On Saturday, the 2nd of December, it will be 5 years of Small Business Saturday. It is an event that was created to support small businesses. It attracts millions of customers each year and gives businesses an income boost before Christmas. Akoni believes firmly that SMEs are the bedrock of our economy and we do what we can to support them so we have put together a few tips to prepare for the day:

1. Prepare your customers

Don't wait for the day to advertise your business. Make sure you tell your customers about it in advance. If you have a newsletter, tell your customers to mark the event in their calendars, with hints to special promotions. Publish multiple posts on Social Media, leading up to the day and get customers excited for your offers.

2. Know your Social Media

Publishing posts to spread the word is key to reaching as many people as possible. Be sure to use the hashtag that is trending. #SmallBizSatUK is used in more than hundred thousand tweets on the day.

3. Stand out

On Small Business Saturday you don't want to be conducting business as usual. Make sure to make changes that would attract customers. Extend your opening hours for those who have not seen your online promotions or for those who are walking past at unlikely shop opening hours. Since that day is an event, you should treat is such. Hand out balloons to children on the street and for that extra advertising you could make them branded balloons as well. Speaking of advertising, you could encourage passersby to take selfies in front of your shop by providing fun props. This way your name might appear on various Social Media profiles, which will act as free advertising.

4. Partner with other Small Businesses

A great way of promoting your business is to partner with others. You could offer discounts for those who shop in another local business and vice versa. For example, if you own a coffee shop, you could offer a free pastry with every coffee, when shopping at the next door clothing boutique.

5. Make sure your online presence works

Regular social media posts are important. In addition you should always, but particularly on a day that you expect increased traffic, make sure everything on your website works and is up to date. If you have a blog you want to make sure you have recent and relevant blog posts. The last thing you want is for visitors to feel that the site is stale and boring. You want customers to shop on that day, but you also want them to go away with a great experience and for them to come back as a result.

Promoting your business can be a lot of work and expensive. Small Business Saturday was particularly created to focus the awareness of shoppers to businesses like yours. Our advice is to make the most of a relatively cheap, but highly affective promotional tool. While increasing revenue and advertising your business, it will also be great fun for you and your team.

Akoni helps businesses make the most of their cash. Register free at AkoniHub.com and follow us on Twitter