One Week Until Small Business Saturday

If you’re a small business owner and haven’t yet prepared for the upcoming Small Business Saturday (SBS) event on November 26^th, you shouldn’t count yourself out. Sure, it pays to begin the planning process a few months ahead of time, but you’ll effectively pull this SBS off by considering some of these last-minute marketing tactics that have proven effective over the past several years. Consumers spend an average of $15 billion on this important day of the year for small businesses – will you get a piece of the action?

Below are 5 tips to prepare for next week’s Small Business Saturday!

Create an Offer and Push It

Use your social media pages to connect with your existing fan base and valuable prospects, then deliver a Small Business Saturday offer they can’t refuse. Because social media topics and messages tend to spread like wildfire, this medium can help you overcome a lack of time. Make the offer unique or truly advantageous for the shopper, then get it promoted immediately.

Ensure You’re Staffed with the Best

While this may seem obvious, you absolutely must staff your business (whether it’s e-commerce or a physical location) with individuals who are customer experience focused and will help you earn repeat business. Small Business Saturday isn’t about a one-day sales extravaganza. Rather, it’s all about creating new connections with clients who will hopefully become repeat customers. Arm shoppers with customized tote bags to use while in the store and/or to take with them as they go.

Get on the SBS Map

Maximize your business’ visibility during this important event. Go to the American Express website and add yourself to their map of businesses participating in Small Business Saturday. Then, head on over to Google My Business and register your company right away. You’ll start to appear on computers and mobile devices as potential clients search for relevant companies in the area.

Create a Blog Post

Provided you’ve already invested some time creating an online/social media profile, you’ll want to get a blog post out to promote the event. Link to the American Express Small Business Saturday page to add some weight to the event. Then, post about the history of the day and how important small businesses are to the national economy. You can even include the promise of a gift within the blog post – have the reader bring you a screenshot of the post and then offer them a $10 gift card back on any $100 purchase, or $25 on a $250 buy. They’ll likely spend the gift card with you, anyway.

Host a Holiday Open House

Plan a small event in your store or business with holiday sales, treats, and drinks for guests to enjoy while they shop. Put together simple gift bags filled with homemade cookies, bite-size candies, or a mason jar filled with ingredients for hot cocoa for the first 50 shoppers.

There are just a few days left until Small Business Saturday, so get your business ready, your inventory stocked, your employees prepped, and your marketing out there – and make it a great holiday season!