Small businesses have a new marketing opportunity with the 2010 launch of Small Business Saturday in the U.S. Nestled between Black Friday (the Friday after Thanksgiving) and Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving), Small Business Saturday is aimed at supporting retail sales for local small businesses and merchants.
Thanks to American Express and other small business supporters, a new day has been created specifically for promoting neighborhood businesses so that they can benefit from a surge of retail business over the busy Thanksgiving weekend shopping time period.
Facebook Sales Promo Strategy for Small Business Saturday Retailers
The backing of a major small business supporter such as American Express is a big boost to the Small Business Saturday retail event. Using social media as a launching pad for the event, American Express has created a hub of activity with Small Business Saturday on Facebook. This sales promotion strategy helps both retailers and consumers.
By joining or “liking” Small Business Saturday on Facebook, American Express is providing retailers and consumers the following benefits:
- Retailers can earn $100 worth of Facebook advertising to the first 10,000 small business owners who sign up to participate
- Consumers will get a $25 credit by pledging to use their cards at independent, small businesses on Small Business Saturday (available to first 100,000 card members)
Small Business Marketing Plans for Small Business Saturday
Local retailers and merchants should plan to use Small Business Saturday as an important part of their overall small business marketing plans and tools.
Here are some strategies for incorporating Small Business Saturday into a holiday marketing plan:
- Increase exposure on Facebook. Participate in the American Express sales promotion on Facebook and ramp up your overall Facebook exposure. Make sure you have a business page on Facebook and encourage participation through your store.
- Promote sales incentives. Be sure your customers and prospects are aware of the special incentives offered on Small Business Saturday through American Express or any other participating organizations. Add signs at your store and information on your web site.
- Plan additional sale events. Increase the incentives with special one-day discounts and promotions that will improve foot traffic into your store location.
- Build communication databases. Use the Small Business Saturday event as an opportunity to build your own customer database for email marketing or direct mail to continue to communicate to local consumers about special retail shopping events throughout the year.
Goals of Small Business Saturday for Local Merchants
The goal of Small Business Saturday organizers is to promote consumer patronage of neighborhood merchants, retailers and local neighborhood shops. With so much attention given to big retailers and discount super stores for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals over Thanksgiving weekend, the effort hopes to shift focus to small businesses. With so many small local merchants struggling to compete against bigger businesses, the Small Business Saturday event hopes to put an annual focus on shopping with local retailers and merchants on Thanksgiving weekend nationwide.
TLE101
Diane Seltzer - Diane is a branding, pr and social media marketer with experience ranging from advertising to corporate marketing and consulting.
