In 30 seconds:
- Get ready for Easter 2024 with these Easter marketing ideas.
- We’re sharing some stand-out campaigns and why the ideas behind them work.
- Where should you be marketing this year? We’ve got the down low.
Finding brilliant Easter marketing ideas can sometimes be more challenging than the toughest of egg hunts.
Luckily, we’ve got the inside track with the Easter Bunny. With Easter spending last year estimated at just under £1 billion, it’s clear how vital this holiday is for brands. But the tricky part is landing on exciting Easter promotion ideas that boost sales, drive customer loyalty, skyrocket ROI, and stand out on social media channels.
So, how do you advertise Easter brilliantly? You need an irresistibly sweet marketing strategy that hits your KPIs and maximises ROI. Achieving this starts with your target audience. You need to know where they are, what they’re looking for and how to cater to their desires accordingly. That means going above and beyond mere “research”.
What’s one of the smartest ways of doing that? Social listening.
Listening to your community on socials is the surest way to truly understand them. Using listening tools to understand the trends your audience is receptive to, asking questions and analysing the answers, replying to comments and really examining your audience’s sentiment will be key this year. Only then can you create hyper-targeted Easter marketing campaigns that work.
You need to create a social listening strategy if you want to stay ahead in your niche. Once you know the data, you can execute the right creative.
Easter 2024 by generation
How will the different generations tackle Easter this year? Let’s go through them from top to bottom.
Boomers and Gen X
Seventy-three per cent of the baby boomer generation view the Easter holiday in a positive light. This is the most out of all the generations. Boomers are noticeably still more religious than their successors, so this holiday will still hold some meaning in a lot of this generation’s lives. Boomers and Gen X are the grandparents of Alpha and Gen Z, meaning Easter may still be more of a larger family affair for them.
Millennials
Generation Y (millennials) are a mixed bag. The average age for women to become a parent in 2024 is 30.9 years, and the average age for a man is 33.7 years. Considering that millennials fall under this bracket, it’s clear that a significant section of them are parents. It’s also important to note that Easter spending is higher for millennials than any other generation, with the average Brit spending £30.
On the other hand, there is a side of this generation who are not parents. More than one in 10 of 30 to 34-year-olds lived with their parents in 2021, up from 8.6% a decade earlier. Now in 2024, there are a significant number still living with their parents. Nostalgia is a key driver for this generation, so this should not be overlooked during the Easter period.
If you’re looking at millennial marketing, think about the two sides of this coin and where your brand needs to sit.
Gen Z and Alpha
Gen Z are getting in on the action of Easter, too. They spend almost as much as millennials this time of year. They are also (along with millennials) more likely to travel this time of year. Apart from the usual buying of candy and chocolate, this generation is definitely here for the thrills. Forty-six per cent of 18-34 year olds are planning an Easter Egg hunt compared to the average 32%. Since 73% rate experiences above products, getting them involved in tailored experiences is a surefire tactic to win them over.
Alpha is the youngest of all the generations, but just because they may not have the buying power yet, don’t underestimate their influence on their parents’ decisions.
Where to start your Easter marketing in 2024
We all know that social media marketing is essential to our Easter marketing strategy. But understanding how to target these demographics within the right platforms and in a way that actually boosts your Easter sales conversions is the tricky part.
Instagram is the millennials’ favourite channel, whereas TikTok takes the cake for Gen Z and Alpha. Facebook (by Meta) is the place to be for Gen X and Boomers.
But before you spring into action, it’s crucial to remember what those users love about these social media platforms. Younger generations are especially receptive to brands only when the message is spot-on: original, truthful, fun, and current. Brands should think outside the box for Easter marketing ideas and plan.
Fanbytes by Brainlabs’ Brand Partnerships Manager, Lola Randles says, “be brave in your marketing approach. There’s so much noise to cut through, especially on social media, so make sure that you have an uncompromisingly sharp yet disruptive creative strategy.”
So, how can you stand out at Easter?
Nine creative Easter marketing ideas
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a large enterprise or a small business; these marketing campaign ideas will get you thinking. It’s time to jump into the top unusual Easter-selling ideas that will inspire your brand and make it shine. If you take a leaf from these marketing books, we promise your consumers will be very happy bunnies.
