In order to leverage the excitement of Small Business Saturday to facilitate your business goals, you have to promote your business! Whether you’re only able to make a last minute effort or have the ability to run a detailed campaign, there are opportunities for every business on Small Business Saturday. Here are some Small Business Saturday ideas to help you make the most out of the day.
Get Listed
The first thing you should do is make sure your business can get found by shoppers on Small Business Saturday. Update your online listings in popular directories like Google My Business, Facebook. and Yelp to make sure you show up for relevant searches. Your Google My Business listing is of the utmost importance here—take the time to optimize your GMB listing; it’s worth it.
Small Business Saturday Offers
Small Business Saturday is all about celebrating small business, but in order to stand out above your competitors and grab the attention of overstimulated shoppers, you’ll need an attractive offer. Some basic ideas for offers on Small Business Saturday include:
- Discounts for same day appointments.
- Bundle services into packages and offer them at a discounted rate.
- Create holiday gifts out of products or services
- Free gift with purchase.
- Discount for signing up for blog, newsletter, or providing contact information.
- Purchases come with a coupon for holiday services.
Your Small Business Saturday offer can serve many purposes and support many business goals. It can be:
- Given out on that day to attract customers.
- Revealed beforehand on social media to increase engagement on social media.
- Redeemed later on to encourage return customers.
Small Business Saturday Events
Another idea for promoting your business on Small Business Saturday is to run an event. Even if your focus is around celebrating your small business, you should still include an offer that incentivizes customers to attend.
If you have a brick and mortar location, here is an idea:
- Host an open house at your business with free cake— everyone loves cake! Ask people to sign in with their email address and name, so you can stay in touch with leads and announce future business promotions.
If you don’t have a brick and mortar location, you can still host an event if your office accommodates people. If this is your slow season you might even consider offering a discount for advance purchases. For example:
- Partner with a local business to offer chair massages to shoppers.
- Host a self-care workshop
For these ideas, you might have a sign out front to attract foot traffic, but be sure to promote your event online too. For example,
- Create social media posts the week before and the day of to attract attendees.
- Utilize Facebook Events or Eventbrite to encourage people to attend and to get a ballpark headcount.
- Create a sharable flyer for your event and promote it on social media
- Post pictures from the event as it is happening. Get creative and have fun with Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.
If you don’t have a space to accommodate people, fear not! You can always rent a space nearby or partner up with a local business. Or, you can run an event online, such as social media contest or giveaway. With the proper social media campaign strategy, you can leverage Small Business Saturday to achieve your business goals.
Partner Up on Small Business Saturday
While Small Business Saturday is for everyone, promotion ideas are sometimes easier to execute for retail businesses and those located on busy streets. If you don’t fit into that category, consider partnering up with a business that does. Partnering is a great way to increase your exposure across a relevant audience, maximize profits, and tighten your ties within the community. For example,
- Physical therapists and massage therapists can offer free or discounted chair massages at a boutique store during peak shopping hours.
- Partner with yoga instructors to give massages after a yoga class then promote your business
- Find a small business who will take on a small business guerrilla marketing campaign with you.
When considering partners for Small Business Saturday, don’t just think about the most popular places. Think about businesses that share your values and target audience. This way you can leverage the partnership to strengthen your brand messaging and increase your exposure to the right people.
Use Social Media on Small Business Saturday
There are a number of other ways to utilize social media on Small Business Saturday. For example:
- Run a Small Business Saturday giveaway
- Write a blog post that is relevant to SBS, your target audience, and your business, and promote across social.
- Leverage existing social media groups, such as on Facebook and LinkedIn, to promote your special offers and sales.
- Cross promote email offers with social media posts.
- Offer a discount on your product or services to the first x number of new followers on this day.
- Ask a blogger or social media influencer to feature your store in a roundup blog post.
- Use Small business Saturday Hashtags such as #SmallBizSaturday,#SmallBusinessSaturday, and #ShopSmall.
- Engage with the official Small Business Saturday @ShopSmall account.
You can also use social media for Small Business Saturday discount codes:
- Reveal a promotional code on this day only.
- Reveal a promotional code during the week leading up to SBS, that followers can only redeem on SBS.
- Provide a promotional code on SBS that is redeemable at a later time, such as for holiday appointments or winter services.
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