The Easter egg principle is simple: give your
most loyal customers a "first look" at what's to come by seeding it
in such a way that they'll only get the message if they are paying
attention.
Often, as marketers, we want to
hit people over the head with our message. We seem to want to make
sure that our audience is really, truly "getting it" by trying to
convince them, over and over again, that they need what it is we're
selling.
The Easter egg method allows us to take a more
subtle approach and seed details to the people that will be our
biggest and loudest supporters when the time comes to kick
marketing efforts into high gear.
The reason that a lot of
companies do not take a subtle approach when it comes to their
marketing is because they aren't leaving themselves enough time to
properly market what it is they are selling. Poor planning, rushing
to launch and building your product, service or creation in a
vacuum can all attribute to short lead times when it comes to
getting out into the marketplace.
Think about the ways in which you
can involve your best customers early on in your product and
service creation process. Perhaps you can invite them to test drive
your product or service or maybe you can send out a short survey to
only your existing customers. Or, maybe you take a more subtle
approach, like Bungie did, and simply drop a hint of what's to come
with no other accompanying details.
Once you've determined what
you'll be seeding, do it early on in the process. The earlier the
better, really. Don't worry about whether or not the idea is
perfectly polished or what you are sharing is in a perfect, little
box with a beautifully tied bow. Take a deep breath and release
that information early on and see what happens.
CHAPTER
ONE SUMMARY (TL;DR)
Be sure that the "first look" of your product, service or
creation goes out to the most devoted people in your audience base
so you can start to build momentum early on.