1. Cadbury - Worldwide Hide
Easter egg hunts for businesses can often become repetitive or boring. Luckily Cadbury, the largest chocolate brand in the UK, is a beacon for anyone looking to get their potential customers excited about the hunt.
Worldwide Hide is a virtual Easter egg hunt that anyone can play globally. It’s interactive, allowing participants to hide virtual chocolate eggs anywhere on Google Earth and give a loved one a clue to find them. Cadbury shared their video campaign on YouTube (where they have 578K subscribers), and they asked, “What if you could hide an Easter egg anywhere in the world?”
To keep people interested two years on, they utilised influencer-led campaigns on both TikTok and Instagram, showcasing the experience and how it can be sentimental.
@asiapaoloni This was the cutest thing ever! Hiding a virtual Cadbury egg 🐣 and testing our friendship.🍦Link in bio if you want to do it as well!! @CadburyUK #cadbury #cadburyscremeegg #cadburyseasteregg #cadburysworldwidehide #worldwidehide #ad ♬ original sound - Asia
Why it works:
This idea was born during pandemic-induced lockdowns when millions of people couldn’t see friends and family – which is a big part of the Easter holiday for many.
But in 2024, this is still a winning campaign that continues to work. Interactive content gains two times more engagement than static content, and in 2023, marketers spent 14% of their budget on interactive content. An online easter hunt is a brilliant creative concept that still performs well.
But the key here is how Cadbury marketed it. They utilised socials to talk about the online Easter egg hunt authentically. They partnered with influencers who had targeted audiences to boost brand awareness. This included family-led creators like @karaleapior or younger individuals like @asiapaoloni looking to give friends some love over Easter.
With such an interactive concept, UGC (user-generated content) is inevitable. People shared their own stories on socials, drumming up further engagement and building even more brand awareness. Not to mention videos like this that highlight how great virtual gifts are for last-minute purchases (rush-buy gift cards, anyone?).
2. Krispy Kreme UK - The Easter Eggschange
The famous doughnut company did something different last year. Krispy Kreme chose 2023 as the year to give back. They created the world’s first Easter Eggschange in partnership with Fareshare.
People could give their uneaten easter eggs to their nearest Krispy Kreme shop in exchange for four Easter-themed doughnuts. The goal was to give back to disadvantaged families and make sure households who can’t afford easter eggs this year get one.
To promote the campaign, they partnered up with influencers on IG and TikTok, showing the creators donating chocolate eggs and getting their doughnuts.
@beckysbazaar AD Run don’t walk to an @Krispy Kreme UK & Ireland shop to spread some cheer this Easter!🐣🍩 Tag a friend in the comments to take part in the eggschange for a limited time only! #eastereggschange #joyunboxed #freedoughnuts #krispykreme #krispykremedonuts #easteregg #freestuffhacks #ad ♬ Sprinkles - Beds and Beats
Why it works:
Krispy Kreme understood the cultural temperature. The cost of living crisis is still in our minds. So, giving back during Easter is a brilliant way to build engagement whilst genuinely giving back.
The key takeaway here? This is a campaign that sparked partnerships and group activity. It made people write comments like “@charli xx we should do this” and “@Zeena WE SHOULD DO THIS ON WEDNESDAY”.
People were tagging friends and talking about the event. The result? They collected so many Easter eggs that they reached capacity levels across the UK! This was all from three targeted influencer-led TikTok videos and a funny skit IG reel by @thesugarcoatedsisters.
Promoting via social media can drum up user-generated content (UGC) and massive engagement when done correctly. It doesn’t take mega-influencers or huge celebrity endorsements. When the creative is correct, the engagement will come. Getting people involved, allowing them the incentive to share experiences online and use relevant hashtags, and encouraging them to tag their friends are great ways to create natural growth in your marketing strategy and promote brand awareness. Eighty-seven per cent of businesses use UGC as peer-to-peer influence reads as more authentic (especially amongst younger audiences). It’s time for your brand to hop on board.
3. Rituals - Listening at Easter
Creating compelling video content can not only drum up engagement but it can also spark new ideas. Bringing something fresh to the table at Easter isn’t easy. So when Rituals brought their Easter range to the table they wanted the right kind of community engagement.
Rituals Cosmetics took to TikTok and Instagram to promote their Easter Egg full of goodies. But through their social monitoring, they got more than just engagement from the promotion.
Fans took to the comments to engage in the conversation. And Rituals engaged right back.
