You’ve probably heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but what about Small Business Saturday? This shopping holiday celebrates local businesses by encouraging customers to shop for holiday gifts, décor, and more exclusively at local stores on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Take a closer look at this shopping holiday below.

How Small Business Saturday Started
The American Express Corporation started advertising “Small Business Saturday” as a way to promote local shopping on the Saturday following Thanksgiving in 2010. Black Friday and Cyber Monday have famously been dominated by large businesses, leaving many small business owners feeling the impact around the holiday season. Small Business Saturday was designed to encourage customers to buy from their local businesses in order to boost their local economies and create more jobs for their communities. This shopping holiday was embraced by both businesses and consumers, which is why it has continued every year since.

How Small Business Saturday Influences Small Businesses
Small Business Saturday has only been around for five years, but it has made an impressive impact on small business growth around the country. During its first year, Small Business Saturday gained attention through social media, attracting over one million likes on Facebook and inspiring more than 30,000 tweets containing relevant hashtags. Every year, consumers become more aware of Small Business Saturday and get inspired to patronize independent stores and restaurants. In 2013, consumers throughout the U.S. spent $14 billion on this shopping holiday. Last year, that number increased to $14.3 billion.

How You Can Participate in Small Business Saturday
Participating in Small Business Saturday offers numerous benefits for both businesses and their customers. If you buy from local stores, you’ll help improve your local economy and community. If you own a small business, you can utilize Small Business Saturday as a highly-visible form of advertisement to encourage current and potential new customers to visit your store around the holidays. Even though this shopping holiday officially takes place on the Saturday following Thanksgiving, many businesses use Small Business Saturday-related hashtags on social media to advertise every Saturday throughout the year!

Small Business Saturday is just one trend that can help your small business. You can discover other trends to boost your business with help from Pennington Creative! Visit us online to learn about our SEO services.

About the Author

Jessica DeMilt

Digital Marketing Manager, Social Media Services