Is Your Business Ready for Small Business Saturday?

Is your business ready for Small Business Saturday?

Or, perhaps more to the point, is your business seizing the chance presented by Small Business Saturday to bring in new customers, generate more sales and raise awareness of your brand? If not, you may be missing out on a great opportunity.

If Small Business Saturday isn’t on your radar, that’s understandable. Though it’s been around—less than a decade old—the event still is overshadowed by much more famous neighbors, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

But that’s kind of the point, too: Since those larger, better-known shopping events focus on the mega-sales held by multibillion-dollar big box retailers, Small Business Saturday—sandwiched right between them, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving—represents the chance for smaller companies to benefit from the nationwide shopping spree.

What Is Small Business Saturday?

source: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/shop-small/promote.

It should be noted that Small Business Saturday is a registered trademark of American Express. And, while it does serve as promotion for that company, it was also created in collaboration with a nonprofit national trust and the city of Boston. Today, it’s taken on a life of its own; like Amazon Prime Day, it now extends far beyond the company where it originated.

Small Business Saturday is promoted in a way that legitimately benefits smaller companies and their communities. American Express buys extensive advertising on Facebook and other social media sites, helps promote community-based events and offers rebates given to customers who use AmEx to shop with local businesses.

Similarly, politicians and city councils are increasingly seizing on the opportunity to promote local businesses in their district. On a weekend when Americans are largely focused on shopping, this has significantly raised the profile of small businesses.

The idea is to let communities know the importance of shopping locally at a time when the big box retailers tend to grab most of their dollars. And today more than ever before, that message resonates with shoppers: According to Moody on the Market, 69% of shoppers prefer to support local retailers when they can.

“69% of shoppers prefer to support local retailers when they can.” Click To Tweet

How to Promote Your Business on Small Business Saturday

The most effective way to benefit from Small Business Saturday is by holding a sale or marketing promotion.
Source: www.shutterstock.com.

All of this amounts to a variety of opportunities for small businesses to gain new customers. For its part, American Express offers a comprehensive list of suggestions and customizable materials to help you promote your business on Small Business Saturday, which you can access here.

The most effective way to benefit from Small Business Saturday is by holding a sale or marketing promotion. If possible, consider making it your biggest of the year, to align with the expectations of Black Friday. Get the word out with marketing promotions, such as local flyers or ads in your city’s newspaper or regionally focused online news site.

Online promotion is a necessity, too, even if you don’t hold a specific Small Business Saturday sale. There’s no better time of year to promote your business online: The post-Thanksgiving weekend is one of intense focus on social media, with shoppers seeking out sales wherever they can. You can seize some of that traffic by using the hashtag #SmallBusinessSaturday on social media (especially Twitter).

Another useful tactic is to attend or even sponsor local, community-based events. It’s a weekend when many people are out and about, whether shopping or visiting friends and family, giving you plenty of changes to grab their attention. Consider setting up a booth at a local festival or investing in a pop-up version of your store in a highly trafficked area (say, the local mall).

And if your community doesn’t have any events scheduled for that weekend, network with potential allies in your community—including other business and local organizations like the Chamber of Commerce—to set one up. Plan an event, including a block party, parade or street fair, complete with games, food and prizes. Enlist the help of a locally known guest speaker or set up live music.

Need Help with Your Small Business Saturday Promotion? We Can Help.

If you need help implementing Small Business Saturday Promotion for your business, we can help.
Source: www.shutterstock.com.

If you need help implementing any of these methods for promoting your business—setting up marketing promotions, say, along with an effective communications strategy to support them—it may be time to seek the assistance of a partner who can help you get the most out of this unique opportunity.

Enlisting the help of a business-growth solutions provider helps make sure you have the personnel and the marketing savvy to get the word out about any special promotions. It also gives you access to the technical expertise to make sure it comes off without a hitch, without having to worry about technical errors like network outages or an online shopping cart crash in the middle of a big sale.

Even for small businesses, this is a cost-effective way to extend your sales and marketing reach without breaking your budget. It’s also a great way to ensure that you always have enough quality call center agents—not temps, but skilled and motivated agents—standing by to meet customer demand during the year’s most hectic shopping season.

Pro Tip: How to Manage Retail Seasonality with a Flexible Workforce

Don’t Wait. Small Business Saturday Is Almost Here.

Small Business Saturday is designed to encourage shoppers to keep it local, and that’s an opportunity smaller companies shouldn’t ignore. And we can help you optimize your business for growth on a year-round basis.