Advertising on Meta for Easter Holiday 2022

So, what is Easter? For those who really don’t know – we’ve got you! Easter is the BIGGEST traditional spring holiday, marked across more than 95 countries worldwide. It holds significant meaning to the many, from religious beliefs, to simply a love of chocolate eggs. The holiday is known to signify the awakening of nature, new beginnings, new opportunities, and of course, getting ready for Easter!

One of the earliest recorded celebrations of Easter goes back to as far as the 2nd century, and whilst the name ‘Easter’ is used in the English-speaking world, many more cultures refer to it as ‘Passover’ (for instance, ‘Pascha’ in Greek), a reference to the Jewish Festival of Passover. Easter was then reshaped as a domestic holiday in the late 1700s, but before this date, children were rarely the centre of attention.

Where did the Easter Bunny Come From?

As mentioned Easter for some holds significant religious relevance, believed to be a Christian holiday that represents the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies. As for me, when I was in school, I was taught that an Easter egg was a symbol of Jesus’ resurrection, both a metaphor for new life and a physical symbol of the tomb itself. Moreover, during the Mediaeval period it became a custom to stop eating eggs during lent (the 40 days before Easter), and on Easter Sunday – to tuck in!

From the 17th century onwards, what was known as the ‘discovery of childhood’ had profound effects on how everything, including Easter, was celebrated. At this point, Easter eggs and the Easter bunny became especially important. But why? Well, Rabbits are traditionally a symbol of fertility and a metaphor for a new life, much like the resurrection of Christ.

So how can we go about translating this to Meta advertising techniques? Stay with us, we’re getting there!

Easter is a Time of Increased Engagement & Content Sharing

The chimes of Lindt bunny bells being purchased, Easter bank holiday scheduling, and increased social media chatter, all can be heard about a week before the start of the Easter holiday. As we always say, timing is crucial when it comes to campaigning for any holiday, so taking this into account when planning campaigns is a key first step. It is also good to note that women, during the Easter period, post four times more than men, making them a stronger target demographic. Moreover, statistics show that high engagements are achieved among 25-44 years olds as the optimum easter audience.

How consumers choose to spend the Easter holiday can vary, some take the opportunity to escape on holiday, others see it as family time, or simply a time to explore and build connections. Therefore as a business, this is the perfect time for you to build those connections with consumers, home in on their conversations, and get involved in the discussion.

Although many businesses may not think it, Easter is a major holiday and generates millions in sales each year, it is a solid opportunity for you to increase the awareness of your brand!

But how do you infiltrate conversations, raise your awareness and stay relevant during this holiday? Good question, we recommend leveraging the power of hashtags! Research suggests there are five main hashtags used over the Easter period, utilising these to maximise the reach of your posts.

#Spring, #Family, #Present, #EasterBreak, #Fun

Thinking Outside the Easter Egg

Believe it or not, 42% of the conversations surrounding Easter occur before the day itself, so there is a surplus of active discussions to take part in during the lead up days. Moreover, 57% of people consider Easter to be a ‘proper’ holiday worth celebrating. So, these will be the ones who will be most invested in your campaigns, not to worry you but…that’s a large audience!

Of course though don’t turn a blind eye to the other percentage, 43% of people that aren’t as interested in Easter shopping, use this information to advertise other products or services during this time, catering to both sides of your audience.

Furthermore, it’s important to remember that there are still some myths associated with the Easter holiday period, therefore ensure you discover the truths during your campaign planning.

Boost Your Online Presence

You may feel a little stuck on how to navigate your social channels for different holidays, but we’ve got you sorted on where to start:

Yes, time is of the essence but …

• Make sure you still keep everything up to date.

• Stand out from the crowd.

• Don’t rush.

• Don’t leave any gaps or take shortcuts.

• Last but not least, research, research, research!!

Be serious about your community, work on your channels systematically, and don’t be afraid to get extra help. Remember it’s not over until the Easter bunny sings!

New Creative Options to Engage Audiences

Here are two creative techniques that you can pick to engage your audiences:

1. Reels: These are fun and short videos where you can add music, sticker overlays, effects and more. Reels are then recommended to customers that algorithms depict will be interested, thus reaching more users.

2. Branded Content: This allows businesses to work with influencers, altering the level of impact and expanding potential reach to new sectors. When a brand partners with a company or celebrity for example, the published content will appear on both channels, thus in theory doubling reach, creating an organic key audience to target.

The Benefits of a Larger Online Presence

• Adds context to your ads, making them cheaper, and more effective.

• Provides improved post and page insights, allowing you to better tailor marketing efforts.

• The perceived influence will increase and amp up your credibility factor.

When planning your marketing efforts, you can observe and table your campaigns to certain demographics, with the psychological data in your channels. This is much better than trying to guess your audience with broad targeting.

So, which one of these techniques do you think will add value to your online channels?

A) Share positive customer feedback

B) Post often about trending topics (peak the interest of Gen Z)

C)Answer every single comment on your posts in a timely manner

D) Schedule live video content and talk to your audience in real-time

The answer is in fact all the above! All need to be carefully taken into consideration when looking to successfully add value to your online channels.

Here are the last few things to consider, in order to help maximise your Ad performance, and ensure you deliver the best results during Easter. We recommend that you first check your Pixel and SDKs are working correctly, whether you are using a website or mobile app, it is essential to make sure your business is receiving the highest number of signals from Meta. This enables you to get the best possible delivery and performance. (You can do this by checking Events Manager)

We also recommend verifying that your conversion API is running and is up to date. This is because broader data today is not enhanced enough to get information about your customers, so using conversion API with your Pixel ensures that you receive maximum data from the people you interact with, and who interact with your business. It also allows Facebook to get directly into your server, boosting your Ad performance! It is important to make sure that you can handle the demand during the Easter holiday, skipping over this may affect your quality score.

Here are a few Ad formats and options that can help you achieve your goals:

Lead Gen – You’re eager to bring new people to your business but filling in forms after visiting a landing page can be difficult on mobile. Facebook Lead ads offer people an easy solution – they can simply tap your ad and fill out a form using their already pre-populated contact information on Meta. Easy Peasy.

Prospecting Campaign – The prospecting campaign is a Facebook ad campaign that reaches a wide audience and attracts people who are potentially interested in your business. These people may not have heard of your brand, so you’re trying to convert a cold audience into customers. In this instance, use every option available.

Solutions for Prospecting – Dynamic ads unite brand and direct response. Use multi-language and multi-country dynamic ads to localise key products, language and currency information by country.

So, what have we learnt? Well firstly, every successful campaign begins with clear ideas and planning, to ensure the best results are achieved. Ensure that your objectives align with your business to deliver an efficient campaign. It is also important to set realistic KPIs, this will help you to evaluate your existing digital channels, allowing you to build your strategy from a strong base, so you won’t feel overwhelmed or confused when you look at the reports.

To understand the benefits of a wider audience, always make sure that you are utilising the advanced options in the ad manager. Ask yourself, are you making use of your target audiences? (e.g. Women, Gen Z) Have you used all of your creative techniques to engage a new audience? (E.g. Reels, Branded Content). Lastly, ensure your company is cashing in on the abundance of chatter occurring in the days leading up to Easter, but most of all, enjoy preparing your Easter and Spring campaigns, your customers want to feel the joy!