Retailers Use Social Media to Make the Most out of Small Business Saturday

For the second consecutive year, American Express is sponsoring Small Business Saturday, the new shopping day squeezed in between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  Small Business Saturday is designed to gain attention and sales for America’s independently held retailers.  This year retailers are being encouraged to use social media as a way of leveraging sales, not just on Small Business Saturday, but throughout the coming year.

Retail strategist Rhonda Hurwitz encourages retailers to promote their businesses through Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. She recommends offering special discounts to shoppers who “like” a business’ Facebook page, or who otherwise link to the store using popular social media sites. Retailers are advised to have a laptop or iPad set up at the cash register so customers can sign up with the social media site right on the spot, paving the way for retailers to engage customers throughout the holiday season and the coming year.

Other strategies include creating a QR code to easily link customers to special offers or to the store’s Facebook page; using a Flip camera to take, post and tag pictures of customers interacting in the story; and offering special prizes to the business’ Foursquare Mayor.

Meanwhile, online businesses are gearing up for Cyber Monday – sales of which are expected to be record-breaking based on current trends in Internet advertising and purchases.  According to a report from IgnitionOne, a global provider of digital marketing technology and services, multi-channel retailers dramatically increased ad spending in both paid search (+31 percent) and display (+27 percent), when comparing the first half of Q4 2011 (October 1-November 13) to the same period last year. Consumers are also searching more on mobile devices, with ad spending on Google alone up 288 percent, compared to last year.

IgnitionOne further found that, year-over-year, conversion rates and revenues have increased 52 percent, while transaction sizes (orders) increased 120 percent.  All these indicators point to the probability of a very healthy Cyber Monday.

For more social media strategies for Small Business Saturday visit:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/rhondahurwitz/2011/11/16/make-the-most-of-sm...

For details on Online shopping trends see: 
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/retailers-poised-for-robust-black-frida...