@ritualscosmetics We have an egg-celent idea for your upcoming Easter egg hunt. #rituals #gifting #reuse #easteregghunt #easterideas ♬ Chopin Nocturne No. 2 Piano Mono - moshimo sound design
Why it works:
Brands often underuse the comments section, and it can be a very powerful place. Seventy-seven per cent of TikTok users say they read the comments on the social media posts and video content on TikTok. By listening and replying to users you want to win, you’re actually drumming up testimonials and discussions about your brand. This then leads to even more trust and product discovery.
But it’s not just about replying willy-nilly. It’s about truly listening, replying, and using your fans’ points for better content. This is precisely what Rituals did here.
One person commented on their Instagram post saying “It would be lovely if there would be empty Easter eggs in another colour which can be filled with products we choose! 😊”
Their reply? “@heusermonica what a wonderful idea! Which colour then would you fancy the most? 🎀🐣”
Rituals are taking notes here, and what’s even more interesting is how their content was shaped after this post, too. They posted videos on TikTok about how to reuse their easter eggs in other ways. Whether they were planning on posting these already or not is another question, but this kind of content directly links to what their buyers want.
The main takeaway here is to make sure you are not getting too stuck in your strategy. Staying on the ball, listening to consumers and keeping content fresh is key. Think about your finger being on the pulse and be flexible to new conversations happening online.
4. Morrisons - Cheese Easter Eggs
Although chocolate is usually the main feature in customers’ Easter baskets, it’s important to keep the savoury lovers in mind.
Does anyone remember when Walkers Sensations brought out a limited edition “savoury” Easter egg with a pack of their Thai Sweet Chilli crisps, a bamboo bowl, a bottle of wine, two wine glasses and a voucher for an Amazon Prime movie?
This was “thinking outside the box” (or basket) quite literally, and they created a risky product worth the hype.
Since then, plenty of brands have considered creating their own version of an Easter egg or similar Easter-themed products (like Deliveroo announcing their fried chicken easter egg last year). The key here is to make something worth having a conversation about.
Enter the “Cheese Easter Eggs” from Morrisons.
@newswithchrisofficial Replying to @Jamie Williams112 Trying Cheese Easter Eggs! #cheeseeasteregg #easteregg #happyeaster #easter2023 #morrisons #cheese #cheeselover #cheeselovers #news #latestnews #foodreview ♬ 10 minutes! Fashionable and bright jazz piano(1127989) - nyansuke
Why it works:
Easter is often associated with families. But what about the other individuals who like to celebrate?
This comes back to the audience section of this post. Who are you targeting, and what do they actually want to see? Some individuals might be fed up with the usual chocolate bunnies and treats.
Break away from the pastels and bunnies and get into the heads of other adult demographics. Morrisons singled out people who prefer savoury foods, and the product got loads of hype on TikTok through UGC.
In fact, although this is a great marketing idea example, we think they could have gone further.
If they had leveraged this great opportunity with paid ads and some targeted influencer campaigns, it could have blown up on a much bigger scale.
The point is that thinking outside of the chocolate box and striving for innovative ideas are great tactics. Plus, it doesn’t always have to be edible. When we say think outside the box, we mean way outside. After all, the Easter holiday features a bank holiday with Good Friday. Events, gigs, and staying in plans might be on people’s minds. So explore all the possibilities.
When you get it right, you’ll spark conversations on socials (just like Morrisons). If you can go one step further than them and leverage that conversation through further campaigns and social posts you’ll be leading this Easter.
5. M&S - Percy Pig vs Colin the Caterpillar
Sometimes, reinventing the wheel can be good. When you have products and mascots that already work, use them for your Easter marketing!
Marks & Spencer did this by pinning Percy and Colin against each other in the ultimate Easter Egg Hunt video.
@mandsfood Two icons... 4 hidden eggs... my the best hunter win 🏆🐣😆 #easter #eastereggs #easteregg ♬ original sound - M&S Food
Why it works:
This wasn’t driving a particular product (mainly their whole Easter range) and wasn’t a paid ad.
But it was a humorous take on a classic tradition. This may not have moved mountains, but sometimes nurturing your customer base is more important than gaining new followers. M&S understand the importance of keeping their community coming back for more.
They do this through relevant memes, trending audio, and keeping up to date with the current news on social media. It makes for entertaining feeds and social media pages.
