Every year, April Fools’ Day is celebrated on April 1st by people all around the world. A day filled with pranks, hoaxes, and jokes galore, it’s also become an opportunity for brands to add some humor to their marketing efforts, particularly on social media.
If you’re looking for ways to make your followers smile this April Fools’ Day, here are some entertaining (and tasteful) ideas for your social networks.
April Fools’ social media posts
Whether you want to find Facebook post ideas, Instagram post ideas, or content for other networks like Twitter, YouTube, or TikTok, get inspired for your future April Fools’ Day marketing campaigns on social media with these amusing tactics.
1. Release a fake product or service
A common prank you’ll see at this time of year is brands releasing a “new” product or service. This April Fools’ marketing idea can easily be adapted to nearly any business, no matter what you sell. Design a realistic ad in the form of an image or a video to publicize your newest release.
Be careful, though—you don’t want to make your “new” release sound so amazing that your followers will be sorely disappointed when they realize that it’s just a joke!
In this example with Starbucks, the coffeehouse chain announces its newest group of stores, Pupbucks, designed to accommodate canine customers. In a video catering to the dog-loving members of the chain’s target market, an employee describes her experience working at one of the Pupbucks stores.
2. Advertise a promotion
April Fools’ Day doesn’t have to be all about joking around. If you’re not certain if your customers would appreciate hijinks on your social media or if you simply want to thank them for their loyalty, consider creating a promotion. You’ll find that announcing a real sale or other special offer is perfect for celebrating the day in a way that your customers are likely to appreciate.
Keep in mind that shoppers are going to be expecting hoaxes on April 1st, so just remember to make it clear that the promotion is indeed real and not a joke. Including a phrase like “No joke: we really are giving you 25% off everything today!” can help get the message across while keeping your post on theme.
3. Run a contest or giveaway
Want to add some extra fun to April Fools’ Day for your followers? Run a contest or giveaway to delight users and boost your engagement rate!
Ask your followers to chime in with their best ideas on what to name your “new” fake product, send in their cheesiest jokes, or play a game that you’ve created specifically for the occasion. Gift the winner(s) with a free item or a generous discount on their next purchase from your online store.
4. Redesign your logo
If you’re in need of a quick and easy way to prank your followers on social media, consider giving your logo a temporary redesign. Change your brand colors, use clip art, create a new slogan…feel free to let your creativity go wild! To fool as many people as possible, be sure to go all out and add your redesigned logo to your website as well as all of your social networks.
In this example from Tiffany & Co., the jewelry company turned to Instagram to announce that the brand’s color would no longer be the iconic “Tiffany blue” but instead a bright golden yellow.
5. Make an April Fools’ Day video
When it comes to social media, videos are becoming increasingly popular over content featuring, for example, just a pic or some text. Satisfy their craving for this type of content by making an amusing April Fools’ Day video for your followers.
It might include a compilation of your favorite hoaxes, show your brand participating in a prank to fool your audience, or entail you just wishing viewers a Happy April Fools’ Day. Feel free to get creative with this kind of post for social media marketing, as it can be as simple or as intricate as you like!
6. Share an untrue “fun fact” about your business
Another post idea that’s easy to implement for April Fools’ Day is to share a fact about your business that’s actually not true at all. Possible ways to go about this include inventing a story about the origins of your store’s name, describing outrageous products you’d previously considered selling, or spinning a personal tale about your experience as an entrepreneur.
You could alternatively take inspiration from the “Two Truths and a Lie” game and mention two true facts about your business along with one lie. Then, ask people to guess in the comments which fact is the lie.
7. Create a game
Creating a game for your followers on April Fools’ Day may take a little bit more time, but it’ll be well worth the effort if it’s designed in a way to increase engagement with your brand. Social media users love posts that contain interactive elements and offer an entertaining, unique experience. As with any of the content you create, your game can be really simple or more involved; it all depends on what you think the people in your target market will enjoy the most!
For inspiration, check out this creative approach that Google took for April Fools’ Day in 2018. The company launched an interactive adventure involving Waldo and the use of Google Assistant and Google Maps.
Join Waldo on an amazing adventure with @googlemaps! To start the perplexing pursuit, ask your Google Assistant “#HeyGoogle, Where’s Waldo?” \u2192 https://t.co/6A9u5ZMo1O pic.twitter.com/sjnLkbUJom
— Google (@Google) March 31, 2018
8. Ask your followers to share their favorite April Fools’ Day pranks
Even if you don’t want to participate in any hijinks yourself, you can still get into the fun spirit of April Fools’ Day by asking your followers to discuss their favorite pranks they’ve experienced on April 1st—either as pranksters themselves or those on the receiving end!
Create a themed hashtag to make it easy to track your users’ contributions and consider turning it into a contest, with the best prank winning a prize. This is also an easy way to gather lots of user-generated content (UGC) that you can promote on your various social media pages.
9. Post a simple graphic
When it comes to your marketing efforts, note that there’s no need to launch super elaborate campaigns to be successful. Sometimes focusing on simplicity is actually going to be your best bet!
This April 1st, think about posting a simple graphic or pic accompanied by a brief caption wishing your customers a Happy April Fools’ Day.
Feel like your design skills are a bit lacking? Don’t hesitate to avail of a tool like Canva, where you’ll find a variety of templates to help you design a professional, visually appealing image with a bit of text.
How to be successful with your social media posts for April Fools’ Day
Ready to get started with your humor-filled social media marketing campaigns for April Fools’ Day? Before you do, here are a few tips to help boost your chances of success.
Know your audience
April Fools’ Day is a great time to let your hair down and show off your lighthearted side. However, it’s important to keep in mind that your target market may not necessarily share your humor. Just like with any of your other marketing actions you take, such as when you’re brainstorming Christmas social media post ideas, you’ll need to have a good understanding of your audience when creating content to share on your social networks for April 1st.
Stay on brand, and avoid sharing content that’s vastly different in tone from that of what you’d normally post. Regardless of what your business sells, you’ll likely be able to get in on the April Fools’ Day fun. It just might take a bit of creativity and brainstorming to ensure that your content resonates with your followers.
Include April Fools’ Day hashtags
When it comes to social media marketing, hashtags can be very helpful for boosting engagement on your posts. They allow you to easily provide additional information about your content’s context and increase the visibility of your posts. Furthermore, adding hashtags allows you to group posts together via a single link, which is beneficial for all kinds of promotional campaigns you might launch, particularly for contests or giveaways.
Including hashtags with your April Fools’ Day posts is a great way to maximize your reach and the effectiveness of your campaigns. Branded hashtags or general hashtags for the celebration… It’s up to you!
Have fun!
April Fools’ Day is meant to be a day to lighten up and enjoy some good humor. There’s no need to go crazy trying to think of the most exciting campaign or go overboard with your social media posts.
Enjoy coming up with your strategy, and when in doubt, aim to keep your posts simple and engaging. You likely already have a great idea of what kinds of content your customers usually appreciate, so keep that in mind when working on your campaigns for April 1st. Use the ideas mentioned in this list as templates for your marketing efforts, and put your own spin on them to suit your brand and your customers!
