It is that time of the year again. The holiday season is just around the corner and, this year’s Small Business Saturday is on November 26th.
Big brands do wonders during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Customers scour the web for deals. Businesses flood their websites with promotions. But between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday gives small businesses a chance to shine.
Small businesses are an integral part of the community and it is important to support them. There is a central way to show your support, and that is by shopping from small businesses. Of course, you should do that. However, what is not talked about is how businesses can support other local businesses on Small Business Saturday.
There are numerous Small Business Saturday marketing ideas to promote your business. Perhaps, this Small Business Saturday, look for how your business can support other local brands. Today we will provide you with six ways to support local businesses on Small Business Saturday. Spare no time and let’s get started.
1) Seek out new brands and donate to them
There are countless brands out there that you have not even heard of. Small Business Saturday enables you to break out of your routine and seek out new brands with quality products and services. This is one way to support local businesses to get their feet through the door.
If you are not sure where to start, try doing a web search. Look through Indiegogo or Kickstarter to see if anyone is looking for funds. Find a local business and consider tossing a few dollars their way. Every penny helps and anything coming on a Small Business Saturday will mean just a little bit more.
2) Share positively about other businesses on your social media
Being a business yourself, you should know how helpful social media could be. Consider using your own business’s social media platforms to promote other small businesses. Whether you buy from them and love the shopping experience, think that they have a great storefront, or are simply grateful to have them as neighbors, share a quick post about them and give them a boost that way.
Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, or Yelp allow you to check in at locations. You can use this simple way to let your followers know that you are supporting a local business. Moreover, you can also post some stories recommending local shops to your followers. Try using Instagram post templates from PosterMyWall to design creative social media posts. To save your time and effort, learn more about how to create quality social media content faster and easily.
3) Collaborate on Small Business Saturday
Small Business Saturday is for everyone. However, collaborations sometimes make it easier to execute and earn revenues. Partnering with other businesses is a great way to increase your exposure, maximize profits, and build a sense of community.
A few examples to collaborate on Small Business Saturday are as follows:
- Massage therapists or physical therapists can offer discounted massages during peak shopping hours at boutique stores.
- Home service providers can collaborate with home goods stores or furniture stores and offer their services at a discount. The home service providers can promote that store through social media or email in exchange.
- Landscapers can do free yard cleanups at hardware stores, and market that store across their channels.
- Schools can call yoga instructors to offer yoga classes.
When finding partners for Small Business Saturday, do not just think of the popular places. Search for businesses that appeal to your target audience and share your values. You can also put flyers in your store and show that you are partnering with a local business. This will allow you to leverage the collaboration to strengthen your brand story. You can use Small Business flyer templates from PosterMyWall to design creative flyers. Include this in your Small Business Saturday marketing this year and support small businesses like never before.
4) Shop directly from your favorite small business
Businesses often give gifts to their best employees during the holiday season. If you are one of them, you are probably looking for some great gifts. Why not purchase from a local business this time?
Big e-commerce platforms like Amazon allow small businesses to sell products through them, but they also take a cut. Thus, try to shop directly from a small business and help them make some more bucks.
At times, small businesses can offer you something exclusive, or made with a personal touch. If possible, try to pick in-store and hit up their shop while running errands.
The magic of shopping in person is that you never know what to expect. You might even come across something that’s better than what you initially had in mind.
Who knows, you may find other gift ideas when you stop by. The gift you give might even prompt a question, “Where did you get this?”. This gives you a chance to spread the word about your Small Business Saturday discovery.
5) Leave a positive review
Positive reviews can do a lot for small businesses. Think of all the small businesses that you love. Take some time to sit down and write about the pleasant experience you had with a particular business.
Let the world know how great they are and leave a positive review on Facebook, Yelp, or any other platform where people go for suggestions. It is a free, simple, and easy way to support a local business. It makes a huge difference to a small business, especially when a review is coming from a fellow business owner.
6) Network with other small business owners
Even if you are not much of a shopper, you can still support Small Business Saturday just by being out and networking with small business owners. This will not only help you make connections that might be beneficial for your business in the future, but you might be able to help a business that you didn’t know needed it.
Learn about how a small business can be more inclusive this holiday season and share it with them when you visit. Your little time and effort could mean so much for small businesses.
Why support Small Business Saturday?
Supporting a small business means supporting the local economy. Supporting local businesses in your area will keep them up and running and will help stimulate the local economy.
Not only that, by supporting a local business, you are also supporting the local community. Small businesses help to create and sustain employment. They also keep the area vibrant and buzzing with tourists and shoppers.
Small businesses treasure the relationships they have with their customers. They need support from local consumers and focus on building trust with customers. Thus, when you shop locally, you are more likely to get excellent and personalized customer service. The staff of a local business will typically be willing to answer detailed questions, or they can even offer special items for you to purchase at request.
Coming together to support local businesses shows that you appreciate the things they do for your neighborhood. These ideas for Small Business Saturday can make a big difference in the success of a small business. So why not support them and include these in your Small Business Saturday marketing? Show your support and play your part in sustaining the vibrancy of local communities.
Senior editor at PosterMyWall.
