As we make our way into October, we see intent peak across a variety of audiences. Halloween drives spending throughout the month, Medicare’s enrollment window opens mid-month, peak fall color is moving south one weekend at a time, and dealer lots are filling up with next year’s models.
Each of those runs on its own clock, which is why a single “fall campaign” rarely covers all of them well. Here are four audiences with clear purchase intent this month, and how to reach each one before its window closes.
1. Halloween & Fall Celebration Enthusiasts
Halloween has turned into a season, and the numbers show it. Total Halloween spending is expected to reach $13.5 billion this year (NRF). Costumes, decorations, and candy each account for more than $4 billion of that spending. A Saturday Halloween also gives hosts a full weekend to work with, which puts party supplies, food, and beverages on the same shopping list.
Party and costume retailers, discount and big-box stores, grocery and CPG brands, and local attractions like pumpkin patches and haunted houses all compete for this household in the final weeks of October.
One thing to plan around: shoppers are leaning into value. If prices run higher than expected, 31% plan to comparison shop and 26% plan to look for coupons or sales. Bridge’s coupon redemption and discount store shopper segments let a retailer put a promotion in front of the people most likely to act on it, instead of discounting to everyone.
Channels to prioritize: the window is short and the buying is visual, so lean into formats that drive a quick decision.
→ Social
→ CTV
→ Programmatic display
2. Open Enrollment & Health Insurance Seekers
Medicare’s annual open enrollment runs October 15 through December 7. For working households, employer benefits season and the ACA Marketplace window, which typically opens November 1, land in the same stretch.
The challenge in impacting this audience is inertia. CMS’s own guidance is that people who are satisfied with their current plan don’t need to do anything, so many won’t. The advertiser’s job is to give the right person a specific reason to compare before the deadline passes.
Medicare Advantage and supplemental plan carriers, health insurers, independent brokers, and pharmacies all have something at stake in who switches and who stays.
Health insurance is a category where how an audience is built gets scrutinized. Bridge builds these audiences from consent-based, verified identities and lifestyle and demographic signals, never protected health information. Bridge is also HIPAA compliant and executes Business Associate Agreements during healthcare onboarding, so legal review moves quickly instead of stalling the campaign. Here’s more on how healthcare marketers can run compliant campaigns.
Channels to prioritize: this is a researched decision with a hard stop, so the plan needs to educate early and convert late.
→ Email
→ CTV
→ Programmatic display
3. Fall Foliage & Road Trip Travelers
As peak color sweeps across the country, travelers flock to scenic sites to experience the beauty. Most of these trips are drive-to getaways, which usually means a shorter planning window than a flight-based vacation.
In a Longwoods International survey fielded in August, 74% of American travelers said they were planning a fall day trip or overnight trip, with cooler weather and seasonal scenery among the top reasons (Longwoods International). They’re also staying closer: 40% are choosing destinations nearer to home to manage gas prices. That’s good news for any business within a few hours’ drive of peak color.
The spending is spread across the whole trip: fuel, lodging and cabin rentals, restaurants, orchards and wineries, outdoor gear, and a quick service appointment before the drive. That makes this audience matter as much to a local business at the destination as it does to a national brand.
Bridge’s travel shopper segments reach people with verified travel intent before they leave home. Once they arrive, Geo-fencing keeps businesses in leaf-peeping destinations in front of visitors who are physically in the area.
Channels to prioritize: planning happens at home and spending happens on the road, so the plan needs to cover both.
→ Social
→ Programmatic audio
→ Geo-Fencing
4. New Model Year Auto Intenders
Fall is when new model-year vehicles reach showrooms and last year’s inventory needs to move. That creates two very different shoppers in the same month: the buyer who wants the newest version, and the value hunter waiting for the outgoing model to get cheaper. Treating them as one audience wastes the message on both.
Dealers and dealer groups, OEMs, auto lenders, and auto insurers all compete for this shopper, and the purchase is big enough that research can run for weeks before anyone sets foot on a lot.
Bridge’s automotive audience data includes vehicle make and model, lease-or-buy, purchase timeframe, and next vehicle purchase signals. A dealer can split lessees from owners, prioritize people whose purchase timeframe is near, or go after owners of a competing make. For one luxury dealership in Dallas-Fort Worth, Bridge matched 180 car sales and more than $1.3 million in revenue directly to a custom audience of local, in-market shoppers.
Channels to prioritize: a long research phase ends in a fast decision, so stay present through the research and be specific at the close.
→ Email
→ CTV
→ Programmatic display
Four Audiences, One Strategy
October’s audiences demonstrate the importance of reaching consumers in the right place (both digitally and physically). While travel content on social media can impact the road tripper segment during trip planning, a geo-fencing display campaign can capture their attention during their trip when they’re ready for quick decisions. Bridge has you covered for every stage of the campaign and with People Match™, you’ll know exactly which of those people became customers, matched by name.
Ready to build your October audience? Let’s talk.
