5 Internet Easter Eggs Hidden By Your Favorite Websites

The post 5 Internet Easter Eggs Hidden By Your Favorite Websites appeared first on HostGator Blog . 5 of Our Favorite Easter Eggs Hidden on the Internet Easter egg hunts aren’t just offline. When it comes to having fun, there’s enough room to spread the excitement online. But in a different way. In this case, Easter eggs are hidden messages or secret features embedded in your favorite products or websites. Some are easy to spot, while others will have you doing a little research to find them. “Easter eggs are fun and produce a ‘WOW’ effect. This delight forms a memorable connection between the brand and its users through a shared understanding not privy to everyone,” writes Ryan Hoover , founder of ProductHunt. Join the fun and make brand-specific secret messages for your consumers. Get inspired to create your own Easter eggs with these five examples below. 1. Coca-Cola Traditional Easter egg hunts are all about creating memories with your family and friends. On a Saturday afternoon, you get together to find treasures hidden around your yard or in the community. That hunt brings you joy and inspires you to keep searching for the concealed egg. When it comes to online Easter eggs, the same principle holds true. Your goal is to recreate a setting where consumers can locate undisclosed messages. Before you start developing a full-blown plan, it’s important to note that your Easter egg doesn’t have to be elaborate. Don’t try to build an entire treasure map for your consumers. Keep it simple. You can aim to place messages in unlikely places. Sometimes the obvious is harder for people to find. For instance, Coca-Cola designed their logo within their website’s source code. It’s a unique way to brand themselves. Plus, it’s a neat way to hide an Easter egg in (almost) plain sight. Use your existing resources to create special Easter eggs for your followers. Create a secret code with your tweets, or place odd images around your site. Your business can bring the tradition of the Easter egg hunt online. Work with your team to brainstorm ideas that match your consumers’ interests.   2. Google Easter egg hunts offline aren’t always about the actual hunt. If you participate in a community gathering, you usually get opportunities to participate in other activities. There’s the musical chairs game, the face painting by local artists, and the photos with a big bunny. These interactive experiences become etched in people’s memories, and they love sharing these happenings with others. In a similar way, your online Easter egg should be a shareable moment. You want consumers excited to tell their friends about it (or at least give their friends clues to find it on their own). That’s why Google’s word search is so cool. When users search for the word “askew,” the page actually demonstrates the word’s definition. The page slightly tilts. Try it and see it for yourself! Are there ways for your team to hide Easter eggs in your product? Can you tweak your code to perform a specific action? These types of Easter eggs add relevancy to your product. It shows your brand’s personality and that you can have fun with your customers. Moreover, it gives your fans a shareable moment. They will feel inclined to tell your latest secret to others—meaning more audience engagement for your brand.   3. Buzzfeed Nostalgia is big business these days. From retailers to television networks, companies are rekindling the past for their consumers. These brand campaigns trigger the good ol’ days. Taking a trip down memory lane can lead fans to think about their first crush or their first school award. The brand’s main objective is to attach that consumer’s joyous feeling with their product. Lisa Hephner , vice president of knowledge at PaySimple, offers her take on the subject: “Just remember, the key to a successful Easter Egg campaign (as with a successful Easter Egg confection) is to leave a good taste in your customers’ mouths that will not only strengthen their loyalty to your brand, but will also encourage them to share their experience, and high opinion of your company, with others.” The Konami Code is a cheat code that appeared in 1980s video games. By pressing the sequence [up,up,down,down,left,right,left,right, B, A] on the game controller, users could enable a cheat or other effects. BuzzFeed brought the nostalgia of this cheat code to life. To access their Easter egg, visitors must type the code on their keyboards. Go ahead and try it now! It’s your turn to give consumers the chance to reminisce. Explore your options to lean on nostalgia for your next Easter egg.   4. Black Acre Brewing Co. While Easter eggs reveal secret messages, you also may approach it as a way to joke with your customers. It’s another opportunity to spotlight the human side of your brand. Whether it’s on Twitter or a commercial, companies are designing unique ways to add humor to the customer experience. There’s the fast food chain Wendy’s roasting their followers and competitors . And then there’s the candy bar Snickers with their “hangry” campaign . Humor lightens the mood. It’s a vehicle to draw awareness to your brand. So sprinkling a few jokes or comedic moments in your Easter eggs makes sense. Check out Black Acre Brewing Co.’s Easter egg. When prompted about age, visitors have two options: I Am Under 21 or I Am 21 Or Older. By selecting the former option, viewers get entertained by a dancing He-Man loop. Be careful about how you insert humor into your Easter egg campaigns. Stay away from controversial topics, like religion and politics. You want nice, family-friendly comedy. Ready to get some laughs? Start writing down your best jokes for your Easter eggs.   5. Google Images The foundation of Easter egg hunts centers around fun. You want people to appreciate the games and gain excitement. In business, we refer to this journey as the customer experience . Companies strive every day to develop campaigns to satisfy their audience’s needs. When proposing ideas for your Easter eggs, step into the customer’s mindset. Think about building an experience that will delight them. You may even need to build an entirely new feature from scratch! Google Images highlights this approach with their hidden game. If you type “Atari Breakout” into the image search bar, the game pops up for you to play. Whether your Easter egg hunt is difficult or easy, you want the reward to be worth it. Olsy Sorokina , a contributor to the HootSuite blog, agrees: “A big reason behind the Internet Easter eggs’ appeal is the same one that drives kids to search for painted eggs and candy—the thrill of the hunt, and the reward that comes at the end.” Make your Easter egg an integral part of your customer experience. If you got the resources, build something new for fans to play.   More Fun Online Who said Easter egg hunts were only for kids? You can create online fun for consumers of all ages. Write a hidden message in your website code. Tweak your product to perform a secret action. Or develop a new game for your audience. Create your own adventure. Happy hunting! Find the post on the HostGator Blog