10 Father’s Day Promotion Ideas You Should Experiment in 2025

Did you know that in 2024, 75% of consumers planned to celebrate Father’s Day, expecting to spend a total of $22.4 billion? Hence, if you don’t want to leave money on the table, now is the time to craft a compelling Father’s Day promotion plan.

But don’t worry! In this blog, we have compiled a list of 10 refreshing Father’s Day promotion ideas for you to enhance your brand awareness, drive engagement, and, most importantly, boost sales.

Let’s explore!

1. 10 battle-tested Father’s Day promotion ideas for 2025

Father’s Day is a holiday dedicated to honoring fathers who have sacrificed so much for their families and children. As the celebration falls on the third Sunday of June, Father’s Day 2025 will be on June 15. 

If you want to hit new sales records for the special event, mark your calendar and start the engines early since we’ve got your back. 

Below is a list of 10 actionable, creative Father’s Day marketing ideas that work for various industries, from eCommerce and retail to services and more. 

1.1. Unleash a “Dad Mode” digital takeover

Sending a few discount codes via email alone or adding a countdown timer on your website to promote Father’s Day sales is nice. Nevertheless, with consumers’ increasingly complicated shopping behaviors, we’d highly recommend brands embrace an omnichannel approach.

To be specific, make sure that your Father’s Day deals reach your potential shoppers at all touchpoints, including:

• Paid ad campaigns
• Emails, SMS, push notifications
• Website (homepage, product pages, collection pages)
• Social media 
• Blogs 

Take Heatonist, for instance, the brand not only promoted their deals via their newsletter but also posted on Facebook and Instagram Reels to boost sales for the event.

1.2. Make ‘em laugh with dad jokes

Psychologically speaking, a good laugh can trigger positive emotional responses in our brains, making us feel good. That’s why showing your sense of humor can be a brilliant way to enhance your brand’s likability and trust.

And for Father’s Day, what better opportunity than “dad jokes” to create attention-grabbing, cheerful campaigns and cut through the noise? Heineken– the world’s renowned beer retailer, did leverage some dad jokes for their Father’s Day promotion in 2024.

1.3. Give some subscribers a temporary opt-out

Not all your customers and email subscribers have a great childhood with a superhero dad and vice versa, not all fathers have fond memories with their children. Hence, no matter how carefully planned your email marketing is, it isn’t truly thoughtful without taking into account the experiences of these customer segments. 

So, for Father’s Day promotion, a general rule of thumb is offering your subscribers a “holiday opt-out” option to avoid stirring up unnecessary grief from your customers. 

For example, Fly By Jing and Yellowbird are two businesses that are considerate enough to provide their subscribers an opt-out from Father’s Day newsletter content. 

💡 You might wonder, “Won’t this hurt my sales?” While you might see a dip in engagement for this specific campaign, the long-term gains far outweigh that. They’ll remember that you cared about their feelings, not just their wallets, which can help boost your loyalty and brand trust.

1.4. Understand your target audience

The outdated image of a tough, emotionally distant dad has gradually faded away. Indeed, a modern father figure is much more ‘versatile’ than just a provider but a great caregiver, awesome mentor, and supportive friend in their children’s lives. 

Therefore, instead of reinforcing toxic masculinity, your marketing campaign should contain messages that celebrate modern fatherhood in all its forms. 

That said, knowing what messages resonate with potential customers isn’t enough. It’s equally important to meet your audience where they are. And according to Ipsos, 91% of dads watch YouTube at least once a month. Of these, 80% tune in to videos that cover essential parenting topics—like how to assemble children’s products, prepare meals for their kids, etc.

On that note, you should develop a YouTube campaign that delivers authentic, emotionally resonant content showcasing real moments of modern fatherhood. For example, Gillette’s “Go Ask Dad” campaign challenges the outdated stereotype by encouraging young men to seek genuine advice from their dads on everyday tasks like shaving and tying a tie.

With its “Go Ask Dad” campaign, Gillette topped the Q2 2016 advertising relevance rankings, outperforming both P&G’s Olympic “Thank You, Mom” campaign and Dove’s Father’s Day “Men+Care” campaign.

1.5. Run quality interactive campaigns

According to a survey by Sago, 65% of people claimed that they value spending quality time with families over buying gifts on Father’s Day. The report also pointed out that nearly 50% of the respondents felt like Father’s Day had been too commercialized. 

Therefore, if you’re looking for effective Father’s Day promotion ideas to experiment with, running impactful interactive online campaigns can help you stand out from your competitors. 

One effective way to engage your audience is by encouraging them to take part in lighthearted, shareable activities such as a giveaway contest on social media. For instance, Panera’s “Dad Jokes” campaign challenged fans to submit their best (or worst) dad jokes on social media, whereby 50 winners would receive a $25 Panera Bread gift card.

1.6. Optimize your online stores for Father’s Day 

Sometimes, the opportunity to drive impactful results for your Father’s Day sales strategies is simpler than you think, it’s your visual storefront. By optimizing your online store for Father’s Day, you can easily feature your discounts or any limited-time offers. 

1.7. Experiment with unconventional email messages & layout

When it comes to Father’s Day promotions, your email marketing can be a game-changer (well, if you’re willing to step away from the ordinary). Rather than sticking to the predictable “Here’s a discount, shop now” formula, why not create an unconventional email that leaves a long-lasting impression this year?

For starters, consider injecting some humor—Father’s Day is the perfect occasion for it. Nevertheless, it isn’t just about the email’s copy. Indeed, to elevate your email campaign, the layout is crucial as well.

