Make the most of Small Business Saturday
Posted on in Cycles News
With Small Business Saturday just over one week away, it's not too late to put some plans in motion to get the most out of it!
Small Business Saturday is an annual event that was initially started in America by American Airlines. It was bought to the UK as a way to improve sales for small businesses just before the Christmas shopping period and has been increasing in awareness and popularity ever since. In 2017 the event was estimated to have generated £748million, and this was increased even further in 2018 with an estimated spending of £812million.This increased spending may be a result of more people becoming aware of the event and choosing to spend more money with small businesses because of it.
Indie Retail published a story in August explaining that it is never too early to prepare for Small Business Saturday, with ideas including communities organising street festivals, implementing online campaigns and collaborating with other local businesses to create themed activities.
However, with over a week to go it's not too late to make the most out of Small Business Saturday! Here are a few ideas that will help to raise awareness of your brand and to drive footfall to your shop.
- Shout about it! Write a press release that mentions your plans for the day and send it out to local news and radio stations, you can also put this into a blog post for social media to keep your followers informed.
- Freebies! Giving away a small gift on the day can attract customers to your store, for example, a non-alcoholic mulled cider to warm your customers up and allow them to sip and browse.
- Utilise social media! In the weeks running up to the day ensure you use relevant hashtags such as #SmallBusinessSaturday to get onto the radar! Social media competitions are also a great way to raise awareness of your brand and collect email addresses for marketing purposes.
- Raise awareness! Use the occasion to educate people on the benefits that shopping at indie retailers has on the local economy as opposed to shopping with online giants and larger firms.