The holiday season is upon us and retailers are already gearing up for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and nestled right in between those is Small Business Saturday. You don’t need to be a retailer to participate in Small Business Saturday, which is the Saturday after Thanksgiving and falls on November 30th this year. Small Business Saturday can benefit all kinds of small businesses, even B2B. The day started in 2010 and was spearheaded by American Express, but the day has taken on a life of its own and is now a nationwide event. The purpose of the event is to encourage people to use small businesses and to shop locally for their holiday shopping. Municipalities, local chambers, business associations, and civic leaders have all shown support for Small Business Saturday and the results are impressive.
Last year U.S. consumers reported spending a record high of an estimated $17.8 billion at independent retailers and restaurants on Small Business Saturday. Over the years, Small Business Saturday spending has now reached a reported estimate of $103 billion since the day began in 2010 — that’s $103 billion over 9 days alone. Getting your business out there on Small Business Saturday can have a yearlong effect, as 96% of consumers who reported shopping on Small Business Saturday said the day makes them want to Shop Small all year long, not just during the holiday season.
Here are some ways that your business can participate in Small Business Saturday this year:
- Use locally targeted ads to announce that you’re a small business in the community.
- Be a part of local chamber events or municipal events celebrating, buy a booth or just come and meet local people in the community.
- Offer customers (including B2B customers) a special discount for buying or renewing their services on or around Small Business Saturday, announce the promotion in advance so your customers are ready to act. If you don’t want to offer discounts consider offering a free service with purchase or renewal.
- Send an email to celebrate Small Business Saturday and thank your customers for supporting a small business.
- Offer gift cards for your services and promote them as a gift that could be given during the holidays.
- Show up to support your clients on Small Business Saturday, by showing up to their events and buying their goods/services you can show them that shopping small means something to you.
- Become a Neighborhood Champion through American Express, you can help bring the community together and Shop Small ambassador, you’ll spread the word about the importance of shopping small on Small Business Saturday and all year long.
If you need some help getting your Small Business Saturday marketing together American Express offers a free Shop Small Studio. In less than two minutes, you can create custom posters, social posts, and more, compliments of American Express.
