All About Spray Tan Pop-Up Events

If you are looking to expand your clientele, build professional connections, and generate additional income for your spray tan business – Keep reading!

One of the most effective ways to achieve all of the above is through Spray Tan Pop-Up Events! Whether you are a mobile artist or have a studio, all can benefit from this growth tactic. Simply put, a pop-up event is a temporary rental within another space to offer your services for a predetermined amount of time. Now, don’t get this confused with a booth event, such as a bridal show, where you would utilize a booth to share marketing materials, etc. A pop-up event is for you to actually take clients, while both you and the business host are mutually benefitting from the partnership.

Before I break down everything you need to know about holding your very own pop-up event, here are just a few of the many benefits this can bring to your business!

• You are able to take multiple clients in one location.
  • If you are a mobile artist, this is should be some serious music to your ears! Instead of running from location to location, you are able to set up shop for the day inside of someone else’s business and take as many clients as you can within the allotted hours!
• You are able to reach a potential client base you wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.
  • By this I mean that the goal is to essentially promote the pop-up event to current clients of the hosts business and to garner them as your own! If you choose to host with a boutique, spa, gym, etc., you are going to be in front of (hopefully) hundreds, even thousands of eyes that have probably not heard about you or your services just yet!
• You are able to build connection and be a “go-to” referral.
  • If the event is a success, which I’m sure it will be, you bet that the business, their employees, and their clients will rave about you and your services to others! You will notice that clients you met at the pop-up will be reaching out to you in the future for appointments and the business host just might want you to come back regularly for pop-up days!

Now, let’s go step-by-step, from start to finish on how you can make your pop-up events a complete success!

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Business Outreach

First and foremost, start by creating a list of LOCAL businesses that you have either connected with in the past, or new ones that you would love to work with. Remember – The pop-up needs to be mutually beneficial. Be picky about who you work with. Businesses that have great social media engagement, active marketing efforts both on and offline, as well as those who support other small businesses are the ones you really want to reach out to!

To get you started, here are a few business types that would be worth reaching out to: Boutiques, Gyms, Spas, Salons, Med Spas, Lash/Brow/Nail Artists, Skincare Studios, Dermatologists, Waxing/Sugaring Salons, Body Contouring Specialists, etc.

So, how do I “reach out” to these businesses? First, we need to establish a connection and a sense of support. You need to show the business that you truly do support them and are not just using them for the betterment of just your own business and to gain their clientele. It is essential that you are already following your target businesses on social media, are actively engaged in their posts, or that you visit their establishment for a service to show support before even bringing up to them your offer.

After we have established connection, next is outreach! AKA – Send the business owner/manager a PERSONALIZED email and not something generalized that you could send to just anyone. Need a template? I got you, girl. Head on over to the Bronze Boss Community Facebook Group and you can find my Pop-Up Outreach Template under the “Files” tab! For me, I like to do outreach via email first. Once the point of contact responds, then we can move forward and schedule a face-to-face meeting to further view their space as well as discuss details.

Determining Details

Once you and the host business have decided you want to move forward with holding a pop-up event, next is to solidify the details of the day! Here are some factors to consider and you may even want to draft an agreement to ensure both parties are on the same page.

• Pay Scale
  • Decide if a day rental or a commission per appointment will be best and negotiate with the business host. (PS: Don’t let the business host take ANY portion of your gratuity or retail sales. You should only be paying them for the use of their space in the manner that is most financially appropriate.) Payment should be made to the business host at the conclusion of the event.
  • For service pricing, you may choose to discount your services for the event to provide additional incentive for clients to book since you will be seeing multiple clients in one setting.
• Hours Of Operation
  • You may decide that you only want to hold the event for a few hours or have your pop-up stationary all day long. Be mindful of the host businesses operating hours and allow time for set-up and break-down of your equipment and supplies.
• Scheduling
  • Decide if either you or the business host will schedule clients in. I recommend only scheduling through your booking site. Why? Because YOU want to obtain their clients contact information! If the business host is scheduling appointments in with their own software, you are missing out on the biggest reason of why you are holding the pop-up event… To GAIN new clientele! (PS: Include a direct link to your pre/post care guidelines in your confirmation emails/texts to booked clients so they come to their appointment with you, prepared!)
  • As far as appointment times go, it’s best to schedule clients based on how long it takes you to complete a spray tan as well as clean-up/reset time. Feel free to take as many clients as the day allows! Be flexible in taking walk-in’s if time allows!
• Marketing Efforts
  • Again, the event is a mutual effort. Both you and the business host should be very active in cross-promoting the event. From creating a Facebook Event, designing/printing promotion cards to hand out, setting up an email marketing campaign, consistently sharing social media posts, etc., are all instrumental in getting both your audience and theirs to know about the event!
  • As part of your marketing efforts, offer to tan the owner/employees as complimentary! This will allow for them to wear your tan during work and be a real conversation starter for getting their clients to book for the event.

Event Preparation

Now, the fun begins – Getting your kit ready for the big day! Think of it this way… If you’re mobile, you are basically just going to tan a large party and need to bring some extra back-up. If you are a studio artist, you are going to “re-create” your studio set-up in another businesses space. Aside from the obvious, here is a checklist of additional items you should consider bringing to your event!

• Two (Or More) Spray Tan Tents
  • If you have a large volume of clients booked for the day, bring a few tents with you to swap out for cleanliness.
• Extraction Fan
  • You want to keep the hosts business as clean and free of overspray as possible!
• Back-Up Spray Tan Machine
  • Just in case yours malfunctions/overheats!
• Ring Light
  • Be in control of lighting in the space.
• Extension Cords
  • Useful to have on hand if the space you are working out of lacks outlet accommodation.
• Promotion Cards
  • These you can give to clients in addition to pre/post care cards that they can use towards a future service with you! (It’s just another incentive to get them back in your tent!)
• Product Samples/Retail
  • Leave clients with samples (in cute goodie bags) of your retail products and even bring retail to sell!

After The Event

Yay! Your event was a total success! What’s next? Remember why we wanted YOU to schedule clients in? Now, we are going to utilize those contacts and do the following:

• Client Follow-Up
  • The day after the event, follow up with all clients that received a tan from you. Whether it’s via email, text message, or phone call – Reach out to them! See how their tan turned out, see how they enjoyed your service, and let them know about any offerings (memberships/packages/etc.), that you currently have to encourage a future booking! And of course, if they grant you permission to join your email list – Add them to it!
• Business Host Follow-Up
  • Be sure to follow-up with the business host the day after to gain feedback, see how their clients liked the event, as well as ASK if they would like to have you back for future pop-up days if you would like to turn it into a recurring event.

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Pop-up events can be overwhelming, but it really doesn’t have to be! When you have a streamlined process set in place, it will make both planning and executing a total breeze! I hope this blog post encourages you to connect with other businesses, grow your clientele, and ultimately hold your very own pop-up event!

Happy planning!