant Year-Over-Year Growth

Mother’s Day often doesn’t get the same amount of attention as the winter holidays, but Performance TV’s data shows that brands who advertised on CTV From April 1 through May 31st experienced significant year-over-year (YoY) performance growth. Revenue increased by 139% and other key metrics saw a notable bump as well.

We also took a look at network data to see which channels drove the best consumer engagement. For this analysis, we focused on MNTN customers that had an obvious tie-in to Mother’s Day and could benefit from running campaigns leading up to and during the holiday. We examined relevant brands in specific industries, including: Beauty and Fitness, Books and Literature, Fashion and Apparel, Food and Drink, Hobbies and Interests, Home and Garden and Shopping.

Important Findings

• NHL Network and Adult Swim performed best overall with Mother’s Day consumers | While these channels have wildly different content offerings, the NHL Network and Adult Swim drove significant consumer engagement. The NHL Network produced the highest conversion rate, the second lowest cost per acquisition (CPA) and second highest return on ad spend (ROAS). Adult Swim, on the other hand, claimed the top spot when it came to lowest CPAs and was fourth highest for ROAS.
• Sports and news networks generated notable performance for advertisers | When it came to ROAS, conversion rates and CPA, news and sports networks produced meaningful results for advertisers (see the full lists below). This is a particularly notable finding because sports and news are still widely associated with linear TV. MNTN’s data tells a different story though—while some people still watch their favorite athletic events and or news shows on broadcast channels, many consumers are viewing via streaming.
• Pluto TV produced a high number of impressions and conversions | While a large number of impressions doesn’t always correlate with the number of conversions (this rang true with travel audiences), Pluto TV produced both. The AVOD channel claimed the top spot for impressions and conversions—this led to a conversion rate that was right around the group average of 15%.

Read on to see the full breakdown of the top ranked networks for ROAS, conversion rates and CPA.

Top Performing CTV Networks in Regards to Key Metrics

Conclusion

With the vast majority of consumers planning on celebrating and spending on Mother’s Day in 2023, this holiday presents a great opportunity for advertisers. Knowing that the uncertain state of the economy will influence purchasing decisions, brands should adopt a full-funnel strategy with their marketing that encompasses creative messaging, precise targeting and their performance goals.

CTV advertising continues to enable a variety of brands to drive significant performance results—proving itself a productive channel for advertisers trying to reach Mother’s Day consumers. Whether you’re new to the Connected TV space or a veteran, it’s important to find an advertising solution that has the capability to serve your ads on top networks, especially in the sports and news spaces.