Case Study: How AI Helped Us Pinpoint the Best Time for a Mother’s Day TV Campaign for Our E-Commerce Client
The Challenge
The Challenge: For eCommerce brands, timing is everything—especially when it comes to seasonal campaigns. Mother’s Day is a key sales event for our client, an established brand already leveraging digital channels to reach their audience. However, with high competition and a critical delivery deadline, we needed to answer two essential questions:
- When is the best time to launch a linear TV campaign to maximize impact?
- What is the latest date customers should place orders to ensure on-time delivery?
Our media planning has always been data-driven. AI simply accelerated our ability to analyze search trends, making the process faster and more efficient.
Our Approach
AI-Powered Search Trend Analysis Instead of guessing, we turned to four years of Google search trends (2021-2025) for Mother’s Day gift-related keywords in Germany. AI helped us process and analyze the data in ways that would have taken weeks manually. Here’s what we did:
- Historical Pattern Analysis: We examined weekly search volumes across multiple years to identify when interest in Mother’s Day gifts typically begins, peaks, and declines.
- Search Terms Analyzed: We focused on the following top four Mother’s Day related search terms from Google Trends:
- “muttertag geschenke“, “geschenk muttertag“, “muttertagsgeschenk“, “muttertagsgeschenk idee“
- Timing Correlation: We mapped search activity against the actual Mother’s Day dates to find the most strategic window for TV advertising.
- Delivery Deadline Calculation: Factoring in the brand’s shipping timeframe (3-7 business days), we pinpointed the absolute last order date that would guarantee timely delivery.
- Early 2025 Trends: We compared early-year search volume (January–March) to previous years, revealing a 30-40x increase in early interest, an unprecedented shift in consumer behavior.
Key Findings & Recommendations
- Peak Search Interest: Consistently occurs one week before Mother’s Day—meaning the highest engagement happens just as TV ads should be in full force.
- Best Time to Run the TV Campaign: Week of April 21st, 2025, with intensity ramping up between April 28 and May 4 to align with peak search volume.
- Last Airing Date: May 8th.
- Last Order Date for Guaranteed Delivery (if Delivery is 7 Business days**):** May 2, 2025. Otherwise May 8, 2025.
- Mother’s Day Dates YoY:
- 2021: May 9
- 2022: May 8
- 2023: May 14
- 2024: May 12
- 2025: May 11
- Early 2025 Surge: Due to increased early-year searches, a low-intensity pre-campaign in early April could capitalize on heightened consumer interest before competitors ramp up.
2025 Recommended Campaign Timeline
Date | Event | Description |
21/04 | Campaign Start | Begin TV campaign to build national media pressure |
02/05 | Last Order Date | Last date customers should order to receive before Mother’s Day (with shipping) |
04/05 | Peak Search Interest | Expected peak in search volume based on historical data |
08/05 | Campaign End | End of linear TV campaign |
11/05 | Mother’s Day | Mother’s Day 2025 |
The impact
From Manual Guesswork to AI-Driven Strategy By leveraging AI, we streamlined the research process, saved time, and removed uncertainty from media planning. Instead of relying on generic seasonal assumptions, we provided the brand with a precise roadmap for when and where to invest in TV ads—maximizing return on spend while ensuring customers receive their orders on time.
This approach is just one example of how we, as a media agency, integrate AI into our strategic processes. It’s not about replacing expertise—it’s about enhancing it with sharper, faster, and more accurate insights.
What This Means for Seasonal Campaigns
If your brand relies on seasonal sales, using AI-driven trend analysis can:
- Optimize ad spend by ensuring campaigns run at the right moment.
- Reduce manual research time from weeks to hours.
- Improve customer experience by ensuring on-time delivery.
When it comes to timing, precision beats assumption every time.
Have you tested AI for your campaign planning? Let’s discuss how data can drive better decisions.
