The weekend after Thanksgiving is a time when most Americans visit friends and family, watch some football, and try to work off their pumpkin pie. It’s also a time when they get a jump on their holiday shopping. Thanks to Small Business Saturday, an initiative founded by American Express, neighborhood businesses are becoming a bigger part of the holiday shopping experience. But when you’re taking on the Goliaths of the business world, it’s important to use every tool at your disposal.
Want to make sure you get the most out of Small Business Saturday? Just add a little technology to your mix and you can reap the benefits long into 2017. Here’s how:
Create an offer. If you really want to bring customers into your store, give them an excuse to visit. Price reductions or discounts are great attention getters, but they aren’t always profitable for small businesses. Luckily there are alternative tactics that add value for customers, so you don’t need to drop prices. For example, it’s easy to host a customer appreciation event and you’d be amazed at how much they love a free glass of wine or some home-baked brownies.
Many small businesses are looking for other creative ways to share their expertise, add value for customers and help their businesses for the long haul. So, for example, if you sell clothing, you could offer a free consultation with a stylist. Sending customers the results of their consultation would be a great way to start capturing their contact information and preferences so you can build out a customer database — essential for taking on the big guys.
(If you’re feeling especially thankful, a charity tie in is also a good way to give back to your community while encouraging customers to spend. Donating a portion of profits to a local nonprofit — like your neighborhood elementary school — is a great way to do good for the community as well as your business.)
Promote to existing customers. About 40% of revenue for most small businesses comes from existing customers, so start by promoting your event to your current customer base.There are a lot of creative and low-cost ways to promote your event and entice people into your store. Start as simply as signage at your store — maybe in a fitting room or at the register — so your existing customers are aware of your event. (American Express has some great event flyers and posters you can customize and download from their website.)
Technology can help too. You don’t have to have a large marketing team or a multimillion dollar budget to generate the awareness needed for a successful campaign. Email is an incredibly effective — not to mention cost-effective — way to get the word out. Send a blast to all of your customers with enough advance notice so they can mark their calendars. And if you have a blog or website, be sure to post information about your holiday hours and your special offer there too.
Attract new customers. To bring brand new customers into your store, you’ll need to promote your event in other venues. Start by reaching out to your local paper and ask to be added to their event listings. Or look at other online services, like Craigslist or Eventbrite, which have local events sections.
And be sure to promote via social media. If you don’t already have social media accounts for your business, this is a great time to set them up. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram can be excellent ways to promote your event and communicate with potential customers throughout the year. Just be sure to tag your post with your neighborhood and #shopsmall so as many people as possible can find you.
One of the great advantages of social media is that it offers a large potential reach. You might consider offering a prize as an incentive to customers for sharing your post. It’s a low cost way to get the word out to even more people.
Keep the conversation going all year. Taking advantage of Small Business Saturday is more than just bringing in new customers to rack up sales on the day. It’s about increasing your customer base for the long term and building new relationships that will stick with you. If you don’t already have an email mailing list, this is an excellent time to start it. It’s as simple as placing a guest book near your register so customers can sign up to hear about new specials. Some companies track this information in Excel, but if you really want to position yourself for growth you can sign up for a low-cost CRM (customer relationship management) solution. A CRM solution will track your activities, remind you to reach out customers, and help you give every communication a personal touch.
You can also make sure every customer is a repeat one by offering amazing service. Technology can help with this too. If you’re in a high-touch, repeat purchase business, think about investing in a customer service solution. It might sound complicated, but really it’s not. It’s the best way to ensure that you can give customers the answers they want, quickly, and track your relationship over time.
Ready? Activate! Small Business Saturday is gaining momentum every year — so make sure you’re leveraging technology to make the most of it.