Find out how your brand can make the most of Small Business Saturday this year with these genius ideas.
Just after Thanksgiving, businesses celebrate Black Friday and Cyber Monday to draw in shoppers and set the tone for a high-revenue holiday season. For many years, the biggest brands won on these shopping days, and that’s why American Express created Small Business Saturday in 2010, in direct response to the Great Recession.
Times were tough for lots of businesses post-2008. Amex aimed to give small and local brands a leg up, with a dedicated day to court shoppers at the start of the holiday season. In 2023, consumers spent an estimated $17 billion on Small Business Saturday.
There’s a lot for small business owners to gain by joining in on the festivities. That’s why we’re here to encourage you to create your plan and launch some Small Business Saturday marketing ideas.
No matter your niche market or preferred promotion channels, these Small Business Saturday marketing ideas are sure to be a hit.
This is a classic holiday marketing tactic for a reason: it works. Shoppers not only save up for the events each year, but they browse various retailers for the best deals. In fact, 87% of people plan on shopping between Black Friday and Cyber Monday—and Small Business Saturday is a part of this timeframe.
While consumers may assess their willingness to buy from large businesses purely on economics, they often give small businesses a little leeway. Even if you can’t offer the steepest discount, consumers may factor in the sense of satisfaction they get in supporting a local shop.
Your sale or promotion can take several forms. Some popular Small Business Saturday ideas include:
💡For more small business-friendly marketing ideas check out our free guide to the 30 best ways to promote your business (with or without money)!
Many cities and towns use Small Business Saturday as an opportunity to celebrate their region’s brands and encourage neighbors and visitors alike to stimulate the local economy.
If yours is a city that’s hosting an event, be sure to get involved! And if you’re not sure what’s happening in your area, reach out to your local Chamber of Commerce. They may plan something you can take part in.
If your town isn’t doing something, why not take the initiative and host a Small Business Saturday event yourself?
Perhaps plan an in-store event designed to draw people to your brick-and-mortar location. Be sure to take your target customer into account when you create your event.
For example, a local bakery that caters to young families might offer a holiday cookie decorating class for kids. Meanwhile, the sophisticated florist down the street might invite adults to stop by for a holiday centerpiece design demonstration.
Allow your imagination to run wild as you flesh out this Small Business Saturday marketing idea. Whatever event you dream up, promote it in advance with fliers, on social media, and via your email list.
Don’t feel up to hosting an event on your own? Consider partnering with other local business owners to co-create a Small Business Saturday celebration.
You might all spearhead a larger event, creating a directory of participating small businesses. Go in on advertising together in advance, and offer incentives to customers who stop by multiple stores in your collective.
Alternatively, you can pair up with just one or two other small businesses to host a smaller event. Look for natural crossover in your audience to create an event that will appeal to the customers you have in common.
For example, a local cafe might team up with the bookshop down the street and host a “coffee and a book” event. The coffee shop sets up an espresso machine at the bookstore, and visitors can grab a latte and curl up with a great read on the store’s shelves.
As the founder of the event, American Express undertakes some Small Business Saturday marketing of its own. It hosts the Shop Small map each year, and while it looks very similar to a Google Maps or Yelp listing, it’s special because it only features small businesses.
This is your opportunity to stand out in a space that’s free of multinational competitors! Take a few minutes to create your profile, or, if you already have one, confirm that your information is up to date.
Organic social media is the perfect vehicle for sharing your Small Business Saturday plans. Whether it’s an event, sale, giveaway, or all of the above, posting about it on social media for Small Business Saturday gets the word out to your followers.
Remember to plan and post in advance to build anticipation. Tease sale items or hint at your big Small Business Saturday surprises to catch your audience’s attention. Some social media platforms, like Instagram, even have features that help you generate excitement. Consider using the countdown sticker in your Stories leading up to the big day.
Finally, don’t forget to use relevant hashtags! This can help people outside your follower count discover your business. Add hashtags related to the broader event (#ShopSmall and #SmallBusinessSaturday are two big ones). Then, include some hashtags related to your city or town to get your posts in front of a local audience.
🗓 Get social post ideas for Small Business Saturday and surrounding dates using our free copy-and-paste social media calendar!
There’s no denying it: People love a social media giveaway! You can build an online contest around just about any event, and Small Business Saturday is no exception.
Contests and giveaways can get the word out about your plans for Small Business Saturday, all while helping to build up your follower count. Often, businesses ask entrants to follow their accounts as part of entering the contest. If you run yours ahead of Small Business Saturday, you have a wider audience to market to in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.
While you’re logged into your social accounts, consider running some social media ads before Small Business Saturday to get your message out to an even wider audience.
You may choose to create an entire ad campaign or simply boost existing organic posts to broaden their reach. How you opt to advertise will depend on your marketing budget and objectives.
If you design a full campaign, be sure to focus on setting the right audience within the social platform. You can target based on geography, age, gender, and other demographics to get your ads seen by the people who are most likely to shop with you on Small Business Saturday.
