Tomorrow September begins. Still summer and my favorite month of the year.
The lake is still blue. The trails are still dusty. Patios are still full. Summer has not packed up yet.
But if you live and work in Tahoe long enough, you start to hear it.
Winter.
Not loudly. Not yet.
Just whispers.
A ski pass email lands in your inbox. New gear starts arriving in shops. Lodging conversations shift toward holiday dates. Parents are looking at school calendars. Businesses start talking about staffing, budgets and what the next season might bring.
Winter does not arrive all at once here. It starts quietly, long before the first storm.
Marketing works the same way.
Every September, my resort clients’ Youtube channel traffic would triple Sept 15- Oct 15th. The owner was just coming off of high season and I would be on him to get moving for winter. Needless to say it took some coaxing to get a plan in place.
Bottom line these were people getting ready to book lodging for December and January. Checking to see if the resort was still going strong. Across all the social platforms the traffic would increase during these 30 days.
One of the biggest mistakes seasonal businesses make is waiting until the season arrives before they start marketing it.
By then, everyone is talking about the same thing.
Snow. El Nino. Skiing. Holidays. Winter getaways.
Your audience has already been hit with a wall of winter messaging.
The better opportunity is earlier, when people are just beginning to think about what comes next. These early shoppers are committed and ready to book.
That does not mean posting pictures of powder in August.
It means starting to build the path.
Maybe you begin talking about what is coming. Maybe you update your website. Maybe you start gathering your winter imagery and video. Maybe you look back at last winter and figure out what actually worked.
Small moves now create momentum later.
Every season gives you clues before it arrives.
What are people asking about?
What pages are they visiting on your website? Social?
What are customers booking early?
What products are starting to move?
What questions are showing up in your inbox?
Those little shifts tell you where attention is starting to go.
Marketing is not always about pushing a message.
Sometimes it is about listening early enough to know what message will matter.
This is also the time to build your content.
Not when you are slammed.
Not when the snow finally hits and suddenly everyone wants a winter campaign yesterday.
Now.
Pull together last year’s best images. Shoot something while you still have breathing room. Refresh the website. Update your Google profile. Build a few ads. Start thinking about what your winter customers are actually going to need from you.
Because once the season starts, your job becomes running the business.
Your marketing should already be moving.
Living in Tahoe teaches you to think one season ahead.
In winter, you think about summer.
In summer, you start watching for winter.
We do it with tires, firewood, boats, bikes, ski gear and reservations.
Marketing should not be any different.
You do not need to rush the season.
You just need to hear it coming.
Because right now, underneath the last stretch of summer, winter is already whispering.
The businesses that are listening will be ready when it finally starts talking.
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
