November 28th is Small Business Saturday. Yes, we are less than 2 weeks away from a day designed to bring awareness to your small business and millions of others across the United States. Last week, we discussed creating a winning Black Friday marketing strategy. Now I want to share some great things you can do to maximize your small business Saturday.
Go The Local Route
This is the perfect time to host a holiday trunk show by yourself or with two or three other small business owners. This works especially if you are an online business that wants to really get in front of their audience members. Most of the time, small businesses focus on having a global impact rather than a local impact. I live in a relatively small town, but my town has people from all over the world transplanting at any given second of the day. You can reach so many people in your town who can actually become customers to propel you to global heights.
Get Your Story Out There
One thing I have realized within the last several years since launching Small Business Saturday, is that local and national news stations love covering stories from business owners on this day. Some features happen the day before, the day of, and some are lucky enough to get media presence in the business section of the Sunday paper. Make sure you reach out to your local papers and magazines. Give them insight into what your business is doing this day that stands out from the rest of the community.
Marketing Done Right
The last two small business Saturday’s everyone and their momma used #SmallBizSat and #SmallBusinessSaturday hashtags; this didn’t help them stand out from their competitors. If everyone is using the hashtag on all social media platforms your hope of attracting a new audience is slim to none. Make sure you plan your marketing material and other business plans now. Three years ago, I created this simple graphic for Small Business Saturday and it seemed like everyone screen shot it and was using it. I wanted to tie my business to the blue/white/black theme that the SBA does. Now when it comes to this day, I stick to my brand colors and put a slight twist on the marketing.
Pricing For Sales
For this day, I suggest to all my clients that they have a different kind of special from the rest of the week. Especially, after coming off of Black Friday where people might have bought something for $5 from you. You still want to land sales on this day. Make sure that your sales or discounts on Friday are not so dramatic that people don’t see a point of shopping on Saturday. If I was a product based company Saturday would be the day I had my spectacular sales and Friday would be for specific products.
If you want to learn more about Small Business Saturday check out the SBA website, as they have so much information for you and other business owners.
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