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Tanning Salon Marketing Tips

There are many forms of marketing for small businesses, each with their advantages and disadvantages. In the past ten years the expansion of the internet has led to a spike in spending on e-marketing. The shift to e-marketing was caused by a multitude of reasons. The biggest reason is the cost compared to more traditional forms of advertising such as radio, TV, print, and direct mail is that the cost per thousand is much cheaper. It is important to note that an effective advertising campaign should include multiple forms of media because each reaches a unique audience and appeals to different senses. By combining several forms you begin to build brand recognition which is crucial for long-term success. In the tanning industry someone may hear or see your advertisement, but not consider going to a tanning salon for several weeks or month. If your advertising is effective then the consumer should still recall you when they finally do need your service. In this blog I am going to focus on direct mail campaigns.

Tanning salons began to use direct mail in the 1980’s. The advantages of using direct mail are the ability to reach a targeted audience and also since it is printed you can use imagery and even offer coupons. With today’s digital printing presses it is now possible to also personalize each piece with the recipients name or special offer based on what might appeal to a certain client based on factors such as their gender or age. The most common form of direct mail piece is the basic 5”x7” postcard. The reason being that it sticks out in the mail since it is visible without the need to open an envelope and postcards are printed on thicker stock. Using simple designs with bright color can also help to attract attention. Using too much text will reduce its effectiveness as people tend to not want to work to figure out what something is, this is especially true now that there is so much mail that your direct mail advertisement must compete with.
Some basic themes for direct mail include coupons for free or discounted tanning. Special sales on specific days like Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, or New Years. You can also advertise new tanning beds or tanning booths to generate interest in past customers that have not visited the salon lately. By making sure to collect accurate addresses and birthdays with your tanning salon software, you can also send out personalized birthday cards to your clients with a special offer. If you are really advanced you can even begin to have an advanced rewards program for frequent tanners or referral credits. Tanning Salon need to be active in their advertising because doing sporadic campaigns will not be as valuable as keeping a consistent amount of advertising in the market. Direct mails should be one of the smaller portions of your advertising budget because of the high cost, but doing occasional mailings will help to reach a certain audience that you do not reach otherwise.

On a quick side note here are some topics to make sure to constantly tell your customers about through your marketing. Always try and have information about the tanning lotions that your salon offers. Make sure to include sales, but also information on why it is important to use them. This will increase sales of lotions which are a very high profit item. Also make sure to constantly explain all the different tanning beds that you offer and the features of each. By engaging the customer into the equipment it gets them excited and motivated to come tanning as they want to try new things. Take time to explain the importance of using tanning booths in their routine to ensure even tanning. Also make sure to introduce your customers to spray tanning. Sunless tanning is the fastest growing revenue stream in indoor tanning so make sure to capitalize on this.

Related posts:

1. Should I turn my tanning salon into an EFT based business or use packages?
2. What tanning salon software should I use?
3. How to lease or purchase Tanning Beds and Tanning Booths
4. How to build a good base tan.
5. What is a tanning lotion bronzer and how does it work?

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