7 Ways To Support Small Businesses (for FREE!)
There are a multitude of reasons to support small, local businesses. First of all, small businesses care about YOU and your needs, and truly want to give you an overall exceptional experience. It is more sustainable to shop local and shop small. You put your money back into your community this way. But there are also ways that you can show up for your favorite small businesses without spending a single dime! All you need to do is take a small chunk of time to show your support.
1. Write a Review
Sharing a review about your experience with businesses you’ve worked with is a great way to show your support and help those businesses grow! I cannot tell you how important reviews are to small business owners. Reviews are one of the first things our potential clients see when they’re seeking out a new business. By simply writing a few words about your experience is a huge help!
Don’t know where to start? Here are a few things to consider when writing a review for a small business:
What was your experience working with this business?
Did they exceed your expectations? How so?
Provide specific situations they helped you with, solutions they provided, or anything they went above and beyond for.
Next time you find yourself aimlessly scrolling on your phone, take five minutes to hop on Google, Facebook, or Yelp and write a review for one of your favorite local businesses!
2. Tell your friends and family about the business!
If you had a great experience with a small or local business, shout it from the rooftops to your family and friends! There’s no shame in name-dropping your favorite businesses to your crew. In fact, they will probably love it as much as you do!
3. Follow on Social Media
Following small businesses on social media may seem like a no-brainer to some, but this is a great way to support! Not only are you helping out those businesses with your follow by showing them that they are valuable and helpful, but you can get updates, exclusive offers, tips and tricks, and see more of their day-to-day agenda.
Small businesses often utilize social media as their main form of marketing. Your follow helps them expand their marketing and grow their business.
You can find me here:
4. Engage with the small businesses you follow on social media
Once you’re following a small business on social media, make sure to engage with their posts and stories. This can be anything from liking and commenting, sharing a post or story with your own followers, tagging a friend, or saving posts to a collection.
Why it’s important to engage with business accounts on social media:
When a business’s content gets good engagement on Instagram, it taps into the algorithm and the app sees that people find your content valuable and pushes the content onto the explore page for more people to see their content. This is crucial to business growth.
By reading and responding to your favorite small business’s posts, you open up a conversation, build a sense of community, and form connections. In my opinion, our way to connecting is the beauty of social media.
By saving posts, you’re showing the app that the content is valuable enough to go back to, allowing Instagram to deem the business worthy of sharing more of their content. Woof. It’s a lot to take in but trust me, small businesses appreciate every like, comment, share, and save they receive!
How to share a post on Facebook:
Click on the arrow in the bottom right hand side of the post and you can select “share now” or “write a post” to share it to your timeline.
How to share a post or story on Instagram:
Click on the paper airplane icon underneath the picture of the post and share to your story or send as a DM.
How to save a post on Instagram:
Click on the tab icon on the right hand side underneath the picture in the post. By tapping that icon, it will save to your general saved items. By tapping and holding the icon, it will open up a “Save to” bar where you can create a collection to organize your saved posts.
5. Send a message or email showing your support
Who doesn’t love receiving an encouraging message? I know it can feel a little weird reaching out to someone you may not know, but trust me when I say small business owners cherish those messages more than you know. There is a lot that goes into running a small business, so when we receive a kind email or DM, it not only lights up our day but also promotes positivity! Seriously, words of encouragement and support are ALWAYS welcome!
6. Join their email list
Email lists are a great way to stay connected with small businesses. Typically, this is where they will share new products and discounts, plus the email list is often where businesses share their exciting news first!
7. Refer them!
Overhear your coworker saying they are looking for a type of good or service? Refer them to that small business where you had a great experience (and probably wrote a raving review, amirite?) If you have a business card, even better! Sharing and following on social media is amazing, but it’s much more personal when a small business gets a referral. It’s the cherry on top of feeling all the love.
BONUS!
Share about your experience and share their work on social media
Obsessed with your new product or had an incredible experience with a small business? Share about it on social media and tag the small biz! I absolutely love it when my clients share photos to social media, tag me in stories, and share about our experience together. Love something that a small business posts? Share it to your story! You never know which of your followers is now being introduced to this small business and the work they do. Keep spreading the love!
Let’s recap:
Write your favorite small businesses a review (this only takes a couple of minutes)
Tell your friends and family about them
Follow them on social media
Do more than just follow, ENGAGE! Like, comment, share, and save!
Send them an encouraging message - we looove getting those!
Join their email list
Refer them!
Share your experience on social media, tag the small business, and share their work
And there you have it! 7 ways to support small businesses without spending any money at all. Next time you find yourself mindlessly scrolling, refer back to this post and take just five minutes to write a review, engage and share on social media, or send a supportive message to one of your favorite small businesses. Speaking on behalf of all business owners, it truly means the world to us!
Let me know how you support small businesses in the comments. I would love to add it to the list! And share one of your favorite small or local businesses!