“This a great time of year to do a ‘Tan Til The End of Year’ special (Level-1 tanning through December 31 for $99), or ‘Buy a Bottle of Lotion for $129/Get 6 Months Free Tanning,’ or an ‘EFT Upgrade’ special – a one-time payment of $20-$30 gets an upgrade to the next highest EFT level for 60 days. This is also a great time to mail (yes, an envelope and a stamp) your inactive clients with a ‘We Miss You’ or a ‘Wanted: Long Lost Customers’ reactivation campaign. The main lesson is, you NEVER turn off the marketing machine.”
Grant Miller
Sun Your Buns – Eerie, PA
“PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE! The slow season happens every year – it’s not something that is unexpected or happens once in a blue moon. You need to prepare and save for the slow months! In California, we are EXTREMELY seasonal, our client count quadruples during the busy months. To help increase sales and tanners in the off season, we run sales starting in August that promote tanning longevity. For instance, ‘Buy 2 Months/Get 2 Free.’ This ensures (or at least you hope) an increase in tanner traffic, and we all know more tanners = more opportunity for sales.
Jacee Kress
Sun Studio Tanning – Placentia, CA
“We have a lot of success with our “Black Friday” sale in November, which we run from 4-10pm to allow holiday shoppers to stop in, relax, and take advantage of one last great sale! Our most popular offer that day is a ‘Tan ‘Til March 1,’ which is basically three months for the price of two. That keeps guests coming back through the winter who may have otherwise skipped those months. Sunless is becoming more and more popular in our area, and we plan to spend more on sunless promotion this off-season, so those who are not tanning may opt to stop in for a quick spray-tan to get their summer glow back.”
Amber Wherley
Lion in the Sun – Fairmont, WV
“Of course it’s important to save during the busy seasons, coupled with building a loyal base of monthly auto-draft clients to help you ride out the long summers.”
Cris Moffitt
The Sunshine Factory – Greenville, NC
“We use our name in most of our promotions to stay relevant. During busy season, we advertise ‘X-Treme Summer X-Travaganza,’ whereas in the off-season, we promote ‘X-Treme Monthly Giveaways’ to keep things exciting through the slow season, so we’re about to launch giveaways every month til January. We have trivia contests from the 1st thru the 15th, since our EFT drafts are mainly done on the 1st and the 15th and this keeps those clients engaged. Our Lotion Education Day is on the 20th and our clients get one free product sample, and our Facebook ‘Likes Contest’ prize is a free spray-tan for the two people who like our posts the most throughout the month.”
Brandon Scott
X-Treme Tan – Cedar Park, TX
“Budget for the months when the cash flow is lower, and do promotions to engage people who have otherwise stopped tanning for the season.”
Bob English
Tantastic – Monroeville, PA
