In 2022, spending on Easter reached 1.3 billion after breaking the billion mark back in 2020. Chocolate eggs took £415 million of that pot and the average spend for Easter was £26.85 per person (source Finder.com).
The facts are that three quarters of Brits will celebrate Easter and with many looking for quality time with family over piles of chocolate eggs, there’s a great opportunity to make this occasion work for your hospitality business.
Add in the bank holiday atmosphere and you’ve got 4 days of business potential to secure bookings from all kinds of customers… families, couples and friendship groups. Let’s take a look at some digital marketing ideas focused across these key groups.
Targeting families
To attract families, you’ll need to emphasise what your restaurant has to offer for both adults and children. Whilst the adults maybe more interested in your food offering, the children will be looking for activities to keep them busy. Start posting on your social about all the different elements of your Easter plans at least a month before the big day and keep posting right up to the last-minute.
- An Easter menu
Create a menu with an Easter twist by adding a special (anything with chocolate is always a hit) or bake fresh hot cross buns for your guests. Tell guests about your Easter menu via email and on your social channels – you can even ask them to choose between two special dishes you’re thinking of creating and then show them you’re listening by honouring their favourite choice.
- A traditional Easter egg hunt
If you have outdoor space then get all your younger guests together for an Easter egg hunt after lunch. Hide a mix of smaller mini eggs (make sure they’re wrapped) and bigger prizes. Hide some more obvious ones for smaller hands and then make some of them more difficult to find for the older children. Be sure to use social media and email to let customers know what time your hunt will be starting – that way they can plan their lunch around it.
Another great idea is to hire a photographer (or a member of staff) to take pictures of your Easter egg hunt to share on social media and use for your marketing next year. Just check with parents if they’re happy for their children to be pictured.
- Easter egg activities
Set aside a table or two for children to get crafty making Easter baskets, bonnets, egg decorating or colouring in for the smaller kids. You’ll need to assign a couple of members of staff to oversee the activities and, as always, talk about what you’ve got in store on social media – knowing that there’s dedicated activities for your children is a big deal for parents.
- A visit from the Easter bunny
We’re all used to seeing Santa pop-up in restaurants over Christmas but being greeted by the fluffy Easter bunny will be a big draw for little kids. Set up a photo opportunity with him at the entrance to the restaurant and encourage people to tag you when they share their photographs on social media (re-share of course).
Appealing to couples
Try splitting the day over the bank holiday to appeal to families at certain times and couples / friendship groups at different times. Couples may not want to spend an afternoon eating in the midst of a rowdy Easter egg hunt so bear that in mind when planning your events.
- An Easter brunch
On that note, think about creating a delicious Easter brunch with plenty of chocolate-themed additions, hot cross buns and decorated with spring flowers. Lay out a table full of your planned treats and take photographs to tease on your social channels.
- A good ol’ giveaway
We talked in-depth about the value of competitions and giveaways when growing your social media engagement in our Valentine’s Blog. Giving away a complimentary meal for 2 over Easter can help grow your following – particularly if the mechanic requires you to tag friends in the comments in order to win.
As we’ve outlined before, pick a random winner to make it fair and don’t forget to clearly outline the terms and conditions. Run the giveaway in the month running up to the big day and use the opportunity to share the details of your Easter plans.
- Create an Easter cocktail
Reveal a limited-edition, exclusive Easter cocktail – available for one weekend only. The obvious choice is to incorporate chocolate (chocolate martini anyone?) but you could also opt for a Spring theme with something fruity incorporating rhubarb, orange blossom or elderflower. Yum!
Take some pictures of your creation ahead of Easter and get people’s mouths watering before they even step through the door. Let people know all about it on your social channels and sporadically giveaway a handful of free cocktail vouchers.
Forever friends
Have a little Easter fun and appeal to groups of single friends with activities that are a little quirky and unusual.
- A boozy Easter egg hunt
Just because we’re adults, doesn’t mean that we don’t enjoy the things we loved as children. Stand out from your competitors and set up an Easter egg hunt but make it boozy with a mix of delicious alcoholic treats, miniature bottles of spirits and a big bottle of fizz for one lucky person. It goes without saying that you should shout about your event on social media and to your email database well ahead of time!
- A digital Easter egg hunt
This idea is quick and easy with a prize that everyone wants. Create a simple competition mechanic and ask people to search through your social media posts to find the hidden Easter eggs. Go back to posts since the start of the year (or further depending on how often you post) and use the edit functionality to randomly add Easter egg emojis. Don’t make it too easy! The first person to accurately find the right number of Easter eggs wins a meal for 4 people.
Again, clearly outline the terms and conditions and keep an eye on the post to announce the winner as soon as someone correctly finds every Easter egg.
- A hop festival!
If you’re a cask ale specialist or focused on craft beers then plan an Easter hops fest for grown-ups with all things ale. This can be as simple as adding some new beers for the Easter weekend and discounting customer favourites to creating a bigger event with tastings, food or planning a full menu with your favourite brewery. Get creative and share, share, share… you’d be hopping mad not to! *cringe*
Track and evaluate your marketing activity
We’ve said it before but that’s because tracking and evaluating your activity is vital – particularly if you want to improve on your digital marketing plans next year.
Track your traffic using this UTM builder and identify which channels, posts and assets have captured the minds (and pockets) of your audience.
Need our help with your digital marketing for Easter?
If you’ve read all of our digital marketing blogs about the hospitality industry but you’re not finding the time or inspiration to adopt the ideas then worry not, we can help. Our team has years of knowledge and expertise in delivering effective digital marketing campaigns and we’re happy to help. Please get in touch and let us show you what we can do!