This is your bread and butter. If you’re not already keeping your audience entertained on socials, your ads will feel like throwing eggs against a brick wall. Yes, they might hit the mark, but they’ll soon be cleaned up and left with no trace. You need ongoing nurturing content to keep your social marketing alive.
6. Amazon - Easter aesthetic
Amazon knows how to get in on the action of Easter. Plus, it doesn’t need to be all chocolates and frills. They partnered with the right influencers to bring genuine campaigns around the home.
The best part? They let the creator do the creating.
@homeby_amy AD | Creating my Easter tablescape with only handmade products from small businesses, all found on Amazon handmade! 🐣 Go & check them out for all your Easter handcrafted decoration needs! @amazonuk #homedecor #easter #amazonuk #amazonhandmade #tablescape #spring #newbuild #diningroom #easterdecor #handcrafted #smallbusinesses #handmade ♬ Late Spring - Official Sound Studio
Why it works:
Collaborating with creators can help you access new customers, gain fresh followers and harness more subscribers. You just have to ensure they’re the perfect fit. Since the rise of AI-generated feeds on socials, it’s no longer just about how much reach you can gain. It’s about finding the right fanbase, the right aesthetic and the right influencer metrics to get in front of a broader audience and achieve your goals. People follow certain social media accounts for different reasons, so get to the heart of this by analysing the data and staying in the know.
Amazon worked with influencers like @homeby_amy to deliver the right vibes to promote their “Amazon Handmade” section. Not to mention, she brought her own creativity to the table. Instead of an overly complicated brief, she delivered a full, beautiful Easter display in her style. It’s clear she was being authentic in the video.
This is key. Making sure you let your creators create will lead to the right kind of engagement. If you try to micromanage your influencers, their audiences will notice.
Double down with retail media
Amazon knows how to get people interested in the right products.
Their channel provides an excellent opportunity for brands to win this Easter.
Advertising on Amazon and other online retail stores (like some of the top supermarkets) can help boost your brand to the top of people’s Easter checklist.
The ability to craft hyper-targeted ads through these outlets is a game changer.
Retail media advertising requires investment, so understanding how you can maximise your ROI here is essential.
The most important aspect of this is doubling down on these kinds of promotions. An excellent way to do that is by combining social media advertising, influencer-led campaigns, and social listening with retail media.
Then you’re ensuring the maximum ROI for your campaigns every single time.
Not sure how to do that?
Get in touch, and we’ll explain all.
7. McDonald’s Sweden - Deals stuck in time
Although this campaign isn’t specifically Easter-led, it’s mighty food for thought. Before the Easter season in 2023, McDonald’s announced their new campaign, ”Deals stuck in time”.
It was a campaign where people could go into Google Maps and find old ads of McDonald’s deals, and the fast food chain would honour them. They did this to raise brand awareness and to help people during a difficult time when inflation had skyrocketed.
Why it works:
It was a difficult time in 2023 with the cost of living and inflation after a global pandemic. It is still a tricky time in 2024. That means brands need to think of new campaigns that actually resonate with their target audience and are sensitive to the global climate.
McDonald’s definitely hit the nail on the head with this one. Not only is the campaign interactive (a reminder that 88% of marketers say interactive content helps brands differentiate themselves) it also helps people.
Instead of running into the mad commercial rush of Easter, it’s time to think about how your campaigns can change it up this year and what you can do differently.
Use interactive content and interactive games to drive engagement further and remember to always be aware of the cultural temperature.
8. Emma Sleep - Easter sale
We all know a good email marketing campaign can boost online sales, but is that alone enough this year? Using FOMO, exclusive coupons, and special discounts can help engage your consumers and get them excited for the Easter weekend (especially if you have an Ecommerce website).
But we think you need to dig deeper, just like Emma Sleep did; they didn’t just stop at cracking out their email list and creating a campaign with engaging visuals and irresistible copy.
This email campaign from Emma Sleep ticks all the boxes. Their offer was an Easter sale for a limited time. To boost excitement, they included an exclusive coupon code to add to the savings. The visuals are simple, with links to their sale’s landing page, but the message is clear and easy to understand.
And they went even further than that, expanding this campaign to socials.
Why it works:
Email campaigns are landing with most audiences. Studies show that smartphone users prefer to receive brand communications via email.
