Seasonal products have their challenges. How do brands re-ignite buzz for a product that never crosses people’s minds during most of the year? This Easter, we look at how Peeps, the sugar-coated marshmallowy icon of American Easter, uses social media to create massive buzz leading up to the holiday.

It’s that time of year! Easter is just a day a way, and here in the States, Easter and Peeps are almost synonymous. Children and adults nationwide associate Easter with the fluffy marshmallow treats we call Peeps. You may love them (or hate them) but somehow an Easter basket isn’t complete without a box of peeps.

For a brand like Peeps, marketing can be a challenge. After all, when a product is only bought once a year, you have to be creative to get the hype back into your product. Social media is a natural tool to aid in that strategy, and Peeps uses it with aplomb. We decided to use our own tools to look at how Peeps is using Facebook this Easter to build holiday buzz for the brand.

Gaining Back Popularity

Most of us don’t think about Peeps during the majority of the year, so how do peeps remind us of their existence when Easter rolls around? We used Skyttle Friends Facebook Analytics to tell the story.

First, take a look at Peeps’ wall posts and comments over time:

The beginning of winter is pretty dead, but in March, the excitement and volumes of conversation start to build and evolve. Where did this conversation come from?

Peeps are using creative ways to lure people back into the conversation, such as a sweepstakes offer to “win great Peeps prizes”.  The contest can only be entered by people who like Peeps’ Facebook Page, so they are able to gain a bigger fan base quickly by approaching it this way.  From there, fans can enter the contest and get involved with Peeps-related conversation while they’re at it.

There are many ways to get sudden and quick engagement like this, and the Peeps sweepstakes is doing the trick.  People are chiming in with their favorite types of Peeps, looking for details on the contest, telling stories, and engaging with each other. It definitely gets people in the Easter spirit and promotes their brand at the time they need it most.

Using Contests to Build Positive Sentiment

Sentiment is very positive right now for Peeps.  Take a glance at the positive keywords taken from fan conversation: “Best”, “Love”, “Like”, “Cute”, “Yum”, “Win”…It’s all looking really good for Peeps so far this year.

Whether it’s a contest, special deal, or something similar, seasonal products need to be able to find ways to re-engage their customers. Peeps is a prime example of a once-a-year product that has managed to use a solid Facebook strategy to grow their fan base and get people talking again.  With more conversation happening surrounding their brand, this means more people will have Peeps on their mind as they go shopping this Easter.

What do you think are the best ways to get customers back in the swing of things when you are dealing with a seasonal product?  Do you think Peeps’ strategy works?  We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

We here at Market Sentinel hope you all have a wonderful Easter!  Peeps or no Peeps, we all need to find a way to get into the spirit of spring.  Enjoy!