Now that the holiday season and all the insanity that comes with it is behind us, it’s time to really think about your marketing plan for 2015 if you haven’t already. With the tanning season revving up, here are some ways to make sure your marketing plan is rock solid this year.

Evaluate your business It’s hard to plan out your marketing if you don’t have a grasp on your company’s current position. A great place to start is a simple S.W.O.T. analysis. Get together with your management team and take a critical look at your business to figure out your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. You might even want to bring in some key employees to offer insight on this.

Strengths: What is your salon really good at? Is it product sales? Customer service? Cleanliness? What things set your salon apart from others in a good way?

Weaknesses: What is your salon lousy at? What parts of your business could use improving? This is sometimes not fun as an owner or a manager to hear, but your employees can offer a lot of valuable insight on this.

Opportunities: What are some opportunities for growth and improvement that maybe you’re overlooking? What are some things you maybe have been offering or selling, but haven’t put the proper resources behind?

Threats: What things threaten your business? A competitor? Traffic? Visibility What’s going to pose a challenge to your salon this year?

Click here to read the entire article in Smart Tan Magazine online.