Social media contacts are changing the way many Mount Maunganui and Tauranga small businesses use the Easter trading customer spike.

Before the internet Easter was the last opportunity to get good turnover before winter, but now holiday breaks like Easter provide an opportunity for businesses to make a connection with their customers - which doesn't have to end when they leave town.

Krista and Timothy are turning holiday weekend contacts into regular customers. Photo: Supplied.

'There are many examples of small and medium businesses right across the country thriving with the help of successful web and social media strategy making them accessible from anywhere, at anytime,” says small business communications manager for Spark, Sally Gordon.

'If you think about it, this really encapsulates the Kiwi innovation mentality. We are a nation of entrepreneurs, so geographical location shouldn't be a barrier to success.”

Qrious insights, which are based on anonymised, aggregated customer data, shows that over Easter weekend in 2015 the Bay of Plenty had an additional 33,560 visitors from the three main centres - Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

During Easter 2015 Tauranga experienced a 62 per cent spike in daily mobile data usage.

Visitors from outside the region provide an opportunity for the owners of Mt Maunganui based design store Paper Plane, Timothy John and Krista Plews, to make a lasting impression.

'Mt Maunganui is a popular hotspot so the new number of new faces to Paper Plane increases significantly over Easter,” says Krista. 'This is a time where our physical store really flourishes.

'It's a great opportunity for us to promote our online store during the long weekend which customers can then access from any location at anytime, helping us to maintain and build our relationships with these customers.”

When Krista and husband Timothy John set up shop three years ago, they teamed up with Spark to develop a business plan.

When they opened the shop doors they also opened their online store.

'It was important for us right from the beginning to be accessible from any location at any time, to make the most of the initial interest in Paper Plane.

'Social media is the most powerful web-based tool that we have. It's an extremely successful platform to network directly with customers, creative talent and press. We've created and continue to build a strong sense of community, which results in customer loyalty, an ever-broadening customer reach and endless marketing opportunities.”

As Kiwi's prepare to head away for the 2016 Easter break, small business in regions around the country can use that insight to help grow business.

Qrious insight from 2015 shows across the country the most popular holiday hotspots, defined by Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs), were Waikato, Northland, Coromandel and South Canterbury.