Maximising Easter Sales: Strategies for Short-Duration Paid Social Campaigns

Easter is coming, and it's time to boost your sales! With just a few days to make an impact, we've got some great strategies to help you make the most of short-duration paid social campaigns. Let's look at how you can use social media advertising to increase sales and connect with customers during this fun holiday season.

Key Easter Marketing Insights for UK Businesses

• 69% of UK consumers plan to celebrate Easter in 2024
• Projected consumer spending: £17.9 billion (converted from $22.7 billion)
• 13% (£2.3 billion) of Easter spending expected online
• Start marketing campaigns 2 weeks before Easter!
• Use multi-channel approach: social media, email, and SMS
• Create Easter-themed content and promotions
• Optimise for mobile devices
• Segment audiences for personalised messaging
• Implement time-limited offers to create urgency

1. Campaign Structure

Create one conversion campaign and split your audience into three ad sets: Remarketing (people who've visited your website), Interest-based audiences, and Lookalike audience based on past purchasers. This helps you target different groups without overlap, making sure your message reaches the right people at the right time.

Ad set 1: Remarketing (i.e website visitors)
Ad set 2: Interest audiences
Ad set 3: Lookalike of purchase event

Add exclusions to avoid overlap, i.e website visitors from interest.

Initially, remarketing will be preferred as it’s most likely to convert – given that the user has already interacted.

Then what happens is the broader audiences are preferred, once enough data has come in to ‘paint a good picture’ of what a customer looks like to the algorithm.

This means you are likely to maximise volume which your remarketing audience can’t offer, while also covering off those who are ready to buy and have come to visit previously.

2. Tailored Messages & Address Buying Concerns

Create different messages for each audience to make sure your content connects with their specific interests and where they are in the customer journey.

This approach fine-tunes both your message and visuals to resonate with each group. It boosts engagement in two key ways:

• Acknowledging past interactions for remarketing audiences, reinforcing their connection to your brand.
• Sparking an emotional response in new audiences to stop the scroll and drive curiosity.

Use compelling copy and visuals to grab attention:

• Remarketing: Still looking for [product]?
• Interest Audiences: Struggling with [pain point]?
• Lookalike Audiences: Want to achieve [aspiration]?

Emotion alone isn’t enough—you also need to address key buying concerns. Once interest is sparked, shoppers will have questions like:

• Can I trust this company?
• How fast is delivery?
• Is there a payment option?
• What if I don’t like it?

Answer these upfront in your copy to remove doubts and support the decision-making process:

✔ Rated Excellent on Trustpilot
✔ Same-day dispatch before 12 PM
✔ Buy Now, Pay Later with Klarna
✔ 30-Day, No-Hassle Returns

Shoppers buy on emotion, then rationalise—make sure your ad covers both.

3. Trigger Emotions

That brings us to number three—triggering emotions. Think about ads that make people smile, spark excitement, or bring back warm Easter memories. You could use pictures of families celebrating together, show the joy of giving Easter gifts, or remind people of fun Easter traditions. When you connect with people's emotions, they're more likely to stop scrolling and pay attention to your ad.

4. Use Budget Optimisation

Enable budget optimisation at the campaign level to make your ad spend more efficient. This feature uses machine learning to distribute your budget across ad sets based on performance. It starts by giving more budget to remarketing, then learns and adjusts as it collects data on user behaviour and conversion patterns.

5. Create Urgency with Limited-Time Offers

Since Easter is a short holiday, make sure customers know your deals won't last long. Use phrases like "Easter weekend only!" or "Hop to it before it's gone!" to encourage quick decisions. You could use countdown timers, limited quantity alerts, or flash sales to create a sense of urgency.

6. Use Eye-Catching Easter Visuals

Make your ads stand out with bright, colourful Easter-themed images. Use pastel colours, cute bunnies, and decorated eggs to grab attention and put people in the Easter mood. You could also use short video clips or show your products in Easter-themed settings.

7. Optimise for Mobile

Optimising for mobile is essential for short-duration paid social campaigns during Easter sales, as most users engage with social media through their phones. With over 80% of social media ad revenue coming from mobile devices, ensuring a seamless experience is key to capturing impulse buyers. A slow-loading page, clunky checkout, or poorly formatted ad can lead to lost sales. Mobile-friendly creatives, fast-loading landing pages, and easy payment options like Apple Pay or Google Pay help maximise conversions during this time-sensitive period.

Use easy-to-read fonts, clear images, and buttons that are easy to tap. Test your checkout process on different mobile devices to make sure it's smooth and easy to use.

8. Test and Adjust Quickly

Keep a close eye on which ads are doing well and put more money behind those. If something's not working, don't be afraid to pause it and try something new. Set up tests for different ad designs, messages, and targeting options, and be ready to make changes based on what you learn.

9. Extend the Celebration

Consider running a "post-Easter" sale for a day or two after the holiday. This can help you catch any last-minute shoppers or people who want to buy discounted Easter items for next year. You could offer bundle deals on leftover Easter products or start a "Spring Refresh" campaign to move from Easter to general spring themes.

Wrapping Up Your Easter Sales Strategy

The key to a successful Easter campaign is thinking about your customers first. What do they want? What will make them excited to shop with you? By using these strategies and keeping your audience in mind, you can create a short but effective campaign that brings in big results.

Boost Easter Sales with Paid Social

Make the most of your Easter campaign with these paid social strategies:

• Targeted Ads – Run Easter-themed campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to reach the right audience.
• Carousel & Video Ads – Showcase multiple products or create eye-catching video content to grab attention.
• Lookalike Audiences – Find new customers similar to your best buyers and expand your reach.
• Influencer Partnerships – Collaborate with creators to promote your Easter offers through paid partnerships.
• Shoppable Posts & Ads – Make it easy for users to buy straight from their social feeds.