How big does a small business need to be before it can afford to advertise on Tampa radio? The owners of Ana Delicias Bakery will be the first to tell you: size does not matter.

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."

There are more than 200,000 small businesses in Tampa Bay.  Each of them is competing for a share of the $54-billion area consumers will spend this year.

To succeed, the US Small Business Administration (SBA) recommends that to succeed, every local business consider advertising. 

Just about every adult in Tampa Bay spent, on average, 15 hours last week listening to the radio.  As a matter of fact, more people tuned-in to their favorite Tampa radio station than watched TV; read a newspaper, or logged-on to Pandora and Spotify.

"Sure," a St. Petersburg small business owner says. "People are still tuning-in to local radio stations, but do they switch stations when my commercial comes on?"

Not to worry. Unlike TV, which makes avoiding commercials a breeze, there is no ad-skipping technology for radio.  As a result, a study by Nielsen reveals that 93% of radio listeners stick around for the ads.

This raises the question: Consumers are not button-pushing during radio commercials, but are they paying attention to the content of the advertising? Research says YES.

If you don't have time to read this entire article, then I will tell you right now. The best way for any Tampa Bay small business owner to advertise is on Tampa radio.

A key function of advertising is to build mental availability, which nudges a consumer toward the purchase of a product or service. It also serves to provide public notice that a product or service exists and is available for purchase.

Consumers in the Tampa Bay area are expected to spend at least $54 billion at retail this year. To claim a greater share of this giant pool of cash requires local business owners of every size to advertise their goods and services. As Professor Jef Richards at Michigan State University points out, “Advertising is totally unnecessary…unless you want to make money."

The bottom line: It is difficult for anyone in Tampa Bay to purchase a product or service from a local business owner if they aren’t aware of it.

There are many ways for local area 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.