Salons Ramping Up Marketing Efforts in 2014: Poll
Two-thirds of indoor tanning businesses said they spent the same or more on marketing in 2014 compared to 2013, in a recent SmartTan.com poll.
Forty-five percent of salons said they have spent more on marketing in 2014, 21 percent said they spent the same, and 34 percent said they have spent less than in 2013.
While business is down for some salons this year, it’s an encouraging sign that most are investing in gaining new business rather than cutting back and perpetuating the negative trend. As our Smart Tan Magazine feature this month discusses, you can’t just wait for success to come to you.
When money is tight, it’s tempting to pull your purse strings shut on marketing, but the last thing you want to do is to allow people to forget about you! If you are not putting your business out there, you leave the door wide open for your competitors. No tanning salon can afford to leave the future of their business up to word of mouth or an intermittently updated Facebook page.
Marketing, like everything else, is a matter of investment. If you don’t have the budget now, put time and effort indo doing your best with the free or low-cost options available to you. But don’t let that be the end of the story: There is value in paid advertising, when you do it strategically.
If something isn’t working for you, don’t give up on it – it may be the wrong time of year, or it may just need some refining. The salons that are most successful with marketing are the ones who create a marketing plan stick to it, measure the results,and adjust accordingly. The key is to keep giving it your attention. When you start doing the same old thing, it just becomes noise ina world that is overrun with marketing messages vying for the attention of your customers.
