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Small Business Saturday

The 3 easy steps you need to create your Small Business Saturday offer

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So, you’ve decided you need an offer for Small Business Saturday. I’m so glad you’re going to get involved this year. Figuring out what would make a good offer can be a bit mind-boggling, especially as you’re already busy.

Well, you don’t have to worry about a thing. I’m going to take the pressure off you by helping you! Here’s a step-by-step process you can follow to create an offer that will work for your business.

First thing’s, first. What’s your goal?

Whenever you create an offer, you need to start with an end goal in mind. What do you want your offer to achieve for your business? Is it:

  • Finding new customers?
  • Encouraging repeat business from new customers or customer loyalty?
  • Persuading donors or advocates to give to your cause or spread the word?
  • Or growing your membership numbers?

Pick one goal and settle on that. For example, if you’re an e-commerce business selling, say, retro sweets, your goal may be to increase the number of customers you have. On the other hand, if you’re a marketing consultant, like me, and you only want to work with a few clients at a time, your goal might be customer loyalty, i.e. selling more services to, or keeping your existing customers.

Once you’ve decided what your goal is, the next thing you need to do is attach a target to it. By adding a number to your goal, you really know what you’re aiming for. Because without a target, how will you know whether you’ve been successful or not? Simply saying “I want more customers” won’t cut it. How will you know when you’ve achieved “more customers”?

If you don’t believe, they won’t either

The next thing you have to work out is what your value is. By that, I mean why would people buy from you? What makes you different from your competitors? There are lots of businesses out there, so just what makes yours unique?

Next, think about the products and services you provide. How do they benefit the people you want to sell to? How would they make life easier for your potential customers? You’ll need to have this figured out so you can communicate it in your offer. Let’s go back to the online retro sweet shop. A benefit of using them might be that they offer free postage and packaging for orders over £20. Or they might provide a free gift-wrap service. It’s likely that if you’re ordering for a friend, it’s a present and wouldn’t it save you a lot of hassle if your order could arrive with your friend, wrapped and with a message?

If you’re struggling with answering these questions, pick a couple of your really good customers and ask them. You’ll be surprised at how willing they are to help. They’ll be able to tell you exactly what they value about working with you and the benefits of the products or services you provide. This will give you a real insight that you can use to shape your offer.

Time to get creative!

Armed with the above information, you’re ready to create your offer. Here are the main types of offers you can use:

  • Discounts like buy one, get one free, or a straight percentage off.
  • Downloadable content such as a guide or an ebook.
  • Event-led promotions such as early-bird tickets or buy one bring a friend for free.
  • B2B services where you offer your expertise, for example by hosting a webinar.
  • Hints & tips to support a product or service you sell, for example, a free nutrition chart when booking personal training sessions.
  • Support a cause by giving exclusive access to an event for people who donate.

Because you did some thinking before you got to this stage, figuring out what people will love will be easy. Again, if you are worried whether your offer will work, test it out on a couple of your best customers. Ask them for feedback, which I guarantee you’ll get. Then give them a small present as a thank you for helping.

And there you have it. You know now how to create the perfect offer just for your business. But don’t leave it too late, Small Business Saturday will be here before you know it, so get cracking today!

Ready to make your mark?

Do you want to leverage Small Business Saturday to boost your sales? You need a Small Business Saturday offer!

If you’re not sure where to start, create an irresistible offer with my new eBook. At only £9.99, it’s the recipe you need for a stellar Small Business Saturday offer.

Here’s the BIG plus. You can use the process at any time of the year. Buy once and use it again, and again! Get your copy today.