The month of November is a busy one for businesses around the country. There is a lot of marketing planning involved for holidays like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Our marketing agency Omaha team believes that an important day that should not be ignored, especially for startups, is Small Business Saturday. 

Small Business Saturday occurs the Saturday after Thanksgiving and Black Friday. It is a day dedicated to celebrating and supporting small businesses. In 2021, 51 million shoppers participated in the holiday. If you want to make the most of this special day, our marketing agency Omaha team has created this helpful guide to teach you how to prepare for Small Business Saturday.

The benefits of participating in Small Business Saturday

With so much already going on, a lot of small businesses ask themselves, is it even worth participating in Small Business Saturday? It is! This day encourages shoppers to continue supporting small businesses, helps businesses gain new customers and keeps money local. 

It is important to have local shoppers all year round because they are what keeps small businesses afloat. A report from American Express found that 67 cents of every dollar spent in a small business stay within the local community. Check out these tips that our marketing agency Omaha team has gathered.

How to prepare for Small Business Saturday

Create a promotion

A good way to gain people’s attention during the holidays is by offering a promotion. It is a great time to offer your customers a deal for visiting your physical store, online store or both. Aside from gaining a new sale, it also helps to build your email list. Once you get those customers on your email list, you can continue to market directly to them. 

Some of the most common promotions that businesses offer are:

• 15% discount on all new items

• Free food for guests who visit your store

• Free gift for purchases of $50 or more

• Free gift wrapping

Promote, promote, promote

Now that you have a promotion picked out, it is time to spread the word about it. Create a content calendar that spreads your promotion on social media and emails. Add local hashtags to help spread the word to your community. Do not forget that you can also share those social media posts to reach even more people. 

Stock up on your popular items

The last thing you want is for customers to come in to buy their favorite products only to find that you ran out. Before Small Business Saturday, be sure you have an appropriate amount of the most popular items. Look at your year’s sales. If you have an online store, make sure your inventory is up to date as well. 

Send follow-up emails

Just as important as it is to gain new customers, it is just important to maintain the customers you have. Think about the marketing funnel. How can you turn those new customers into loyal customers you can count on? One way is by using email marketing. 

According to TechJury, 47% of marketers believe that email marketing is the most effective lead-nurturing tactic. Create an email campaign designed to continue to nurture that new customer relationship. Some examples include:

• Welcome emails

• Reminder emails if they need to restock soon

• News emails

• New product emails 

Let a marketing agency Omaha team handle your small business’s marketing needs!

If you need help managing your small business’s marketing, hire Omaha Media Group! Our marketing professionals will help create a digital marketing strategy that builds your brand awareness, increases sales and gets your website found on search engines. Contact us to learn more.