Small Business Saturday Can Mean Big Business!
Even though Small Business Saturday was on November 29th of this year – this article and guide, “Ready, Set, Think Small“, is infused with some essential marketing knowledge, made simple even for those new to the digital world. Ultimately, we’ve made this guide for the small business owner ready to fully dive into Small Business Saturday. In addition, we hope it serves as a springboard for goals that go beyond November 29th, perhaps inspiring more high-level, long-term goals.
You may be a small business owner, but are you aware of your national community? There are 28 million of you. You’ve contributed 65% of new jobs. You make up 50% of the U.S. working population, and each month, there are 540,000 more small business owners joining your community.
You are categorized as “small,” but your community is BIG. Small Business Saturday is a day where all small business owners celebrate this big impact on the economy, while also focusing on their individual neighborhoods. It’s also an important alternative to the more corporate “Black Friday,” letting local shops share the spotlight with the advent of the holidays.
It’s no secret that sales see a major increase during the last weekend of November. When you think of the day after Thanksgiving, what comes to mind? It might be family, the spirit of giving, and an intermittent sense of peace before everyone returns to school or jobs. But in most cases, that is not quite it. These three words are on our minds – Shopping. Mall. Madness.
Corporations have an advantage when it comes to Thanksgiving weekend because their presence is already so large. As you can see in the video above, customers literally flock to these stores (or more like stampede). It’s in their genes. That’s one of the reasons Small Business Saturday was invented – so the customer doesn’t forget how neighborhood entrepreneurs also sell great products, and that buying these products supports the local economy.
But how do small businesses take full advantage of Small Business Saturday? It needs more than physically being a part of the community. In today’s world, the small business needs to be interacting with their neighbors, both on and offline.
For this reason, Quill created, “Ready, Set, Think Small” a three part guide to help neighborhood retail shops prepare for Small Business Saturday, this year, and the next, and the year after that.
In this guide, we’ll be going over three main areas:
– Establishing an Online Presence
– Activating Social Media Channels
– Engaging the Community
Well, take a read through, absorb it, and get ready and be prepared for the rest of the year and next year’s Small Business Saturday!
