Although the holiday season is one of the most exciting times of the year, it can also be difficult to navigate for small business owners. With this in mind, we’ve collected some helpful articles that provide useful business information, inspiration, and tips for the holidays.
1. “Big surge in shopping on ‘Small Business Saturday’, analysis finds” by Associated Press, Market Watch
Shoppers spent $3.6 billion on Small Business Saturday, just from online shopping alone. Shopping online on mobile phones alone increased by 22%. One could say Small Business Saturday was a smashing success!
2. “The best and worst Christmas ads: Marketing Week Picks” by Marketing Week Reporters, Marketing Week
Want some good and bad examples of holiday marketing? Check out Marketing Week’s top video ads list. The winners include IKEA’s rapping figurines commercial, Argo’s book of dreams video, and Aldi’s Australia ad. The losers include Amazon’s singing boxes commercial, Iceland’s Frozen partnership ad, and Apple’s iPad commercial.
3. “Twitter Publishes 2020 Marketing Calendar to Help With Strategic Planning” by Andrew Hutchinson, Social Media Today
If you want a head start on planning your social media for the new year, Twitter just published its social media calendar for 2020. It’s full of recommendations for important events to advertise. Additionally, Twitter created 2020 social media calendars for the US, UK, and the Middle East.
4. “48% of Young People Discover Nonprofits via Social Media: Giving Tuesday Study” by Chris Strub, Forbes
In honor of Giving Tuesday, when people are encouraged to donate to a charity instead of shopping for sales deals, Forbes highlights a recent study on nonprofits. 62% of Americans under the age of 38 will donate to a cause at least once a month. For the causes that they supported, 48% of these Americans say they found out about nonprofits through social media. For nonprofits, social media is a must to advertise their organization!
5. “20 Christmas Ornaments to Make and Sell For A Handmade Holiday Business” by Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead, Small Business Trends
Do you have creative skills? Depending on your small business, it may not be a bad idea to branch into making holiday ornaments to sell during the holiday season. This article suggests different types of ornaments you can craft based on your specific skill set. Some of our favorites include yule logs, mini snow globes, mini wreaths, and glitter lights.
6. “Holidays stressing you out and your small business? Here’s help” by Rhonda Abrams, USA Today
With 54% of entrepreneurs feeling stressed during the holidays, it’s easy to be overwhelmed. This article recommends ways to channel your stress into positive energy. Some of the top ways entrepreneurs treat their stress include self-care, vacation, developing new business processes, providing employees with special perks, and giving back to their local communities.
7. “Pinterest’s new curated marketplace gives smaller merchants a holiday boost” by Robert Williams, Marketing Dive
Pinterest is debuting an online marketplace, @PinterestShop, for smaller merchants to sell products for the holiday season. By featuring local small businesses in this shop, Pinterest is hoping to expand its advertising clients to include small businesses, similar to Facebook and Google.
8. “Facebook’s Plan to Keep Growing Bigger” by Sara Fischer, AXIOS
Curious about Facebook’s plans for the upcoming year and beyond? Here’s what we know: Facebook plans to keep scaling its advertising programs for the foreseeable future. This may include integrating advertising into Facebook Messenger, Stories, Marketplace, and Video more. In addition, Facebook is trying to raise consumer engagement in acquisitions such as Whatsapp and Oculus, before trying to boost the advertising revenue made from those platforms.
