Easter Egg Marketing Approach
Spread marketing across owned and borrowed channels to reduce platform risk.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 96%
The Easter Egg Marketing Approach treats a business as a basket that should contain several independent routes to attention and customer contact. Social networks remain useful, but their primary role is to move people toward assets the business controls, especially its website, blog, customer data, and email list. The business then adds other appropriate discovery channels, such as video, search, or professional networks, without making any one of them indispensable. Content can be adapted and distributed across this portfolio rather than confined to a single feed. If one platform becomes unavailable, changes its algorithm, or removes access to followers, the remaining channels continue generating communication and demand. The output is a more resilient marketing system with less dependence on external platform owners.
Origin
Jasmine Star named the approach while discussing the widespread business panic caused by a Facebook and Instagram outage. Extracted from The Jasmine Star Show.
Core principles
- 01Treat social networks as traffic sources, not permanent assets.
- 02Build direct access to customers through owned channels.
- 03Distribute content across multiple relevant platforms.
- 04Avoid letting one algorithm or outage control the business.
- 05Maintain each channel before a disruption occurs.
How to run it
- 1
Inventory Your Channels
Document every place where the business attracts, communicates with, and converts its audience. Identify which channels belong to the business and which are controlled by third parties.
Pro tip Include customer data, the website, blog, newsletter, search channels, and every active social account.
Watch out A large follower count does not mean the business owns access to those followers.
- 2
Establish Owned Foundations
Keep the website current and create a reliable mechanism for collecting customer email addresses. These assets provide direct access that is not tied to a social platform.
Pro tip Give each social profile a clear route to an owned landing page.
Watch out Do not confuse an account on another company's platform with an owned business asset.
- 3
Choose Complementary Channels
Select several channels that suit the audience and the business's capacity. Use each one as another route through which people can discover the brand.
Pro tip Prefer channels with different discovery mechanisms so that one algorithm change does not affect all of them.
Watch out Opening many neglected accounts creates activity without meaningful diversification.
- 4
Distribute Strategically
Adapt valuable content for multiple channels and connect those pieces back to owned assets. Preserve the core idea while matching each platform's format.
Pro tip Build repurposing into the publishing workflow instead of recreating every asset from scratch.
Watch out Avoid copying content mechanically when a platform requires a different context or presentation.
- 5
Test Resilience
Ask what would happen if the largest external channel disappeared today. Strengthen alternative paths until communication and sales could continue without it.
Pro tip Review channel concentration after every major campaign.
Watch out Do not wait for an outage or suspension before creating backup routes to the audience.
In the wild
A consultant receives nearly all inquiries through Instagram. She begins publishing searchable articles on her website, offers an email resource, adapts each article into LinkedIn posts and short videos, and sends a weekly newsletter. When Instagram later experiences an outage, prospects can still find her through search, LinkedIn, and their inboxes.
→ The consultant retains direct audience access and continues receiving inquiries during the outage.
Common mistakes
Mistaking Followers for Customer Data
Followers are accessible only under the platform's rules. Move interested people toward an owned list rather than assuming follower access is permanent.
Spreading Effort Without Strategy
Diversification does not mean maintaining every available network. Choose channels that serve distinct purposes and can be supported consistently.
Keeping Content Trapped on Social Media
Publishing only on borrowed platforms leaves valuable material exposed to platform disruption. Preserve and reuse it on channels the business controls.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for creators and digital businesses that currently acquire most customers through one social network.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for teams that lack the capacity to maintain multiple channels consistently.
From the transcript
“I call it an Easter egg approach.”
“I want to fill up my Easter basket, AKA my business with a lot of different avenues and ways to be promoting and marketing my…”
“These platforms are meant to drive traffic to my platforms.”
From the episode
How To Build A Business Without Facebook or Instagram