Adding an extra exclusive discount code to your Easter sale can increase incentives and lead your buyers further down the funnel (and potentially all the way to the checkout).
But where you really need to get the ball rolling is with a combined marketing strategy. Emma Sleep engaged with influencers on TikTok and Instagram to promote their Easter offers too.
They gave exclusive tailored coupon codes to certain influencers’ followers. This not only built more engagement within their community but also made them feel like they were a part of something specifically for them. They worked with creators who also bought their products, making sure they were the right fit.
Remember that finding the right niche audiences on socials is a great way to boost sales. @georgiatoffolo is a creator with a major following of fans who are into lifestyle and home aesthetics as well as makeup and fashion. They were an ideal group of people to target for Emma Sleep.
Of course, you should never ignore your loyal customers either. Nurture them through online greeting cards, thank you emails, and a note to say Happy Easter.
@georgiatoffolo ad Sleep is so important to me and my Emma mattress always has me well rested! 🥰 They have incredible features including its cooling technology and high-quality foam, which I love! Emma Sleep are having a huge Easter sale for up to 55% off and you can use my code GEORGIATOFFOLO for an extra 5% off on the sale price! You get a 200 night risk free trial and 10 year guarantee! Go get yours! Link in bio 🫶🏼 #inbedwithemma #emmamattress ♬ original sound - Georgia Toffolo
9. Cadbury Creme Egg - The winning egg
Cadbury is known for nailing their Easter Creme Egg campaigns.
Their 2022 advert made 25,000 people write in to complain. Not that Cadbury cared; they wanted to promote equality and fun within one ad, and that’s precisely what they did.
Their Golden Goobilee promotion celebrated 50 years since the creme egg was released and Easter itself! The advert they created showed many people enjoying the chocolate egg in various ways, including a male couple sharing one through a kiss. Luckily, thousands of people felt the ad’s diversity was fantastic (us included). LGBTQ+ inclusive ads are rising, and complainers will eventually sit there with eggs on their faces.
In 2023, they created a competition. Creme egg fans could win a special prize of £10,000 if they find a half-white and half-milk chocolate creme egg. The only thing is – they can’t eat it!
@thereseryan12 It was so hard to not eat - competition ends 9th April 2023 #cremeegg @CadburyUK ♬ Chariots Of Fire (Original) - The Flame
Why it works:
This campaign worked with people sharing their unwrapping on social media, garnering more and more engagement and brand awareness.
Competitions like this can work well, as you can build further organic reach through user-generated content (UGC) on socials. This kind of competition starts new and exciting conversations. Your job is to not let these conversations go flat. If you have a winner, engage with them on social media and watch the followers blow up the comments section.
Building competitions like this will only work if you back them up with real social engagement. So make sure you’re doing just that.
Get cracking
Ok, we tried to keep the eggcellent Easter puns to a minimum, but we couldn’t resist adding a couple in. After all, it is a fun time of year! And that brings us to our final point: Easter is about spreading laughter, excitement and happiness to your customers through gift ideas, innovative products, surprising ecommerce experiences and delicious treats.
If you can nail that through creative campaigns with a stand-out message, you’ll see your ROI leap higher than expected. Use data to inform your creative every step of the way and build real Easter moments by thinking completely outside of the box. Remember Easter is a great time to really create something memorable.
But don’t put all your eggs in one basket by throwing all your budget and energy into one Easter campaign and then leaving your audience hanging. Social media marketing is all about building trust and a relationship with your audience, listening to their needs and utilising the tools at your disposal to grant their wishes.
One of the best tools? Influencer marketing.
Ninety-two per cent of marketers believe influencer marketing is effective. You are probably one of them. So, the question is no longer whether influencer marketing is an effective tool. It’s how you can use it to drown out the competition.
When you collaborate with an influencer, you access the loyal following that they spent a long time building. But you need to partner with someone who aligns with your brand values and is genuinely interested in your product. Otherwise, that reliability and trustworthiness will fly out the window.
You have to use influencer marketing as part of a combined digital marketing strategy, not just as a bit on the side.
How do you do that? We have a stellar creative strategy team to build the perfect Easter strategy for your brand. If you want help getting Easter ready, get in touch now.
Needing extra inspiration for your marketing campaigns? Maybe you want to see our work in action? Check out the links below; the answers are just a hop, skip and jump away (ok, that really is the last Easter pun):
