Mother's Day is traditionally one of the biggest days of the year for small businesses — such as specialist retailers, restaurants, nail salons, spas and florists. But with South Africa in the midst of a national lockdown, it cannot be 'business as usual' this year.

But with many looking to use the day as an opportunity to support small businesses, it is important that these businesses take advantage of the upcoming flux.

Here are four ways to help you market your Mother's Day promotions and get further connected with customers during this time:

1. Put your email list to work

If you have built an email database, a newsletter announcing your promotions, gift ideas and specials for Mother's Day can be a great place to start. It's not too late to send an email now but make sure that you have a compelling message to offer your customers.

Here are some practices to help create compelling marketing mailers:
  • Write a sharp and attention-grabbing subject line that stands out, yet accurately portrays the content of your mail. This is key to getting people to open your email.
  • Use strong, action words; focus on urgency as tied to the specific date and show the customer what's in it for them. 
  • Focus on the call to action. Put your important calls to action higher up in the message and focus on a bold, simple offer. Don't use too many calls to action. Rather, focus on one or two that are really powerful. For example, "Order today for a 10% discount,” or, "Buy today and we'll ship in time for Mother's Day". 
  • Use a clean design and consistent branding. It can be nice to use a tasteful Mother's Day theme for the design of your email but ensure it's consistent with your branding. It should also look good on a smartphone screen. 
  • Consider value-added-content; instead of simply selling, you can also use your emails to entertain or inform. You could, for instance, write a short article about traditional flowers for Mother's Day and how the tradition of giving flowers came about.

2. Find ways to package your products and services to sell them online

If your business is in a sector that may not operate during the lockdown, you might need to think of creative ways to drum up Mother’s Day sales on digital channels such as your website or your company's Facebook page.

Perhaps the simplest way to do this is to offer gift vouchers for redemption after the lockdown (you can simply email a voucher to the customer) or to let people order now for when you may start to ship products again.

If you're in the personal services business, you could also consider ways to offer a digital service. A personal trainer could offer exercise sessions via video conferencing or a beautician could put together a video course featuring their top beauty tips.

Think creatively about how digitising your services can help you to keep your business open while we are in lockdown.

3. Start a social media conversation

More people are spending increased time online during the lockdown, so social media is even more relevant than usual in creating engagement with your customers.

This year, keep it fun, fluid and conversational. Daily deals, flash sales, polls (what’s the best gift for Mother's Day?) and user-generated content (Share your funniest childhood pic of you and your mom) can be great ways to drive engagement.

Prepare visual content ahead of the time; use attractive product shots to go with deal promos, for example. Watch the conversation and hop on board the hashtags and memes if they are relevant for your business.

4. Make it special in new ways

This year, staying at home and foregoing the usual family get-together is the best present that most people can give their mothers. As such, it's even more important at this difficult time for companies to be warm, authentic and sensitive in their communications with their customers.

These are unusual circumstances, so acknowledge that in your customer communications and focus on adding value rather than on the hard sale. You might want to try something different to help your customers and their mothers feel special.

At GoDaddy, is for anyone who is keeping the economic health of small business top of mind in this challenging time. It's for shop owners minding their customers' and employees’ safety and for everyone who stands with small business.

For more information, visit www.za.godaddy.com. You can also follow GoDaddy on Facebook or on Instagram.