Merry Christmas! I hope the holiday season is treating you all nicely, and you’re enjoying the end of JASON!
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Holiday giving is in full-swing. As you’re spending time focusing on holiday promotions, I encourage you to start looking at your promos for next year.
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Many small businesses say they don’t have a marketing budget, and don’t have any plans for upcoming promotions. While I understand not setting aside a portion of revenue for marketing, operating without a marketing calendar leaves you constantly shooting in the dark. Here are some tips for designing your promotional strategy for the year.
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1. Don’t try to force “season.”
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My biggest suggestion with any business as seasonal as ours: don’t force it. You will always be fighting an uphill battle, and the energy you spend trying to sell Christmas trees in July will detract from other opportunities you can pursue in our slower season. Instead of focusing on UV tanning after the summer, use that time to focus on additional services. Spray-tan season goes much longer than UV tanning, and then you can focus on skin care, teeth-whitening, and retail services in your salon. Instead of trying to force the busy season, ride the wave while it’s here, then jump on to the next one.
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2. Have a plan, and work it.
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For years, we’d run a “tan ‘til next year” promo at the first of the year. It always kicked off our season well; but then, many of those level-1 tanners would buy the package in January and not spend another dime all year. In 2017, we chose not to offer this package in the spring, and instead to offer it as season was ending. This kept those tanners spending money all season, and then got the bigger purchase from them as our cash flow was shrinking. We intentionally shaped our year to keep people coming in and to get the “big tickets” when there was less traffic coming through the doors.
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3. Design sales intentionally.
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Running a “buy 2 months, get 1 free” special? Don’t run it in February – people are going to tan at full price during that time of year. Instead, offer it in June. Get people to buy three months when they would have just bought one, and keep them coming in to the salon through late August.
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4. Use holidays to your advantage.
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Plan your gift-giving and promotions along with mass retail. Focus on gift certificates and spa services in the fourth quarter to pump up revenue and increase foot traffic. A wise friend says “you can’t sell to air!” Getting traffic in your salon gives your team a chance to sell services and products the customer didn’t necessarily intend to buy.
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5. Market in waves.
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I spend the majority of my time working for my creative agency, and this is what we tell our clients. There’s a time of year to market each service, and by the time you’ve marketed sufficiently and “played it out,” it’s time to move on to the next service. Plan to do this before you start 2018.
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As we wrap up the last few slower weeks of the year, get a pencil and paper and plan your 2018 marketing. If you can have a map laid out, it’ll be much easier to follow it next year, and to adequately plan for each promotion. If you need help with your marketing calendar, feel free to reach out: hello@dspurgers.com.
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Happy Holidays! Cheers to a successful season for all in 2018!
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As we wrap up the last few slower weeks of the year, get a pencil and paper and plan your 2018 marketing.
