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14 Fantastic Tanning Salon Marketing Strategies to Boost your Sales

A woman standing with a ‘We are Open’ board

Here’s the thing – Tanning salon marketing is not just throwing out pamphlets that mention your salon name and the address- it is much more than that. It is carefully planning out strategies to retain current customers and get new ones. It is providing supporting materials to encourage purchase. 

But how do you do all this, without knowing what works and what doesn’t? After all, the internet is filled with vague advice for umbrella businesses and at this point, it is exhausting to look for more curated information. 

Well, look no further. We understand that as a business owner you have a lot on your plate. So just for you, we have divided 14 essential tanning marketing ideas into 4 overarching strategies to boost your business and take care of your clients. In this blog we will be talking about:

And a little bonus content for you


14 tanning salon marketing strategies to boost sales for your business


Advertise special promotions

1. Offer special discounts and sales 

Seasonal events and sales can be used to highlight special services or offers. Your clients will love the excitement you create around special days like Valentine’s day, or Thanksgiving. 

limited time offer board

You can also have surprise tanning salon specials. Create urgency by running pop-up sales during lean times. If you also sell products, then this is a good time to empty slow-moving stock.

Your favorite products and services at a 10% discount for a limited period – are both great CTA’s for customers who might be on the edge of deciding whether they want a tan or not.


2. Sell gift certificates

Gift cards are a good way to create an additional revenue stream and a good add-on to your seasonal sales. They also attract new clients, since a lot of people choose to use gift certificates as presents for special occasions. 

Gift certificates can also increase your sales, improve cash flow and are a cost-effective method to advertise your business and create a Top Of Mind Awareness (TOMA).

A lot of tanning salon softwares like Appointy allow you to choose a preset image and also provide custom gift certificate templates for picky clients!


3. Offer a limited edition loyalty program

Loyalty programs are a really effective way to increase revenue for your business and quite obviously, inspire customer loyalty. The best way to do so is by offering a point system loyalty program. 

Offer a certain number of points for a certain amount spent. Make it so they can cash it in, anytime they want! 

Infact, making it so they can do it via payment portal or so will centralize all your customer transactions which you will be able to use, to have customer data! You can now use this data to personalize your client’s experience and offer relevant perks to your customers.


Advocate word-of-mouth

4. Partner with local businesses and other personal care brands

Peruse your local area and interact with business and brands around you. Ask them if they’d like to collaborate with you. If they show interest, then this is great news!

Partnering with local businesses will help both you and the business. For eg: if you partner with a spa, you can encourage your clients to get a massage or facial to boost the lifespan of their tan. Moisturizing lotions and skin creams will extend the life of the tan. 

But if it suits the customer, they can also get a tan after getting a spa. After all, a tanner glides better on exfoliated skin.


5. Reward referrals

A lot of the time, people will come to a salon or spa with their family and friends. Infact, for a tanning salon, this is even more likely. “Bring a friend” advertisements are your best bet to channelize your word-of-mouth tanning salon advertising efforts. 

Make the reward worthwhile and hard to ignore. A free manicure or pedicure for every 5 referrals is valuable and easy to achieve. Make sure to select services for rewards that are not only attractive but will not cost your business too much money if given free in the long run.

Let your clients know if they have earned a referral. This way, they are even more motivated to suggest your business. Offer them a small bottle of free spray tan or other low-cost giveaways to encourage them. 


6. Encourage reviews

Getting a good brand reputation is a must for any business. Most customers read online reviews when researching a business. Make sure you have a decent number of reviews for your tanning salon on Google, Twitter and Yelp.

5 star reviews

Reviews are helpful not just with customer perception, but they also make your tanning salon rank higher on Google. 

Let go of the common misconception that client-business relationships need to be simple and transactional. If you want to have a tanning salon that keeps growing and with clients loving not just your services but also your entire brand, then you need to foster a long-lasting connection and build a strong client relationship.


Improve business management

7. Manage your staff efficiently

Managing your staff means to have the right people providing service. Good training and management leads your specialists to do their jobs better, which leads to good service which in turn, leads to happier clients. 

Hire enough people to keep your business running smoothly, without overworking anyone. Even the best employees will feel the pressure of work if there aren’t enough people around. Evaluate your staffing needs and make sure you are hiring enough people to make sure both your clients and staff feel like they are cared for. 


8. Handle client feedback

Always acknowledge the feedback you get, via reviews or elsewhere. This shows your clients you care for them and what they have to say about your services. It also shows accountability.

Understand the grievances and be respectful. Remember not to take these reviews personally. Sometimes, reviews left by the clients are vague. Dig into the issue and get more information. 


9. Add services to show quality and expertise

Everybody likes additional services, especially if done well. A tanning salon should not be limited to just tanning services. Add more services and show an improved quality and expertise. 

manicure and facial

Services like manicures, pedicures and facials are some of the most commonly utilized services. Add them to your service list and have happier, more satisfied clients!


