6 Ways to Make the Most of Small Business Saturday

Since its creation in 2010, Small Business Saturday has steadily grown as a national initiative. Today, business owners, community leaders, non-profit organizations, and everyday citizens in all 50 states come together the Saturday after Thanksgiving to boost their local economies and strengthen their communities.

In 2016, small business owners generated an estimated $15.4 billion dollars on Small Business Saturday alone. This year, Small Business Saturday falls on November 25th. Is your business ready to take advantage of this growing movement?

Here are six ways you can make the most of Small Business Saturday this year!

Create Official Small Business Saturday Marketing Materials

American Express, the creator and official sponsor of Small Business Saturday, is offering a free Shop Small® Studio tool on their website, which allows you to create your own customized marketing graphics. Take advantage of this feature to create signage that advertises your business’s participation.

Print flyers to post locally and at your business, and download high-quality graphics to share on your website and social media profiles. Using a large graphic as your Facebook cover photo is a good way to ensure that everyone who visits your profile will see that you are participating in Small Business Saturday.

Make a Facebook Event

In addition to sharing your participation with your social media followers, you should also create a public Facebook event with the date, time, and location that your sale or event will be taking place. Facebook events tend to generate a lot of interest, even from people who do not already follow you on the platform. Creating and promoting an event on Facebook is free and may even gain you some new followers.

Team Up with Another Business

If you have a good relationship with another non-competing small business in your area, consider joining forces for Small Business Saturday. If you own a small retail shop, you could give your customers coupons for a free appetizer at the local diner, while the diner could give their customers a coupon for savings at your store.

Doing so could help both businesses drive customers to one another. Online businesses can also use this strategy by including a coupon for another business in the order confirmation e-mail that a customer receives after making a purchase.

Offer Deep Discounts

In order to compete with the savings that customers expect from large retailers on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you’ll need to offer discounts greater than 10%. You may also couple or supplement this with free items or coupons for future purchases. For online retailers, offering free shipping is a must on Small Business Saturday.

Make It a Community Event

Turn your Small Business Saturday sale into a fun community event for locals. You can provide light refreshments and musical entertainment, host raffles, and take up a collection of needed items for a local food bank or shelter. Add a festive backdrop to one wall with some fun photobooth props and set up a selfie station for more exposure on social media. Don’t forget the hashtag!

Extend Your Hours

Between the midnight openings on Black Friday and the 24-hour shopping available on the internet, your customers expect to be able to do their holiday shipping when it is convenient for them. For Small Business Saturday, open earlier and close later than usual to gain some new customers who may otherwise pass you by.

These tips will help you spread the word about your business, meet new customers, and kick off the holiday sales season by creating a sense of community. For extra peace of mind during this busy time, make sure you have all of the right insurance coverages in place—contact us for a quote today!