Some of the bravest people in Tampa Bay are small business owners. These hearty entrepreneurs invest their passion, their hope, their time, and, of course, their money despite the odds.
According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), the good news is that 80% of small businesses make it through the first year. After that, though, only about half will make it to their fifth anniversary. Even fewer, 33% will keep their doors open for ten years.
CBInsights performed an analysis to determine the top ten reasons small business owners fail. I have included the entire list. But, of particular importance, is reason #8, "poor marketing". This subject will be discussed in more detail because this is where advertising on Tampa radio stations can help business owners not to fail.
Top 10 Causes Of Small Business Failures
- No Market Need
- Ran Out Of Cash
- Not The Right Team
- Got Out-Competed
- Pricing Issues
- User Un-Friendly
- No Business Model
- Poor Marketing
- Ignore Customers
- Mis-timing
A Tampa Bay small business could fail for just one of these reasons, or, more likely, for a combination of several.
How To Market Well
The SBA advises, "Advertising, if done correctly, can do wonders for your product sales, and you know what that means: more revenue and more success for your business."
There are many ways for Tampa Bay small business owners to advertise. Options include local newspapers, local magazines, local television, and online. But to achieve the “3-Rs” of advertising success, Reach, Recall, and Return, no other medium delivers results as effectively and efficiently as advertising on Tampa radio stations.
A study by Nielsen indicates that the number of people who are exposed to an advertising message (reach) is a primary contributor to sales conversion. In Tampa Bay, no other advertising medium has a greater reach than radio.
Last week, 93% of all adult consumers tuned to their favorite Tampa radio stations. This is significantly more than consumers reached by area TV stations or reached by local newspapers,
Also, Tampa radio reaches everyone. Unlike other local media, which tends to skew towards older audiences, radio reaches consumers of all ages. This includes members of Generation X, Y, and Z; Millennials, and Boomers. Everybody.
Percentage of Tampa Consumers Reached By Local Radio
To be effective, advertising must be remembered by the consumer when it comes time to choose which Tampa Bay business owners to patronize.
Local Ad Recall, a research company that measures the effectiveness of advertising, found that brand recall was five times higher for companies that advertised on radio versus the companies that did not. Consequently, Tampa Bay small business owners who advertise on radio have a much better chance of being recalled and, therefore, frequented by prospective customers than companies that do not advertise on radio.
Consumer insight company, Nielsen found similar results. Across several different business categories, on average, radio advertising improved recall by 82%. The businesses measured were a health and beauty company; an information technologies company; an auto aftermarket retailer; a motorcycle company; and a mobile app company.
Unaided Brand Recall
Radio Ad Recall
Return-on-Investment (ROI) is a measurement of revenue growth that a Tampa Bay business owner can expect for each $1 invested in advertising.
According to Advertising Age Magazine, when executed correctly, radio advertising can deliver a greater ROI for a local business than investing in TV, digital, or social media ads.
Over the past few years, Nielsen has conducted more than 20 studies to determine how much ROI a business owner could expect when advertising on radio. In every case, radio’s ROI was, in the words of Advertising Age, “Eye-popping.”
The most recent ROI study released by Nielsen is no exception. According to Westwood One, the company that commissioned this latest study, a radio campaign for a men’s personal-care brand produced $11.96 in sales-lift for every $1.00 invested in radio advertising.
Overall, according to Nielsen, among all of the studies conducted, radio ads produce a very impressive 10x return-on-investment.
Radio Advertising Contributes To Small Business Success Rate
Michael Hollander and his family own Weather Tite Windows in Tampa. When he took over the company in 2006, it was deeply in debt and nearly out of business.
Since then, Mr. Hollander has built Weather Tite into the 24th largest home improvement company in America. Quite an amazing feat for a company that only sells replacement windows and doors.
"Advertising on Tampa Bay radio has been a huge part of the company's success," says Mr. Hollander. "Ninety-two percent of our leads say radio is the way they heard about us. The leads we generate from our radio ads cost us $4.00 each. That's almost half of what I pay for leads from other sources."
Ana Delicias Bakery in Tampa is not just a small business. It's a tiny, family-owned business with big ambitions. Advertising on local radio is helping the business raise the dough to grow.
"Radio advertising is not an expense for us, It is an investment," says Paula Tavarez who co-owns the bakery with her cousin Ana Lizardo. "That investment has paid off."
In June of 2018, the cousins opened their store on Sheldon road in Tampa. The bakery features a wide range of pastries that appealed first to the area's Hispanic community. This includes the bakery's signature Dominican cake, a vanilla based layer cake with guava filling.
After being in business for five months, Ana Delicias Bakery ran its first radio commercial.
"We saw results within a few days," says Ms. Taverez.
"We began seeing a lot of new customers," adds Ms. Lizardo. "We would ask them how they learned about our bakery and they would tell us that they heard about it on the radio."
Tampa radio's ability to reach well beyond the local community proved to be a benefit for the bakery as well. "We started to see customers from Brandon and St. Petersburg," says Ms. Lizardo. "People were driving from 35 minutes away to buy our cakes."
"Our cash register is the true measurement of how well advertising on Tampa radio works," says Ms. Tavarez. "When we advertise, we bring in more customers."
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