Go digital

10. Register your tanning salon on online directories

Listing your business in online directories is one of the easiest and fastest ways to get your services to any potential clients. Building the right local SEO strategy takes time and research.

As Upcity says, registering your tanning salon business on online directories is like placing your business on a channel that will directly take it to prospective customers and other relevant businesses.

Some tanning salon scheduling softwares will have the functionality to list your business on Reserve with Google, and people can then book appointments directly from the Google search page, Maps and the RwG website. 


11. Have a website

Building a reputable and recognizable brand is absolutely essential for your business and is an important tanning salon promotional strategy for your business. Your website should reflect the vibe of your tanning salon effectively. This means, making it consistent and making sure your clients feel like browsing your website and stepping into your tanning salon feels the exact same. 

Having a fully functioning website, with a book button for easy booking will keep your potential clients from clicking away. Keep your clients by making everything on your site accessible and convenient. Make sure it has both high-quality images of your services, products and your location.


12. Promote on social media

Choosing the right social media platform and building brand awareness is quintessential for your business if you want to reach a wider audience who trust your brand. Keep your tanning social media marketing strategy simple and manageable. 

Use high traffic social media platforms, like Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter to post content to connect with audiences of all types. You can even encourage bookings from your social media by adding a Book Button on your Instagram and Facebook.

tanning social media marketing

It is important to know that content is very important and that the images, carousels and text that you put on your social media should be engaging, consistent and distinctive. Create your social media strategy carefully and go right ahead with your plan.


13. Run email marketing campaigns

Cutting through the noise and standing out from a clutter of messages is extremely important. With the right strategy, email marketing can help you to stay in touch with your current and potential clients. 

Collect email addresses using intake forms during the time of booking. Once you have your emails, make sure you are sending the right pitches to the right people. Which means – segmenting. Leverage your tanning salon scheduling software and filter out different kinds of clients that you get.

Now depending on what your email pitches are, you can segment your customers into groups like:

  • Frequent customers
  • New customers
  • People over the age of 30
  • Men
  • Women
  • Higher spending

After this distinction is made, you create a concise, interesting and informative email. One call-to-action button in your email is more than enough (sometimes, even too much!) Your email should not seem pushy and too sale-sy. Find the right balance and send targeted emails and promotions.


14. Use a scheduling software

There is no better reason to use a scheduling software than if you want more ROI in less time. Putting all your administrative and desk-job work on auto-pilot to focus on your clients and only on your clients will help your business fare better. 

Embracing technology and going paperless is going to help with more than just one aspect of your business. Your online booking portal can be your tanning marketing manager by helping you appear on top of the Google search page, by helping you make data driven decisions and of course, by creating a streamlined platform to take online bookings and making it convenient for your clients to self-schedule their appointments.

Channelizing your marketing efforts and automating the daily admin has never been easier! Appointy is a tool that helps take your booking process to the next level. Try it out and join a community of tanning salon business owners who have made this wise choice!


Bonus: 3 marketing mistakes you should avoid to build a profitable tanning salon business


1. Avoiding reviews left by customers

Having bad reviews is not the be all and end all of your tanning salon business. Forbes quotes that 45% of the total customers will visit a store that responds to negative reviews. Treat bad reviews as urgent and be professional. Treat them like an opportunity to change the mind of an upset client. 

Avoiding reviews will not only make your business lose a customer, but also show potential clients that you are not accountable and not willing to solve problems that your existing clients have.


2. Lack of social media presence

Not having social media for your business is akin to not existing at all. Everything and everyone has gone online. It is imperative, as a business owner, that you use these tools at your disposal to improve the way your business works. 

It is a great tanning marketing strategy because you can also target a specific audience, whether it’s gender wise, education wise or geographically.


3. Not training your staff to upsell

While it might seem like upselling is a dity tactic, it is actually helping your customers ‘win’ by suggesting premiums, upgrades and add-ons. You can deliver more value to your customers and make them feel like they got a better deal. 

Upselling leads to increased customer lifetime value. Higher CLV means each and every customer means more revenue for your business. You can also incentivize upsells and reward customers for spending more money in your tanning salon.


Final thoughts

girl next to a lake

Getting new clients and retaining existing ones might seem like a tough nut to crack in the beginning, but all it takes is a lot of patience, smart work and awareness of what works to make the clock tick. And we already have the last part figured out for you!

There are a lot of tanning salon booking software that you can use to better your tanning salon advertising ideas and strategy and simplify your business processes. Appointy is a tanning salon scheduling software which will not just boost productivity, but also provide the best user experience.

Hopefully, these tanning salon marketing ideas will help you boost your business sales and grow your salon to the pinnacle of success. Good luck!


About Appointy

We at Appointy, help business owners grow and run their businesses with our online scheduling software. This blog was a part of our ‘Manage your Business’ category, where we provide expert tips, and resources, or simply talk about the challenges that small and medium businesses face every day. 

If you have any thoughts on this blog or would like to chat about your business struggles and achievements, let us know in the comments below. 

We love a good talk!