How to Leverage Small Business Saturday for Your Small Business!

What is Small Business Saturday, you ask?

First observed in Roslindale Village, Massachusetts on November 27, 2010, it is a counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which feature big box retail and e-commerce stores respectively. By contrast, Small Business Saturday (SBS), held every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, encourages holiday shoppers to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are small and local.

Launched by American Express, the credit card giant provides free tools and resources for small business owners to promote and build the concept in their towns and cities. 

There are a ton of ways to use Small Business Saturday to your advantage. Here’s what we suggest to leverage this “holiday” to benefit your business.

LEARN

The goal of SBS is to “help small businesses do more business.” To help you get started, AmEx offers an array of blogs focused on how to maximize this event in particular and provide everyday business tips, too.

Search and read through a wealth of helpful articles like,

  1. “HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CAN HELP SHAPE SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY SUCCESS”,
  2. “ATTRACTING CUSTOMERS ON SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY”,
  3. “HOW TO RALLY YOUR COMMUNITY BEHIND A GRASSROOTS CAUSE”.

Check out these and more on their comprehensive blog. Get some knowledge under your belt before SBS! You can use what you learned to create a SBS strategy that details how you will use SBS to your advantage to launch a great marketing campaign for your small business.

PLAN

You can sign up your neighborhood, get event ideas, and even rally the troops through maps, resources and more. This is when you make your strategy. Be sure to include the goals of your SBS marketing campaign, the tactics you will use to achieve these goals, and how you will measure your success.

MARKET

In addition to knowledge-based resources, AmEx even provides FREE custom marketing downloads and templates to users. Think print ads, social media post designs, and even carpets!

Get started here: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/shop-small/?linknav=us-open-shopsmall-globalheader-sslogo.

LAUNCH

Once you have your event planned, the neighborhood on board, and the marketing ready to go, launch!  There are a lot of places to get the word out about your campaign locally too:

1. Promote your event at your store front and those of your neighbors.

2. Submit the event to free online listings (there are tons more, but these are a few of my go-to’s):

3. Talk it up with friends, family, and anyone who will listen.

Congrats! With the help of AmEx and the power of Small Business Saturday, you’re ready to leverage November 26 to your advantage!

Need a little help developing your campaign? Confused on where to start? Download our free checklist and get going on your business’s best inbound marketing campaign!

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