6 Easter Marketing Ideas to Engage Your Audience

#1

Host an In-Store Easter Egg Hunt

If you want to increase foot traffic at your storefront, this Easter marketing campaign idea is right up your alley. For this concept, host a family-friendly Easter egg hunt at your small business by hiding plastic Easter eggs around your store and filling them with candy and vouchers for free products and discounts. And if you want to make it enticing, include a few big surprises there, too. For example, if you own a surfboard shop, one of the grand prizes could be a customized surfboard or a free trip to a surf retreat.

To keep things orderly, create rules and regulations around the egg hunt, such as setting a specific start time and limiting the number of eggs each customer can collect.

Marketing tip: Customers love feeling valued, so consider making this an exclusive event reserved for your special VIP members. Send out invitations via SMS messages, so your guests can RSVP via text, and those who agree to attend can receive reminders closer to the date.

Your initial SMS invitation could say, “(Sunny Surf) You’re invited to our Eggs-travagant VIP-Only Easter Hunt this Sunday at 2 pm! Prizes include surf trips & custom boards. Reply Y to RSVP”

#2

Create a Social Media Contest

An Easter campaign based on user-generated content is another excellent way to promote your small business and increase customer engagement. For this idea, let your followers do the heavy lifting for you.

Start by announcing a contest in which you’ll grant a prize to the participant with the best Easter-inspired photo. The rules can be simple: Have your followers tag your company in their photos on social media, and then you’ll turn around and share those photos on your accounts. Come Easter Sunday, the image on your channel with the most engagement wins (the one that received the highest number of interactions, such as likes or shares).

For example, if you run a pet boutique, you might want to see the best photos of your followers’ pets decked out with Easter decorations. In the days and weeks leading up to Easter, you can share these photos on your account and encourage others to interact with their favorites. As for the prize, you could offer a special Easter basket filled to the brim with free pet toys from your shop (see tip #3 for more inspiration!).

Marketing tip: The beauty of this Easter campaign is that it encourages people to engage with your social media accounts while giving you interactive content to post on your channels. After all, who doesn’t want to see photos of dogs dressed up like bunnies?

To make this a successful campaign, create excitement around the contest, making posts that motivate your followers to like, share, and comment on their favorite photos. Also, outline all the rules and regulations so participants understand how to qualify to win.

#3

Design Your Own Easter Baskets

Easter baskets are easily one of the best parts of this holiday, so why not create your own? For this Easter marketing idea, design a special basket filled with your products and a little fake grass.

These baskets make for great Easter gifts but offer a unique way of showcasing your products. For example, if you run a skincare line, you could fill a basket with travel-sized versions of your latest sunscreen, lotion, and moisturizer. Or, if you oversee a bakery, your basket could feature various treats, from your famous chocolate chip cookies to slices of your legendary lemon cake. Once you’ve filled your Easter baskets, wrap them in cellophane, and then they’re all ready to hit the sales floor.

Marketing tip: Share photos of your Easter baskets in all their glory on social media. Next, create some urgency around them, encouraging your customers to buy them as gifts before it’s too late! A social media post could say, “Looking for an Easter gift for some-bunny special? Purchase one of our limited-edition Easter baskets before we run out!”

#4

Call in the Easter Bunny

If you want to increase engagement and get customers into your storefront, then it’s time to call on the Easter Bunny himself. Kids and families adore taking photos and spending time with the Easter Bunny, so suit up (or hire someone!) in costume and get ready to greet your customers at your small business.

To up the ante, decorate an Easter-themed photo station where your customers can strike poses with the bunny. You can even offer Easter candy or host an egg hunt (see tip #1) to bring it up a notch. And while you’re at it, offer exclusive Easter discounts to your in-store shoppers.

Marketing tip: Send out invitations via SMS messages, post flyers, and announce the arrival of the Easter bunny on your social media channels. You can even send an SMS reminder closer to the date to ensure your special event is marked on everyone’s calendars.

For example, “(Pop Shop) Reminder: Come visit the Easter Bunny at our storefront this Sunday at 1 pm! We’re also offering egg-cellent Easter prizes and discounts.”

#5

Team up with Other Businesses

What’s better than running an Easter campaign on your own? Running one with other local businesses! When you partner with other businesses, you can leverage their customer base, which could double (or even triple!) the interest in your marketing campaign.

Any marketing ideas on our list thus far would work in tandem with other businesses. For example, host a joint Easter egg hunt or team up to create an even bigger social media contest and offer twice as many prizes. Or, co-design an Easter basket featuring products from both brands or even combine your efforts to promote a big Easter sales event with the Easter Bunny as your special guest.

Marketing tip: To properly execute this marketing idea, you and the other businesses must be on your A games when promoting the joint campaign. This means pulling out all the stops: social media posts, emails, and SMS texts, along with in-person promotional material like signs and flyers.

For instance, an example SMS message could say, “(Jo’s Juice) We’re partnering with Yoga Fit to host an egg hunt this Sunday at May Park at 1 pm! We’ll have prizes & a visit from the Easter Bunny!”

#6

Offer a Special Easter Promo

Finally, if hosting contests or dressing up in costume isn’t your thing, you might prefer this low-key idea: offering an Easter promo. After all, a holiday like Easter provides the perfect excuse for drumming up interest in something like your text program—and a special promo only sweetens the deal.

To entice your customers to sign up to receive your SMS texts, offer an Easter-inspired discount count when they opt in. For example, you could create a pop-up message on your website: "Happy Easter! We're treating you to a special 20% off Easter discount on your next order! Text JOIN to 22233."

Marketing tip: Place messaging about your text marketing program and the special Easter promo on your social media channels, your newsletter, and your website. To gain even more traction, spread the word at your storefront with a sign in the window and a reminder at your check-out counter.