For that reason. we’d suggest ditching the standard top-to-bottom structure and trying something bold, like designing your email as a comic strip, with each panel unveiling a different gift idea or deal. Alternatively, you can go for a magazine-style layout with sections for gift inspiration, dad-approved activities, and a fun fact or joke.

Take the email from Misc. Goods Co., for instance, instead of a product-heavy layout, the brand used a narrative style with high-quality images of hands crafting a personalized wallet, emphasizing craftsmanship and sentiment over a hard sell.

1.8. Focus on mobile experiences

Did you know that an average person spends 4 hours and 37 minutes on their smartphones every day? So, if you are looking for Father’s Day promotion ideas to hit new sales records this year, enhancing your customers’ mobile experience should be the way to go.

Here are some actionable ideas to optimize your Father’s Day promotions for mobile users:

• Leverage SMS marketing: Besides emails, SMS is another effective channel where you can send short, punchy text messages to grab your customers’ attention and create urgency.
• Send push notifications: If you have a mobile app, Father’s Day can be an awesome chance to spark direct conversations with your app customers to keep them coming back for more.
• Embrace mobile-first design: Last but not least, make sure that all your media is optimized with mobile devices in mind. This includes your website, emails, ads, etc.

1.9. Get your upsell and cross-sell strategy in hand

As the cost of acquiring a new customer is 5 to 7 times more expensive than cross-selling a current one, if you want to round up your bottom line for Father’s Day, make sure you have a proper cross-sell strategy. 

Here are a few Father’s Day promotion ideas for cross-selling you can try to uplift your average order value:

• Create Father’s Day bundles
• Offer tiered discounts
• Use BOGO promotions
• Offer add-on services (e.g. name carving for $5, gift-wrapping for $3)

ALT. nailed their cross-sell tactic well right here– the perfume retailer offered their bundle for Father’s Day at a discounted price.

1.10. Curate Father’s Day gift guide

With so many gift options available, customers might not immediately see your products as ideal Father’s Day choices. Therefore, one of the effective Father’s Day promotion ideas you should tap into is curating gift guides to give your customers some good gift ideas to begin with.

Ideally, we’d advise you to organize your items into clear, themed categories and explain what makes each product a thoughtful gift. Then, highlight key features and benefits that resonate with your audience. Also, consider suggesting complementary pairings or complete gift sets if possible.

For this promotion idea, we’d love to give Eight Sleep a shoutout for their fantastic gift guides for different dads with different personalities and needs. For each ‘dad type,’ the brand highlighted a product with a brief explanation of why it suits a particular lifestyle.

2. Father’s Day promotion ideas statistics & trends to watch out for

Now that we’ve just walked you through the top Father’s Day promotion ideas, let’s take a closer look at some insights by NRF on Father’s Day shopping trends to fine-tune your strategy:

• Shopping preferences: Over one-third (38%) of shoppers plan to visit department stores for their Father’s Day gifts, while 22% prefer specialty stores. Meanwhile, 42% of buyers are opting to shop online.
• Popular gift categories: This year, 31% of gift-givers intend to choose personal care items for Dad—a jump from 21% in 2019. Brands like Aesop, Supply, and Harry’s are leading the trend with products such as beard and hair oils, and shaving kits. In addition, categories like home improvement, car accessories, tools, sporting goods, and leisure items are gaining popularity.

• Demographic spending: Adults aged 25 to 34 are set to outspend other shoppers by an average of $85 on Father’s Day gifts.
• Consumer behavior: Social media inspires 70% of shoppers, with Facebook as the leading platform for gift ideas. Additionally, two-thirds of consumers purchase gifts one to four weeks before Father’s Day, emphasizing the need for early marketing efforts.

👀 What does this mean for brands?

With more shoppers turning to online platforms for Father’s Day gifts—favoring practical yet thoughtful items like personal care and home improvement products—brands and retailers should expect a surge in eCommerce sales and a demand for meaningful presents. 

And to stand out, make sure you kick off early campaigns across multiple channels and tap into social media, especially Facebook, to spark gift ideas and boost sales.

3. Marketing tips for Father’s Day

Last but not least, while promoting your online store for Father’s Day, here are a few tips you should keep in mind:

• Embrace a sense of humor: A good giggle can set the mood and leave a good impression on your potential shoppers. So, if you can’t get enough of dad jokes, Father’s Day is a great occasion to embrace that sense of humor to increase your brand likability.
• Don’t overuse stereotypes: As we were saying, instead of alienating your potential shoppers with stereotypes or toxic masculinity about the role model dad, highlight diverse, modern dads so you can resonate with a broader audience.
• Measure impact: Remember to track your campaign’s performance to see which channel and marketing message works so you can fine-tune your promotion plan for Father’s Day next year.

If you’re just getting started, consider using our Shopify store setup service. We’ll customize your store’s layout, import products, set up payment methods, SEO, etc., to ensure you hit the ground running. Or, you can choose one of our prebuilt Shopify stores to launch your eCommerce business with a high-converting layout and a curated selection of potential products.

And with our free post-service support, we’ll give you a free 1-on-1 expert consultation on customizing your store or promoting it for Father’s Day based on your niche.

4. Conclusion

With consumers’ shifting shopping patterns and fatherhood being redefined, offering a few discounts with some old-fashioned messages won’t cut it.

Hence, eComStart team hopes after checking our list of 10 Father’s Day promotion ideas, you can have some fresh insights and practical strategies to prepare your business for this special event.

If you enjoy reading this blog, you can find more resourceful articles like it at eComStart. 

5. Frequently asked questions