What is Small Business Saturday?
As seen in the video, Small Business Saturday is on November 26th, the day after Black Friday which is traditionally the day after Thanksgiving when Americans are high on turkey and gravy and are programmed to go to the mall and start holiday shopping. American Express is helping small businesses to step out and for the second year in a row is encouraging Americans to shop at independent local shops on the Saturday after Black Friday.
The credit card company has created a Facebook Page that outlines all of the free tools they are offering small businesses to prepare for and promote the Small Business Saturday event, ranging from free in-store signage in the form of small posters or larger posters to website badges. The company offers sample email text for small businesses to use in promoting the day and has pre-formatted Facebook status updates and tweets that busy business owners can copy and paste in their business’ social networks.
Free Facebook ads for small businesses
Part of the draw of the event is that consumers are offered deals at various venues, so American Express is helping business to craft and promote their offers and on top of that, they are offering $100 in free geotargeted Facebook ads for participating. On the Small Business Saturday Facebook page, there are tutorials for creating an effective Facebook business page, telling a business’ story through video, garnering followers on Twitter for your company and more.
American Express has been socially engaged online for longer than most companies, and it is a lofty goal to organize an entire “small business” event and herding the cats that are the moving pieces of small business. But with heightened consumer awareness through local campaigns, Small Business Saturday could become just as big as Black Friday some day.
Marti Trewe reports on business and technology news, chasing his passion for helping entrepreneurs and small businesses to stay well informed in the fast paced 140-character world. Marti rarely sleeps and thrives on reader news tips, especially about startups and big moves in leadership.
