October is one of those months when Tahoe gets quiet enough that you can really see who is still here — and who isn’t.
The summer crowds are gone. A lot of locals are traveling. Winter hasn’t fully arrived. Restaurants have open tables. Retail slows down. Lodging gets softer. The rhythm changes.
And that means your marketing probably needs to change with it.
For some businesses, October is the time to reach farther.
The people you want may not be in Tahoe right now. They may be in the Bay Area, Sacramento, Reno, or somewhere else entirely, thinking about their next trip up. They’re planning weekends, holidays, ski trips, dinners, shopping, and time with friends before they ever get here.
If that’s your customer, a tight local advertising radius may not be enough.
You may need to cast a wider net, and that can mean a larger ad spend. Reaching the Bay Area costs more than reaching people already in Tahoe, but if your next customer is sitting two hundred miles away, that is where your marketing needs to go.
This can be the time to build local clientele.
Locals come back into focus when the crowds thin out. Second homeowners are still around. People have more time to notice new places, try something different, and build habits before winter gets busy again.
That audience may be smaller, but it can also be incredibly valuable.
The key is knowing which room you’re talking to.
That’s where businesses can get stuck. They keep marketing the same way all year because their business hasn’t moved.
But the customer has.
The audience that filled Tahoe in July is not necessarily the audience you need in October. And the audience you need in January may be different again.
Seasonal marketing isn’t just about changing the picture from summer to snow.
It’s about changing the target.
Sometimes that means reaching farther.
Sometimes it means getting closer.
But if your audience has moved and your marketing hasn’t, you may be talking to an empty room.
October is a good reminder that your audience doesn’t stay put.
Sometimes the opportunity is local. Sometimes the people you need to reach are sitting in the Bay Area, thinking about their next trip to Tahoe.
The important thing is to know the difference.
If your customer has moved, your marketing needs to move with them.
Don’t keep talking to an empty room.
If there is a topic you’d like to hear more about, by all means comment below or direct message, and I’ll do my best.
Nothing better than a good question to jump into.
Reach out for a talk over coffee or a hike. tgold@bigwaterci.com
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Trina Gold
Master Creator
