Are you ready to make the most out of Small Business Saturday? It's the alternative or counterpart to better-known shopping days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday and it's gone viral since its introduction in 2010. In fact, according to Facebook, approximately 88 million people in the U.S. (that's 1 out of every 4 Americans) spent an estimated $14.3 billion with small businesses in 2014. Here's how you can make the most of it for your business: 1. Be social. This could be your biggest "shopping day" of the year so get the word out on all channels including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest. Plan on 3-5 posts/week focusing on Small Business Saturday and what it means for your customers (not you). You could even get in touch with various marketing agencies in your vicinity. For example, if you were living in Australia, you could always seek help from a digital marketing agency australia to help you amplify the reach of your business and increase traffic on your website. 2. Be digital. Don't forget to promote it on your website and through your eNewsletters and blogs. Use invoice software to digitize your invoices for simplicity and practicality - many shoppers appreciate going paperless now anyway as it's more convenient and helps to save the environment. Taking the assistance of accounting software such as Quickbooks and others could help the financial aspect of the business to be streamlined and - helping in accepting and giving out payments and invoices for clients, customers, and vendors alike. Multiple bookkeeping software companies tend to partner up with check printing companies such as Check O Matic (visit their service page at https://www.checkomatic.com/order-quickbooks-checks to know more) to print checks compatible with the software, and give the business a smooth functioning benefit. 3. Be personal. Decorate your shop or office with signs about Small Business Saturday. Have your employees promote it as well. Consider playing a particular kind of music to draw in customers. You can use streaming services, allowing you to create playlists and moods for your shop. You can click this to personally know about it. Keep in mind that one of the reasons your customers choose you over a big box store is that they feel a personal connection to your business and your community. Capitalize on that and get some buzz going by asking them to contribute to your pages/sites. Get their stories. Get their videos. Get them involved. Ask them to support Small Business Saturday by tweeting about shopping small with the #ShopSmall hashtag. Or posting a photo on Instagram with the same hashtag. In exchange, you do the same: post pictures of them in your establishment, make a fun video of them showing their support. You get the idea. Reward your community for their loyalty. Saturday, November 28th is just around the corner. To learn more and get FREE promotional materials for your own business, courtesy of American Express, visit here. Like their Facebook Page to be inspired by other small [...]

We hear it from our new clients all the time: we see our real growth potential being with the 25-40 year old demographic. But they're elusive! They don't read emails The only TV they watch is Netflix or TiVO (no ads) - and they even know how to get around blocked sites thanks to sites like Avoidcensorship.org/ The only radio they listen to is Sirius (also no ads) They don't answer their phones (especially from numbers they don't recognize) They surely don't read newspapers So what's a business to do? You need to congregate where they do and that's on social media. Facebook is the 2 ton gorilla here with nearly 1.6 billion members. And, now that they have integrated Instagram Ads that gives advertisers a massive network of desktop, mobile, Instagram and third party channels. Who wants to get in front of Millennials? Real estate agents, specialty retail companies, early childhood centers, to name just a few. Can we help YOU get in front of Millennials? You bet we can. Operators are standing by! 888.607.9655 or email us at Sales@Engage121.com

Not surprisingly, Facebook continues to be the top referrer for retailers. Plus, Facebook traffic is more likely to convert into sales over all other social channels. These findings come from the latest Adobe Digital Media Index (ADMI) release. The ADMI also found that Facebook’s average revenue per visitor (RPV)* is double that of Twitter and 1.5 times more than from Pinterest. Facebook’s average RVP in Q3 was $1.24 – that’s a 7% increase measured year over year. And while social is a relatively small referral source for retailers, it’s growing. Fast. Social shopping accounted for $3.3 billion of the top 500 retailers’ sales and that’s an increase of 26% over 2013 levels according to the Internet Retailers Social Media 500. That’s great growth compared to the overall average e-commerce growth rate of 16%. This is all great news for social e-commerce. It should be even more interesting in Q4 as Instagram’s ad program takes off! Want to learn more about how you can (and should) incorporate social commerce into your business marketing arsenal? Reach out to us at Sales@Engage121.com and a social media specialist will be in touch!