📊See how much it might cost you to run Facebook Ads for Small Business Saturday in our free, exclusive Facebook Advertising Benchmarks Report!
Influencer marketing is a wildly effective tactic that’s sometimes overlooked by small businesses.
Some hear the phrase and assume it’s only for big brands with mega budgets, but an ever-expanding pool of micro-influencers—those with thousands, rather than millions, of followers—are making influencer marketing a viable tactic for small brands.
To find the right micro-influencer to promote your Small Business Saturday efforts, look for someone who’s a trusted source for your ideal audience. A gym might partner with a popular wellness influencer, while a clothing boutique might tap a fashion influencer.
And when you work with a micro-influencer, you’re likely to see stronger results than you would with a big name. Influencers with fewer than 15,000 followers typically see a 3.86% engagement rate on Instagram, while mega influencers with 1 million or more followers see much lower engagement; the average rate is 1.21%.
Your brand’s community doesn’t only exist in the real world anymore. Today, it’s easy to connect with neighbors across a wide range of online forums and gathering places. From the local Subreddit to the town Facebook group, your neighbors are gathering together online.
Community-focused message boards are a go-to spot for neighbors seeking local recommendations. Source
Often, these forums become a place where local business owners can market themselves, and where community members shout out businesses they love to neighbors in search of a recommendation.
Join these forums and make your presence known in the digital town square. If group mods allow business owners to promote their work, create a post inviting everyone to stop by your store on Small Business Saturday.
Email marketing can play an essential role in building anticipation for your Small Business Saturday plans with your existing audience.
Email marketing is at its best when it’s built as a multi-message campaign, rather than a single email. The average open rate across industries hovers around 21%, which means it might take more than one email to get your readers to open and click.
Your email marketing campaign should serve two main purposes:
Start with a teaser message, sharing that something big is coming this Small Business Saturday. Then, use each subsequent email to reveal a little bit more about your plan. You might even offer a special discount or deal that’s just for your loyal email subscribers.
If you’re already running search ads, consider launching a new campaign specifically for your Small Business Saturday marketing efforts.
The key to effective local PPC campaigns is finding the perfect marriage between message and audience. Focus on your keyword strategy, and consider targeting some PPC keywords that will help you stand out in local, relevant searches. You might also focus on terms related to Small Business Saturday, holiday shopping, or other timely phrases.
Then, invest in creating attention-getting headlines and body copy to help your search ads stand out on the crowded results page. And, of course, create a customized landing page for your Small Business Saturday campaign. That way, when readers click through, they find information about your plans for the big day.
🚨 Are your search ads ready for Small Business Saturday? Find out with our Free Google Ads Grader!
Amex founded Small Business Saturday to encourage neighborhood engagement with local brands. Given the spirit of the day, your local publication is the perfect place to share your Small Business Saturday plans.
Whether your local publication is a citywide newspaper or neighborhood pamphlet, take out some advertising space on its pages. In doing so, you’ll know that your message is being seen by the most relevant, most local audience around.
In addition to buying ad space in local papers, you might also pitch local journalists with Small Business Saturday story ideas.
If you’re doing something unique for Small Business Saturday, you can approach a local publication to see if they’re interested in covering it. Or, if you’re partnering with several local businesses, the story you can collectively pitch is one of collaboration and a celebration of shopping small.
Just as with local media coverage, direct mail is a tactic that allows you to connect with a local audience and foster a true sense of community.
A direct mailer with a discount is never a bad idea. Send the coupon right to your neighbors’ doors, and it just may kindle a desire to support local businesses and shop small—with you.
And as an added bonus for your Small Business Saturday marketing efforts: Direct mail makes it super easy to measure ROI. Each person who walks up to your register with a coupon in hand represents a sale that’s directly attributable to your campaign.
You likely already have a Google Business Profile, but is it fully optimized?
One way to make the most of your Google Business Profile is to take advantage of its Posts feature. With Posts, you can add timely updates or special promotions to your Google Business Profile.
Add a post that shares your Small Business Saturday plans. When people Google your business and find your listing, they’ll see this timely information that just might inspire them to stop by over the weekend.
If someone showed up to shop on Small Business Saturday, maybe they deserve a little extra love. Create a deal or promo code they can use in the future as a thank you for shopping small this holiday season.
That generosity is in keeping with the seasonal spirit. Plus, a coupon code or offer for the future nudges these shoppers to return to you again after the holidays are through.
Small Business Saturday is an opportunity to kick the holiday season off right—with big sales numbers and lots of happy customers.
The best way to ensure your business capitalizes on the event is to implement some marketing tactics leading up to the day. Doing so can remind your existing audience that you’re around and introduce you to new consumers who are excited about shopping small.
Use these 17 ideas above as a jumping-off point to create a successful Small Business Saturday marketing plan. And see how other small businesses invest in marketing in our small business trends report.
If you try these Small Business Saturday marketing ideas and feel ready to take your seasonal marketing to the next level, see how our solutions can help you maximize your marketing campaigns year-round!
For more Small Business Saturday, Black Friday, and other holiday marketing ideas, see these resources below:
