The holiday season is an ideal time to reflect on what your small business has accomplished throughout the year, but it's also an opportune time to leverage the holiday promotional season in order to drive new leads, increase sales and build brand awareness.

The latest article featured on PR Newswire's Small Business PR Toolkit helps small business owners determine if a holiday sales strategy makes sense for their business by weighing the pros and cons of participating in Black Friday, Small Business Saturday or Cyber Monday.

Black Friday: This Friday after Thanksgiving holiday shopping tradition can be traced back to the 60s and many large retail operations use this day to run their in-store sales promotions.

Pro: Shoppers are out on the street and looking to take advantage of sales promotions. Small Businesses are also at the advantage because they have a smaller infrastructure that allows you to personalize your customer service and even follow-up post sale.

Con: There is a lot of noise and small businesses may get lost in the shuffle.

Small Business Saturday: This holiday was officially recognized by Congress in 2015, but its roots go back to American Express who wanted to draw attention to the mom-and-pop brick and mortar stores serving local communities.

Pro: Small Business Saturday offers a good alternative to not get lost in the Black Friday commotion. Sending promotional materials to loyal customers ahead of time can be a relatively easy endeavor that has a high level of return.

Con: While this day bolsters local shops, you are asking customers to come back out again and there may be some hesitation on their side.

PR Newswire's Small Business PR Toolkit is a comprehensive resource that provides small businesses and entrepreneurs the tools to develop an affordable public relations and marketing plan that helps generate interest from potential customers, engage with key audiences and grow their businesses. The toolkit features relevant content such as informative white papers, interactive webinars and how-to articles and premium access to educational resources, as well as the opportunity to take advantage of special offers designed specifically for small businesses. To request information on how PR Newswire can help your small business, click here.