Small Business Saturday was established in response to the intensely popular Black Friday – the biggest shopping day of the year, the day that huge retailers offer deep discounts to shoppers who begin lining up even before the last piece of pumpkin pie is gone. In contrast to the corporate largesse of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday is about supporting the small businesses that are the bedrock of our local communities.
Not everyone thinks about the importance of supporting local establishments, so how do you get them thinking? Direct mail is a great start. Through direct mail marketing you can advertise your small business and spread the word about Small Business Saturday. Black Friday has become a day-after-Thanksgiving tradition; let’s make Small Business Saturday a tradition as well!
Tina is one great example of a business owner who used direct mail marketing to benefit from Small Business Saturday. Tina owns a clothing and jewelry boutique in a suburban area. She says she is very lucky because she is located right next door to a large coffee store and gets a lot of traffic because of it. Tina is in her second year of business and has quite a few regular clients but really wanted to do more advertising. She decided Small Business Saturday was a great time to ramp up her direct marketing efforts.
Through Click2Mail’s Mailing Online Pro Tina designed a 5” x 8” postcard that included “5 Reasons to Shop Small Businesses” and a 10% off coupon. Tina sent the postcard to her personal mailing list of about 75 people, and also purchased a mailing list of households with women residents within a 10-mile radius of her store. Tina’s Boutique was buzzing with happy shoppers all day on Small Business Saturday. Her campaign was such a success that Tina is planning events just to use direct mail marketing.
Another example of a small business owner getting maximum mileage out of Small Business Saturday is Joe, the owner of a local café restaurant, Joe’s Café & Eatery. He has been in business about 3 years and is known for his homemade pastries and funky atmosphere. Joe’s has been a hip place to eat for many locals, but outside of a 5-mile radius, not many people know about him. Joe’s dream of expanding his current location and opening up a second is dependent on an increase in traffic.
So Joe decided that he would take advantage of the buzz surrounding Small Business Saturday and send a direct mailer to people in his community advertising his “Shop Small, Eat Local” event. Using Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) he sent out a 6.25″ x 11″ postcard to every address within the carrier routes in a 2-mile radius of the cafe. He included a QR code on the mailer that allowed people to go directly to his Facebook page and RSVP for the event. 172 people responded, and another 50 or so just showed up at the café on Small Business Saturday. Joe’s Café & Eatery has survived solely on word of mouth, but now that Joe knows the power of direct mail he plans on using it more often.
Whether you own or work for a small business or you are just a supporter, you can help to make Small Business Saturday a new Thanksgiving-time tradition. To get started on your mailer, visit Click2Mail.com today.
