3.10.2023
While the festive holidays have long been lauded as the number one key consumer period for fragrance, recent data shows that Mother’s Day may not be falling too far behind. According to the NPD Group, 19% of Mother’s Day gift buyers in 2021 wrapped up a new perfume for someone special – and if the industry’s recent trajectory is anything to go by, this year may be just as successful.
But how do fragrance brands – and beauty brands too – reach this lucrative 19%? The key is optimising the digital customer journey for the growing base of online beauty shoppers. Here are five essential steps to take when planning out your Mother’s Day strategy…
1. Refine Your Media Messaging
If you’ve run previous Mother's Day campaigns, now is the time to reflect on your messaging. Go back and review last year’s best performing ads or social media posts to see what copy helped to drive success. Was it pithy and catchy? Did it feature a pun? Might it have sparked a note of nostalgia? Channel these insights into new messaging for your Mother’s Day press releases, influencer campaigns and owned media (such as your blogs and social media posts).
With the right tool, such as mediaPRO, you can also analyse the messaging that enabled your competitors to make an impact during Mother’s Day 2021. Explore how they worded offers and discounts, and the tone of voice updates that helped them stand out. This gives you additional actionable insights to refine your own copy and assets.
And, finally, use your media monitoring tool to review last year’s Mother’s Day gift guides in print and online. In understanding which publications featured them, and what angles they followed (such as ‘most thoughtful gifts’ or ‘gifts under £30’), your PR team can approach the press in a more tactical manner.
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2. Improve Your Share of Voice
When it comes to securing co-op advertising space, Mother’s Day is one of the most competitive times of year, with an abundance of beauty brands vying for the best performing placements. mmi data reveals a direct correlation between high share of voice and an increase in sales, and we recommend you track this metric carefully when negotiating your ads.
Using an ad checking tool that monitors the beauty etail space, you can identify the placements with the highest share of voice on your chosen ecommerce site, as well as analysing the spaces your competitors secured in previous years. If you can see that they’ve repeatedly invested in the same ecommerce store and ad slot, this suggests their strategy has performed well for them in the past. With this insight on your side, you will be able to make more data-informed decisions when negotiating your co-op ads, in turn making your brand more visible to Mother’s Day shoppers.
3. Assess Gift Sets and Gifts with Purchase
According to a poll of 2,000 adults by weDo/ Professional, 54% of consumers consider sustainability a key factor when buying beauty, hair and skin care products. It’s no wonder then that more and more beauty brands are moving away from gift sets due to the excess packaging and waste that comes from creating these once-covetable sets.
In contrast, mmi data reveals an increase in gifts with purchase (GWPs), which may result in less packaging and waste, but also presents the need for more creative thinking from your marketing team. Over the years, gifts have progressed from tote bags to more illustrious items, such as headphones or makeup kits. Start tracking what your competitors are offering as gifts, so you can refine your upcoming GWP strategy, while gaining inspiration for future gifting opportunities.
4. Monitor Your Stock Levels
Simple yet crucial; it’s important to monitor your stock levels in the weeks leading up to Mother’s Day, so you can act quickly to ensure your etailers have the level of SKUs they need. Sold out products naturally lead customers to exploring other options, such as competitors, so healthy stock levels are key to ensure you don’t lose a sale – and a would-be loyal shopper.
5. Observe Discounts Across Etailers
Deep discounting across etailers can impact your brand in a myriad of ways:
- It may steer shoppers away from your GWPs.
- If your competitor has been discounted but you haven’t, your sales may not be as expected.
- Stock levels could plummet if a flash sale goes live.
- Your fragrance sales could soar with an especially tempting offer.
These varying outcomes highlight the need for price monitoring across all etailers, so you can understand how discounts may have impacted your strategy this year. Not only will this make your reporting more robust and accurate, but it may also help you preempt fluctuations in 2023’s Mother’s Day sales performance.
Up next: It’s never too soon to start planning your Christmas marketing strategy. Discover how to optimise your co-op advertising ROI over the Q4 period.
