Small Business Saturday Tips

We all know the drill, it starts Thursday with the food. We stuff ourselves with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, pie…the list goes on. Yum! We rest it off (or walk it off hitting the early bird sales) then hit the ground running Friday and shop ’til we drop. Black Friday is known for offering some of the best prices of the year on a variety of items. You can get everything from TVs to shoes to DVDs on sale. Then comes the somewhat lesser known festivity, Small Business Saturday.

With all the big box stores setting their prices at rock bottom on Friday, how can us smaller businesses compete? Meet Small business Saturday! While its very unlikely that small businesses can match or compete with big box Black Friday sale prices, we can offer more than human trampling, fighting over children’s toys and mad chaos. We can offer what we always do, good quality products, fair prices and excellent customer service. We can even throw in a sale or two!

According to a recent Accenture survey, forty percent of Americans plan to spend more on holiday shopping this year than they did in 2014. This is good news for retailers of all sizes! With consumers out there wanting and willing to spend more money, Small Business Saturday is the prime time for small businesses to shine.

Here are a few tips to make sure you get the attention you deserve this Small Business Saturday, November 28th.

1. Host a special event: Get customers in the door or to your website. Once they’re there entertain them- offer discounts, snacks, promotions, etc.
2. Get Contact Info: Run a raffle or other prize drawing promotion, its a great way to get contact info. A couple weeks after the event, follow up by sending a thank you email to participants and extending another offer, coupon or invitation.
3. Make sure you’re updated online: In order to get found online you need to be up to date and fresh. Consider a full review of your website. Update old information and get some new, fresh content out.
4. Support other small businesses: Team up! Promote each other on social media. Host an event together. Point shoppers to other small businesses. Share the small business love!
5. Hashtag: Use #SmallBizSat #ShopSmall and #SmallBusinessSaturday. Encourage customers to Tweet, post and share about it too. Last year more than 126,000 Tweets were sent in support of the initiative, 10 percent more than in 2013.

For more ideas on how you can take advantage of #SmallBusinessSaturday check out this entrepreneur.com article.

To get your business listed on the American Express Small Business Saturday site, get support and request free promotional materials click here.