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SMB Marketing Weekly: Nov 17-24, 2025
Weekly Digest | | 4 min read

SMB Marketing Weekly: Nov 17-24, 2025

The holiday marketing sprint is here. This week’s roundup covers the trends and updates you need to know heading into the biggest shopping weekend of the year.

1. Small Business Ad Spend Up 22% Heading Into Black Friday

Data from multiple ad platforms shows that small business advertising spend in November is up 22% compared to the same period in 2024. The increase is driven primarily by social media and search ads, with Meta and Google capturing the bulk of incremental budgets. If you’re noticing higher CPCs this week, you’re not imagining it. Competition peaks during Thanksgiving week and typically normalizes by mid-December.

2. Google Business Profile Rolls Out Holiday Attributes for All Businesses

Google has expanded its holiday-specific Business Profile attributes to all business categories. You can now add labels like “Gift wrapping available,” “Holiday catering,” and “Extended holiday hours” directly to your profile. These attributes appear prominently in local search results and Maps. Take five minutes to update your profile before the weekend rush.

Don't forget to set your special Thanksgiving and Black Friday hours in Google Business Profile. Customers searching for your business on those days will see whether you're open at a glance.

3. LinkedIn Introduces Scheduled Posts for Company Pages

LinkedIn has finally rolled out post scheduling for company pages, a feature that personal profiles have had for months. Small businesses can now schedule LinkedIn content up to 90 days in advance directly from the platform, removing the need for third-party scheduling tools for basic LinkedIn management. If LinkedIn is part of your content strategy, this is a welcome quality-of-life improvement.

4. Holiday Review Volume Already Surging

Review monitoring platforms are reporting that customer review volume across Google, Yelp, and Facebook is up 18% in November compared to October. This is typical for the holiday season, as increased transactions naturally lead to more feedback. The businesses that respond to reviews quickly during this period build trust with both the reviewer and everyone else reading. If you’re not monitoring your reviews daily right now, start this week.

Keeping up with review responses is easier when your customer data is organized. SMBcrm helps you track customer interactions so you can respond to reviews with context about each customer’s experience.

5. Cyber Monday Prep: Last-Minute Checklist

Cyber Monday is December 1 this year, and if you sell anything online, here’s your final checklist:

  • Test your checkout flow on mobile. Add an item to cart, go through payment, and confirm the confirmation email arrives.
  • Verify your promo codes work. Test every discount code you plan to use before publishing it.
  • Queue your emails. Your Cyber Monday email should be scheduled to send early Monday morning. A reminder email at 3-4 PM helps catch afternoon shoppers.
  • Update your homepage. Your Cyber Monday offer should be the first thing visitors see. Don’t make them hunt for it.
  • Prepare for customer service volume. Have templates ready for common questions about shipping, returns, and order status.

That’s the roundup. Good luck this weekend. Whether you’re running a Black Friday campaign, hosting a Small Business Saturday event, or gearing up for Cyber Monday, the work you’ve done this month is about to pay off. See you next week.