Small Business Saturday 2010

By now most of you have already planned out your Black Friday shopping. You will likely stay up the night before and hit the stores at midnight or wake up extremely early to make sure the items you are looking for aren't sold out. One benefit nowadays that wasn't available in the past: if you can't get what you were looking for on Black Friday or can't make it to the store, there's always Cyber Monday!

But how many of you are forgetting about small business. At the top of your minds are probably Walmart, Best Buy, Toys-R-Us, and Target. What about the mom-and-pop businesses that still have brick-and-mortar retail operations? Sometimes they don't have the best deal, but they know they have to offer incentives this holiday season to even try and compete with the Goliath chains. Take some time on 11/27 and visit your local small business stores. If you are reading this blog you are probably a small business person looking for small business marketing tips, so try and support small business peers. You are well aware of the struggles they face.

As a small business what can you do?

We are only days away from Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday...is it too late to capitalize on these eager shoppers? Absolutely not!

First, make sure you spread the word. If you are using social media, let your followers know about your Small Business Saturday deals. Don't be shy, we are all looking to save a few bucks. No need to bombard them with every single sale you are offering, but you can give them a few teasers and let them know that you are participating in the holiday sale madness.

Second, it's not too late to get some local Adwords ads running. Give yourself a small budget and show some ads to local users that are looking for Black Friday deals. The broader terms will cost slightly more money, but if you geographically target the ads to your local area, the money will not be wasted. The searchers will hopefully recognize your name and either click through to your website, or when they pass your store this weekend they will remember seeing the ad and stop by to check out the sales...no, it's not too far fetched. This is a marketing strategy that will not break the bank but will get you in front of the right people at the right time!

Facebook Sponsored Ads! You have heard of it I'm sure, this is the time to try it. Over the next few days many people will be off of work looking for something to do, where will they turn? Facebook. Not everyone will be off of work on Friday, but they will be distracted. Still full from Thanksgiving dinner and curious about all of the Black Friday excitement, where will the turn? Facebook. Here's the kicker, you can get yourself $100 of free Facebook advertising from the Small Business Saturday Facebook Page! Now you have no reason not to try. With low click through rates on Facebook advertising, you may not even spend the $100 before Saturday.

Hopefully the news and tips don't come to late. Small businesses need the support more than ever. To do my part locally I would like to list a few small businesses around Bradford, PA that have some great Christmas gifts:

Roseart
Bradford Area Chamber of Commerce - Gift Certificates
Sportsman's Outlet
Cavallaro Paint and Decorating
Grandma's Tea House
Tin Ceiling Gift Shop
Man's World
Main Street Mercantile
Nanipops - Online but still a great choice!