Small Business Saturday falls on November 28 this year. It’s an international program started by American Express that encourages shopping at small businesses and has been growing since 2010.
The importance of supporting small businesses is even more relevant this year. Covid-19 has ravaged the economy and has left the world in a state of crisis. Supporting initiatives like this will be the starting point for rebuilding our economy, on a local, community, and statewide level.
Preparing your company, employees and your website for Small Business Saturday should be at the forefront of your mind in the coming weeks. You should already be thinking about preparing content to improve your site’s traffic leading up to the day.
Digitize your business
The pandemic has been a catalyst for certain businesses and a wake-up call for others. Highlighting the importance of digitizing your business and having new channels for your customers to access your products or services. From the ability to order curbside pickup, new delivery options, bookable appointments, or an online shop, we’ve seen all forms of small businesses adapt.
Ensuring you have an up-to-date and modern presence that allows your customers to buy online is key to future business, even if you’re currently running a physical brick-and-mortar store.
One of the best strategies to allow customers to access products or services digitally and securely is to host your eCommerce store in the cloud. Cloud storage providers can offer several important advantages when it comes to eCommerce, including greater security with PCI-DSS certified hosting, greater scalability, and faster upload times.
Focus on Your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
It can be tough competing with big brands and stores, but your differences can be your strengths. For example, focusing on the fact that you are small, family-owned, or you have local products.
Let your customers know why you are special and what makes your small business unique. One example of this is telling your brand’s story in your marketing efforts. You’ll be surprised how effective this can be. Understanding your selling point and marketing it is critical to succeeding as a small business. Make sure you scream it from the metaphorical rooftops.
Be Social
Having a consistent brand presence can work wonders for your business. Using the right social media tools such as Hootsuite or Buffer, you can integrate with each of the major social media platforms and automate your posts to help maximize your social ROI and increase sales.
Broadcasting your involvement in SBS and creating promotions can entice even more sales, and is a great social media strategy for this sale day. In addition, using the hashtag #ShopSmall on your social channels in the coming weeks will increase awareness and help potential customers find you easily.
Consider Gift Cards
One thing that increases exponentially from consumers around the holiday season is the purchase of gift cards/certificates. With this in mind, there’s a huge opportunity for your business to develop gift cards to entice future purchases.
One of the major benefits of gift cards is they take the pressure off customers so they don’t have to pick an item right away. Offering an additional promotion on buying gift cards can also help increase your exposure and sales. An example could be when someone buys a gift card you can give them $5 additional gift credit for free. This can create a buzz around the promotion and spark more shopper’s interest.
Build Partnerships
Supporting our communities is always important, but this year, it’s even more so. Finding ways to partner with other small businesses in your area can be a great way to improve your exposure and support other local owners.
An example could be partnering with a local charity, especially ones that are focusing on COVID-19 recovery efforts. Working with these types of charities can create positive ripple effects and aid your local community in a plethora of ways.
Extend Your Business Hours
Having more availability on the busier days of the year is nothing new, but small businesses tend to overlook Small Business Saturday’s importance to their detriment.
Regardless of the industry you’re in, having extended hours or staff availability on SBS can be worth its weight in gold. Even if you’re an online-focused business, you can get your support staff to work longer shifts to pre-empt the influx of sales or customer service needed.
Source: www.score.org
