More shoppers choose Small Business Saturday over Black Friday for holiday deals.
Small businesses can make the most of this year’s event by devising their marketing and sales strategies in advance. Use this checklist to prepare and make sure you’re ready for the big day.
🚀 Start now
Create promotions
Decide which discounts, partnerships, and special offers you want to promote to attract customers to your store.
Set up your map listing
Add your business to the American Express Shop Small Map listing to help customers find you on Small Business Saturday.
Establish payment options
Set up and test online and in-person methods to ensure transactions run smoothly on the big day.
Update your online presence
Check that your website and social media profiles contain current information, and can handle traffic and address customer questions.
Check your inventory
Make sure you have enough promotional items, gift cards, and best-selling products in stock, then order what’s still needed.
Set up AI voice assistance for missed calls
Ensure you don’t miss out on any calls during the busy holiday season with CallRail’s Voice Assist, your AI voice assistant that captures calls and qualifies leads 24/7. Voice Assist allows you to run holiday promos for longer, answers common customer questions, and sends those call insights straight to your CallRail dashboard.
85%
85% of customers whose calls go unanswered don’t call back.
📅 2-3 weeks before
Design promotional materials
Create or download marketing materials like graphics, posters, and social media posts.
Publicize your participation
Start letting customers know you’re involved with Small Business Saturday by sharing the news on signage, social media, your website, and email newsletters.
Prepare your website
Set up your online sales and update information about cross promotions and event-day activities.
Get involved with your community
Engage with community groups, local influencers, other businesses, charitable causes, or Small Business Saturday walking tours to make connections and support other local organizations.
Track leads
Use lead tracking and AI tools to learn how customers found you for Small Business Saturday, then use the insights all year.
"CallRail helps us glance through the call logs and identify the reason customers are calling us and the general sentiment on the calls."
Marketing & Advertising Industry
🛍️ 1 week before
Train your team
Review customer service best practices and use tools like CallRail’s call coaching, which analyzes calls in real-time and delivers timely, personalized feedback to improve conversations for a better customer experience.
What do you like best about CallRail?
“Being able [to] listen to calls to find any errors or miscommunications and train employees better on how to speak to the clients!”
Paralegal Office Manager
Prepare your store
Clean and organize your shop to ensure it’s welcoming for customers on the day of the event.
Post on social media
Share your Small Business Saturday deals as well as details about your store location and hours.
Remind customers
Send out event reminders via mail and email to let local shoppers know what you have planned.
💌 After the event
Analyze your data
With Call Tracking and AI-generated call summaries and sentiment analysis, you can easily review how the day went and what you can do differently next year by examining call and marketing data and then plan changes.
“CallRail has been a game changer when it comes to tracking calls and viewing the analytics for these calls.”
Executive Administrative Assistant
Request customer feedback
Ask customers for their opinions of the event so you can better plan next year, and request reviews and referrals from happy customers.
Follow up
Share post-event emails, bounce-back promos, and social media posts to thank your customers for their business.
🎁 Streamline customer interactions in time for your holiday sales
By following the steps in this checklist, you’ll be ready to participate in Small Business Saturday and optimize your sales for this popular event.
Start your 14-day CallRail free trial to understand the full impact of your Small Business Saturday campaigns.
