With Applepiepieces we already hid 'Pink eggs' in 2012 and every year it was a party. The preparation, the moment the first eggs go into the shop. The tension while everyone is searching. So cosy. Over the years I have learned and improved a lot about the action. Because if one person immediately finds all the eggs, the fun is quickly over. But after many years of celebrating Easter online this way, I can say we can share a solid Easter promotion with you.
Make your own version, so that it fits nicely with your shop and especially share/promote within the SYSO Insiders ! Are you ready for it? Read on quickly and good luck with your happy, converting Easter promotion!
STEP 1 - Determine the purpose of the action
Just as I describe at the More followers with an Instagram giveaway blog post The key to a successful campaign is establishing your plan and a clear goal in line with your target audience. Do people like Easter egg hunts? Maybe they don't do that themselves, but with their (grand)children? What do they expect from it? Set your goal; do you want more visitors, create a viral effect for brand awareness, more turnover… you name it, but choose one. The rest has been taken.
STEP 2 - What are you going to give away?
It is a search and it is therefore extra fun for your customers if, in addition to discount codes, there are also real prizes to be found/win. Think of a nice mix of prices with articles or stop credit and, for example, three discount codes, whether or not to be used once or for a certain period of time. For example, the row of eggs to hide could look like this:
- 10% discount on everything
- 20% discount on category X
- 25% discount on product y
- price 1
- price 2
- price 3
Note: the discount eggs make this action converting. In any case, the searching visitors go through your site like they may never have done before and come across articles that they have never seen before. The discount they find feels like a price (and rightly so). You can also hide a few eggs with shopping money that can be redeemed immediately after finding them with a (if desired one-time) code. That works even better for the conversion!
STEP 3 - Determine the length of your action
With Applepiepieces we often did the action on Easter itself. But people are also often busy with Easter breakfasts and family visits on those days. So you can ask yourself whether your target group might prefer to search on the evening before Easter, in the evening on Easter itself or… you can spread the action over the week before Easter itself. In itself it is a nice 'week filler', you can also let the discount codes run a little longer, it just depends on how much time you have to guide the promotion. Because that is necessary!
TIP : Don't forget to clearly state an end date with the discount codes!!
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STEP 4 - What do you put in the blog post/landing page?
1 - a nice description of the action (make sure you have attractive artwork!!). Why you're doing the action and why it's so much fun to participate.2 - what there is to win and show it with pictures!
3 - the guidelines of the action . Clearly explained what one has to do to claim the prize. Explain how it works here. Something like this:
Winning Easter Egg
If you find a winning Easter egg, you have won one of the beautiful Easter surprises. Be very quick and do the following:
- post in a comment the code word that is with the egg under this Easter promotion Facebook post, with the place where you found your egg. First come, first served!
- then send an email to our email address with your first name and address (for the price), subject 'Easter promotion'
- tweet, like, share and post away, that's not a must, but of course it's fun and cozy! (leave another # hashtag and your company name here)
If you have found a winning Easter egg, be happy and leave the other eggs for someone else. You only get one prize per person, so we prevent one person from running off with all the eggs.
Easter egg with discount
If you have found a Discount Egg, you can use the code immediately with your order. But pay attention until when the code applies, after that this party is over.
NB: As you can see, the text refers to an 'Easter action Facebook post', which you also prepare before and you plan when the action starts and people can start searching.
4 - the rules/conditions of the promotion , never forget to mention these on the post/landing page: For example:
- company name and contact details (but that will be known if the blog post or landing page is on your site/shop)
- all dates of the match (when starts and starts everything
- when you may or may not participate (such as age and employee limitations)
- guidelines on how to participate
- guidelines for how the winner will be chosen
- time the winner has to respond and claim his or her prize
- specify the price (including number of prizes, description of the prizes and any warnings)
- details of how the prize will be delivered
- statement that the promotion is not sponsored, endorsed, organized or associated with the social media used
STEP 5 - The planning
Make a good plan and stick to it. A schedule can go like this:
- send a buzz newsletter to your mailing list, something along the lines of 'Woohoo we're going to hunt for Easter eggs with nice prizes. Stay tuned!' . You get me ;-)
- write all texts: newsletter, blog post, Facebook post and short messages for promotion on social media
- prepare the newsletter (and test)
- prepare the blog post (not live yet)
- enter the correct (!) discount codes
- prepare a slide in your shop on home (if you have one) with link to the blog post
- hide all the eggs in the shop (do this just before the newsletter goes out)
- check-double-check if everything is in order
- only now turn everything 'on', so live
- publish the Facebook post 'It's 'on' we will search the shop from NOW, read the blog (link here to the blog post)'
- send the newsletter manually immediately afterwards
- promote the action
- follow the action
Extra info: hide eggs
We're going to go a little deeper into the matter of 'hiding eggs', not that that's rocket science, but it is important! You can just create six images (with Photoshop or Canva ) of eggs with numbers on them and the discount or price + a code word. See below.
EXTRA IDEA : You can hide all the eggs at once and just see how it goes. But you can also schedule it throughout the day or even several times in a week. Make a list for yourself of the hiding places = mega tip, trust me! This prevents you from receiving an email from someone after a few months who has found a rotting egg and demands a prize -___-
TIP : Hide the eggs in your products, for example. After the first image of a product so that they are not immediately visible in the product overview. Hide them with products you want to draw attention to :) The nice thing about the entire search process is that your customers will once again search through your entire range! You can also hide an egg at the bottom of one of your blog posts or at your 'about' page. If an egg is not found so quickly, you can give hints later in the day, if it really takes too long. It must be fun.
STEP 6 - Promote it
As with any action: promote wherever you can. The possibilities are endless, but be sure to promote/share it with the SYSO Insiders . Also, don't forget to buzz through social media beforehand, preferably with a paid promotion. Tell your followers that the action is coming, get your followers involved. That's a big part of all the fun! 
STEP 7 - Follow the action
As with any action, it's good to 'stick with it'. Does it work? Are there any problems or ambiguities? Act immediately where necessary.
Useful: Keep score on the Facebook post. Not everyone reads the comments. For example, if a winning Easter egg is found, place it like this:
* UPDATE *
– Winning Easter egg 1 > found on xxx at xxx by xxx
– Winning Easter Egg 2
– Winning Easter Egg 3
– Easter egg with discount 1
– Easter egg with discount 2
– Easter egg with discount 3 
The follow-up
When this action is over, you must follow the rules you have set. Adhere to the terms and conditions and be 100% fair in the evaluation and winner selection.
Finish with an (online) party! Thank all participants in a nice way. You can do that with a message online, but also with a discount for your webshop, invitation to the newsletter to stay informed about new competitions, etc. Be creative!
NB! Remove the eggs from the shop immediately after the action to avoid confusion for visitors. Use that handy list you made ;-)
If you are also organizing an Easter promotion this year, be sure to let me know. If you have any questions about it, ask the SYSO Insiders . Share your Easter promotion there too.
It only remains for me to report that you now have the ingredients list and the extensive 'how-to', but… the result always depends on the effort! So grab it, put your shoulders underneath it and go for it!
Do you like more?
Would you like to receive more such handy, ready-to-use promotions in your mailbox from me? Want to receive all kinds of tips and tricks every week to fill your newsletter, blog and social media? So that you are never without inspiration, can inspire your followers and stimulate sales?
The Content coach program is full of such handy step-by-step plans and content inspiration!
Below is the very first Applepiepieces Easter promotion newsletter that immediately scored very well!
