Post Your Small Business Saturday Plans on Google

Small Business Saturday falls on November 28 this year, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It is one of the few days in the calendar when shoppers set out on purpose to spend money with independent local businesses, and many of them decide where to go by searching on the morning itself.

When they do, the first thing most of them see is not your website. It is your Google Business Profile, in the map results or the panel beside them. If that profile says nothing about the day, a shopper has no reason to pick you over the business next to you that does.

Use a profile post to say what is happening

Google Business Profile lets you publish short posts that appear on your profile. There are a few kinds, and two of them suit Small Business Saturday well:

• An event post, with a title, a start and end date and time, a short description and a photo. Use this if you are doing something on the day, such as extended hours, a tasting, a demonstration or a local partner popping in.
• An offer post, with the offer itself, the dates it runs, and any terms. Use this if you have a discount, a free add-on or a gift with purchase.

Either way, write it the way you would explain it to a regular customer. Say what the offer or event is, when it runs, and what someone needs to do. A clear photo of your own shop or team works better than a stock image.

Post early, then update it

There is no reason to wait until the week of Thanksgiving. Posting in early November gives shoppers who plan ahead time to see it, and it means the post is already live if anything about Google's review of new content takes longer than expected. You can publish a reminder closer to the day.

Check the details on the profile itself at the same time. If you are opening early or staying open late on November 28, add special hours for that date so the profile does not show you as closed when you are open. Our post on adding your holiday services to your Google profile covers the rest of the seasonal clean-up.

A shopper choosing between two shops on the same street will usually pick the one that told them what to expect.

Point everything to the same details

Your profile post should match what you say everywhere else: the sign in the window, your social posts, your email to past customers and your website. If the profile says 20 percent off and the email says 15, people notice, and some of them will ask for the bigger number at the till.

Write the offer once, agree the exact wording, and use that wording in every place it appears. That also makes it easier for whoever is on the counter that Saturday to answer questions about it.

Keep the profile active afterwards

A profile that posts once a year looks abandoned the rest of the time. If Small Business Saturday is the push you need to start posting, keep going through December with updates on holiday hours, gift ideas and booking deadlines. If you are new to the profile, Google Business Profile 101 is a good place to start.

Keeping profiles accurate and active is a core part of Vizible's local search service. If you would like a plan for your own holiday season, start with a free growth proposal.