If you haven’t yet heard, Saturday November 24 is “Small Business Saturday,” a day American Express started a few years back with the hope that consumers would “shop small” the Saturday of the busiest shopping weekend of the year. The day has since then taken off – attracting positive publicity and adding eager participants each year. In an effort to help small businesses better market themselves, American Express even provides the essential marketing material needed to be successful for the day.  From store-front signage to social media templates, small businesses can quickly gain access to marketing resources that they otherwise might not have had access to.

How does this apply to your small business? Well, we want to share 3 marketing strategies you can adopt from “Small Business Saturday” so that every day you are converting consumers to long-term customers.

1)     Use Social Media to your Advantage:  Social Media is easily one of the most cost efficient and effective marketing tools of our time. Click here to check out this really informative info graphic regarding the 2012 Social Media Statistics from Digital Buzz. http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/social-media-statistics-stats-2012-infographic/. As a small business, you’re in a great position to build relationships through interaction, educate your followers with useful information, and provide great customer service responses.

2)     Create a Cohesive Brand Identity: If you take a closer look into the marketing material American Express provides small businesses, you will notice a consistence image throughout. You can apply this same concept to your business. Nothing is more confusing than a business without a clear focus. From your distinct business personality to the colors in your logo, everything should be cohesive and make sense. If you want your brand to convey the story you want to tell and make sense to those you are telling it to, you need to develop (and stick) to a clear identity.

3)     Educate through Email: Email is not only a great way to follow-up with your leads and customers, but it is also a great avenue for educational marketing. When you are communicating through email, have a clear objective in mind and also make sure to provide some form of value to the person on the receiving end. If you are corresponding through email on a regular basis, make sure to throw in some return for your subscribers– rather it be a piece of useful information they didn’t previously have or some form of coupon/reward/special offer.

Go forth Small Business Saturday, every Saturday, and essentially every day with the objective to better your marketing strategy and drive more long-term customer loyalty!