It took eight years for Amex to achieve what it’s done with “Small Business Saturday” and it’s totally inspiring. Their customizable kit is quite nice and produces a slew of marketing materials including sample email and also Spanish versions of marketing materials, too.
In our recent Small Business research work we saw time and time again how the cognitive effort required to make things like an email or social sharing graphic are HUGE. So I can imagine how welcome this computationally generated email — no matter how boilerplate-y — is an awesome resource:
Hi [CUSTOMER NAME OR SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORTER],
This Nov 24, we want to share Small Business Saturday® with you! It’s a holiday shopping tradition, backed by American Express, that celebrates small businesses like ours. And it wouldn’t be a celebration without customers like you joining us.
So mark your calendar for Nov 24th — the Saturday after Thanksgiving — and get ready to Shop Small® with us. Grab a friend or family member and come by WEBSITES R US between [MANUALLY ADD BUSINESS HOURS] on the big day.
You can help get the word out and celebrate Small Business Saturday by using #ShopSmall on Facebook, Instagram, and all your social networks.
Thank you for all your support, and we’ll see you Saturday, Nov 24th.
WEBSITES R US
And these banners are super handy:
And with associated materials in Spanish, too!
There’s also a marketing tip-sheet included.
What’s the takeaway here? Amex succeeded in making its own “day” to celebrate one of its most valuable customer segment and stuck to it. It’s also working to make it easier for folks to know about it.
You can see evidence of the cultural impact of “Small Business Saturday” in MailChimp’s shopping days tip list and also in Shopify’s tip list as well. And our WooCommerce team is doing the same again this year with a particularly social-minded bent thanks to our inclusive marketing guru Marina Pape.
Can every major business go out and make their own day that benefits their own business model? Well, that answer’s easy:
- “You miss 100% of the shots you never take.” —Wayne Gretzky, 1991
- “You don’t score if you don’t shoot.” —Glenn Warner, 1965
- “You can’t hit the ball if you don’t swing.” —John Tunis, 1943
Automattic Design 