With Small Business Saturday just around the corner, it’s time to think about how to promote your business. From updating your Google my Business listing to planning promotions, there are plenty of Small Business Saturday ideas you can use to boost sales.
Here are a few of our favorites.
Small Business Saturday ideas to increase your sales
Ramp up your marketing efforts
A key part of success on Small Business Saturday is getting your business in front of buyers who are eager to support small businesses. And this is what digital marketing is all about.
Below are some Small Business Saturday ideas you can use to get more qualified buyers to your store and website.
Refine your target audience
Before you launch your Small Business Saturday promotion, it’s smart to define and refine your target audience.
First, take a look at what your best customers have in common and use these characteristics as the criteria for your marketing targeting. The factors you look at can be anything from:
- Age
- Region
- Gender
- Job title
- Industry
And will ensure that your marketing efforts reach the people who are most likely to buy your products.
Be strategic with your promotion ideas
Now that you know who to market to, it’s time to think about what to market.
Your best bet here is to create offers that will get your target audience excited about your products and eager to buy.
From offering free shipping to bundle discounts, you want to create a promotion that makes it easier for your ideal customer to make the decision to buy.
To find out what your customers’ common barriers to purchase are, connect with your sales, marketing, and customer service teams to understand the reasons why:
- Deals fall through
- Your buyers don’t become repeat customers
Once you’ve gotten a handle on this, you can create promotions that solve each of these customer pain points.
Get the word out about your Small Business Saturday plans
With the right discounts and targeting in place, you need to share your Small Business Saturday offers with leads as well as your existing and former customers.
By setting up an email campaign, you can reach 1,000s of your customers and leads in a single email. Better yet, you can segment your email list to personalize the messaging and promotion you offer each buyer.
In terms of Small Business Saturday ideas, this is a sure-fire way to increase your sales as research shows that 91% of buyers are more likely to shop with businesses that provide personalized offers and recommendations.
“91% of buyers are more likely to shop with businesses that provide personalized offers and recommendations.”
— Accenture, 2018.
To reach contacts beyond those in your email list, paid and organic social media posts are a great way to get in front of new customers.
Here are a few social media marketing tips to get you started:
- Use video and graphics that pop to grab buyer attention.
- When setting audience criteria, refer back to the characteristics of your target market.
- Partner with influencers that your target audience follows to ensure your products get in front of the right people.
- Join community groups on social media for market research and to share your promotions.
Public relations (PR)
Most companies don’t include a PR strategy as part of their Small Business Saturday ideas — making it a great way for you to stand out.
To build your PR strategy, first create a list of local community media outlets that your target audience is interested in. Then craft your Small Business Saturday pitch.
With so many people shopping locally and wanting to support small business owners in the wake of COVID-19, this is a good narrative to build off of. Think of:
- The impact your business has on your local economy
- The fight it has been to stay in business throughout COVID-19
- Why it’s important to celebrate small businesses
And then pitch this story to your chosen media outlets.
If all goes well, you’ll be featured in the news as one of the top small businesses to support on Small Business Saturday!
Keep your whole team informed about your Small Business Saturday ideas
No matter what your Small Business Saturday ideas are, it’s important to keep your whole team up to speed on them.
From special discounts to the communications your customers will receive before Nov. 28, you need to share your Small Business Saturday initiatives with each employee.
This way, your team can alert new and repeat customers about upcoming deals and provide them with the best customer experience possible.
Partner with other small businesses
A Small Business Saturday idea that’s often overlooked is collaboration.
From creating bundle offers with other small businesses to cross-promoting each other’s products, small businesses are more powerful when they stick together.
By cooperating with each other instead of competing, small businesses can:
- Amplify their voices
- Reach more potential customers
- Drive higher sales
Recap: Small Business Saturday ideas checklist
Now that we’ve covered 7 Small Business Saturday ideas that will boost your sales, here’s a quick summary of actionable tips.
- Use a list of your best customers to define your target audience.
- Plan promotions that solve customer pain points and reduce their barriers to purchase.
- Send out personalized email campaigns to your potential, existing, and former customers.
- Use sponsored and organic social media posts to reach new customers.
- Pitch your small business success story to local media outlets for some free publicity.
- Have a conversation with each employee about the Small Business Saturday ideas you’ll be executing.
- Collaborate with your fellow entrepreneurs and small businesses to reach new heights.
For more ways to increase your sales, check out this free ebook!
Image credit: Tim Mossholder via Unsplash
