It’s that time of the year again when the festive shopping season is about to get underway!
Small Business Saturday on 2 December, is a great opportunity for small businesses to get in front of people looking for deals and discounts on their favourite products ahead of Christmas.
In 2022 it was estimated that people spent £774m on Small Business Saturday. According to the same research with American Express, 86% of small businesses surveyed said that the festive period is a vital revenue driver for them.
Here’s how you can get your small business ready for the big day.
Get your business in the directory
You can register your business with the Small Business Saturday directory.
The website also offers a free marketing pack that you can download and use. And if you’re planning on promoting your business on social media, let them know and they’ll give you a shoutout on their social media platforms.
It’s a great way to get some free publicity.
Offer promotions
Promotions and deals on your goods or services are a great way to get people through the door. Twitter suggests offering promotions by having a special discount code or free delivery for goods.
Build this into your social media plan (below) and start talking about your deals and promotions early to get people excited.
Have a social media plan in place
Once you know what you’ll be offering for the day, it’s time to let your customers know.
According to the Small Business Saturday website, the day draws high engagement on social media, with #SmallBizSatUK and #SmallBusinessSaturday trending throughout the day.
It also sees a massive surge in Facebook, Instagram and Twitter posts. So make sure you plan your content ahead of the day and let Small Business Saturday know so they can promote your posts too.
Here you can also do some keyword research to find out what other keywords relating to your business or service are trending. You can use Google Trends, for example, to find out the popularity of a keyword and other related terms you could use. Hashtagify is also a great free tool to find keyword popularity on Twitter.
Make your payment terms clear
You’ve got your social media live and customers are starting to come in, now what? You need to make it clear to all customers upfront what your payment terms are.
The payment terms need to state when the payment for the goods or services must be settled. According to the Small Business Commissioner, this can be put in the bill or the invoice.
The payment term won’t start until an invoice has been received. This means that the quicker you send your invoices, the quicker you’re likely to get paid.
To make life easier, you can create invoices on the go in the Mettle app. These can then be shared with your customers easily, helping to streamline the process.
Small Business Saturday is a great way to get in front of new customers. Make sure you have your social media plan in place, your discounts lined up, and your invoicing ready for the big day.
