The annual holiday shopping event puts small businesses across America front and center to celebrate the contribution of small businesses towards local economies and job creation. Sandwiched between Black Friday and Cyber Monday Small Business Saturday takes place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to encourage people to ‘Shop Small’ instead of making purchases at big box stores and e-commerce stores.
If you’re a small business owner or a small business supporter and want to know more about Small Business Saturday here are some insights on how you can encourage shopping locally.
When is Small Business Saturday?
Small Business Saturday aims to motivate consumers to shop at small and local independent retailers, local restaurants, and other independent businesses in their communities. This event began in 2010, initiated by American Express to assist small businesses impacted by the recession. Over the years, it has evolved into a prominent annual holiday shopping event co-sponsored by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Small Business Coalition, which consists of non-profit trade groups, public officials, and municipalities.
How to Sign Up for Small Business Saturday
If you are a small business owner, you don’t need to register with any organization to participate in Small Business Saturday. To participate in Small Business Saturday is easy. All you have to do is follow these simple steps:
First register on American Express’ merchant profile submit your business’s Employer Identification Number (EIN) and become part of the Shop Small campaign. This helps you to access some great valuable resources for local small businesses to make the best of the shopping holiday.
Add your business to the AmericanExpress Shop Small Map so shoppers can easily locate you. Successful small businesses that qualify for American Express services will not only appear on the online map but will also be listed for free in the small business online directory.
There is also an option for people to partake in Small Business Saturday for non-retailers where they can become a Neighborhood champions. Neighborhood champions take charge of organizing local events or promotions to encourage people and businesses about Small Business Saturday in your community.
Ways to Prepare for and Make the Most Out of Small Business Saturday
Small Business Saturday is focused on promoting the idea of shopping small, urging customers to support local businesses during the holiday season. Whether you are new to Small Business Saturday or have participated before, here are ten Small Business Saturday ideas that can help you maximize your impact this year on Small Business Saturday.
Extend Your Opening Hours
Because Small Business Saturday falls smack in between the holiday shopping season, you will need to draw customers to your business or shop to capitalize on the event. Besides promoting the vent and your products and services, you will need to extend both your opening and closing hours. This will help encourage people to shop longer and make as many purchases as possible.
Create a Tempting Offer or Discount
Holiday shopping focuses on attracting as many customers to your store as possible. By offering exclusive deals, discounts, in-store events, and promotions, you can motivate both existing and new customers to increase their purchases.
Host an Event and Collaborate with Other Small Businesses
You can make the best of the shopping holiday by hosting an event in your store or collaborating with other small businesses to not only inform clients of the event but also encourage support for small businesses.
Prepare Your Website for Increased Traffic
During this season lots of potential customers will be going online to research purchases and weigh offerings by businesses. One of the ways customers will research is through the world wide web make sure that you have tweaked your landing page with holiday-specific content including special offerings to let customers know what you are offering.
Stock Up
Successful small businesses understand that the holiday season brings a surge in shopping activity. There’s nothing worse than running out of stock and having to turn customers away. To prevent lost sales, ensure that your store is well-stocked ahead of the holiday season and that you have ample quantities of your bestsellers available.
Support Other Small Business Owners Events
Small Business Saturday is all about showing solidarity to local small businesses and helping them thrive. As a small business owner, you should consider offering goodwill to fellow small businesses by supporting small business Saturday events.
Use Social Media to Advertise
Social media is the new word of mouth where customers search for products, discover products, and read reviews. Social media is one of the best ways to connect with your audience and drive traffic to your website and ultimately your shop. You can boost your social media marketing campaign by posting offers and promotions as well as advertising on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
Create Offline Local Ads
Don’t forget Small Business Saturday is all about shopping locally. You as a local business should also reach out to customers through local papers ads, flyers, posters, and billboards.
Send a Small Business Saturday Email Series
If you have an email list of clients then you should think about launching an email series to reach out to clients and inform them of special offers. This includes your working hours, whether you offer deliveries while also sending them your holiday greetings.
Host a Giveaway
Offering your customers gifts shows that you appreciate their patronage. This can go a long way towards building long-term relationships with your clients that keep them returning to your business, year in, year out. Consider offering samples, tokens, and freebies to add to the holiday spirit.
Create or Download Small Business Saturday Images
You can create your own Small Business Saturday marketing materials for the event. If you’re unsure how to develop your own, there are pre-designed Shop Small downloadable resources and free campaign signs available for download at no cost. Additionally, you can visit American Express’ Shop Small Studio to access more downloadable posters, social media posts, and other resources that can help promote your business and the holiday shopping event.
How to Use the Small Business Saturday Logo
All marketing materials for Small Business Saturday from American Express are provided at no cost. AMEX also offers guidelines on how to properly use the Small Business Saturday logo.
Image: Depositphotos
This article, "Small Business Saturday: What You Need to Know" was first published on Small Business Trends
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