6 Ways to Show Your Favourite Small Business Some Love this Valentine’s Day

The day known for its celebration of love is here once again. But Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be all about couples and romance.

In fact, today is the perfect day to honour the love you have for your favourite small business!

It doesn’t take a lot to make a small business owner feel special on Valentine’s Day. In fact, here are six simple ways to show your local business, and the people that make it great, just how much they mean to you.

1. Be social about it

Nothing says ‘I love you’ to a small business more than tweeting (or ‘gramming) it to the world. Tell your followers what makes this business so special and why it won your heart this Valentine’s Day with a post on your go-to social network.

Fun Fact: Futurpreneur has created a hashtag just for this! If your fave business happens to be supported by Futurpreneur, feel free to hashtag your posts with #FuturHighFive to spread the love all year round.

#FuturHighFive Tweets

2. Give it five stars

These days, most potential customers check a business’ reviews before they decide to check them out. After all, there’s nothing more authentic than having loyal customers share their first-hand experience so positive online reviews can really help a business grow.

Be sure to rate the business on Facebook, Google, Yelp and any industry specific site (like TripAdvisor). Positive reviews are especially helpful for newer businesses as it helps to establish trust within the market.

3. Feature the business on your blog

Whether you have your own blog or post on sites like Tumblr or Medium, sharing a post featuring this special business can be a great way to show appreciation. Not only does this help to spread the word, it can actually help to improve the business’ SEO.

4. Pick up coffee and a snack for the owner

Entrepreneurs are often so focused and dedicated to working on their business that they might forget to take a break to eat or drink.

Stop by with a pick-me-up for them in the afternoon and it will be a simple surprise they’ll never forget.

5. Engage with the business’ social media posts

Not only will liking a post send your love to the business like a valentine in the digital age, but engaging with a brand’s social media posts ensure those posts will be seen by others.

Thanks to Facebook and Instagram’s algorithms changes, not many business posts end up in their follower’s feeds. The more comments and likes brand posts receive, the more often they will be shown to other followers. More than ever, engagement is critical for a small businesses’ social media accounts.

6. Keep shopping with them!

The most important way to tell a local business you love them is by shopping with them. Whether you pick up something for your Valentine’s Day plans, or stop in just because, every sale means something special for a small business owner.

Happy Monday! Small changes can make a big impact. Instead of heading to your neighbourhood big box store or coffee chain, try supporting a local #smallbiz instead! #WayWeWork

A post shared by Futurpreneur Canada (@futurpreneur) on Jan 15, 2018 at 8:37am PST

Whether it’s Valentine’s Day, or any given Wednesday, it’s easy to show appreciation for your favourite small business. Start with these six simple ways and make a business owner’s day today!

Written by: Megan te Boekhorst, Events Specialist, Futurpreneur Canada