Tampa Bay retailers spend a considerable amount of time and money marketing their small businesses on social media.  Is this effort paying off?

Each month, according to Nielsen, 1.6 million Tampa Bay adults use Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. This equates to 78% of consumers.  This reach is rather anemic compared to Tampa radio and TV, which attracts considerably more users in a single week than these social media platforms do over 30 days.

Among local millennials, the monthly reach of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter is eclipsed by the weekly reach of Tampa radio.

The number of consumers reached by an advertising campaign, according to Nielsen, is the media consideration that has the most significant effect on increasing sales. 

Retailers in Tampa Bay rang-up $59,380,749,000 in retail sales last year, according to Nielsen. But wait. It's about to get better.

The National Retail Federation forecasts that in 2020, sales will increase by as much as 4.1%. This will create another $2.4 billion for local small business owners.  

“The economy is growing at a more modest pace, but the underlying economic fundamentals remain in place and are positive,” stated NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz. “Consumers remain upbeat and have the confidence to spend, and the steady wage growth that has come with the strong job market is fueling their spending. The state of the consumer is very healthy.

To claim a fair share of this enlarged pool of spending will require Tampa Bay small business owners to advertise.

“Think you have a great product?” asks the U.S. Small Business Administration. “Unfortunately, no one’s going to know about it unless you advertise.”  

There is alarming news for small business owners who advertise on Tampa television stations: broadcast TV viewers are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Nielsen reports that halfway through the first quarter of this year, the number of people using television has dropped 7.5%. This compares to -6.3% in the fourth quarter of 2019, and -7.0% a year ago,

"If the trend holds, it would represent the largest quarterly decline for TV viewership in our data set," explains UBS analyst John C. Hodulikadding. "Trends have worsened across most age demos with persons 25-34 now falling -17% vs. low double-digit declines throughout 2019. The persons 55+ demo continues to trend down -2%, similar to 2019 (the first year of declining ratings for the demo)."

Radio listenership, on the other hand, has remained quite stable, according to Nielsen. Since 1970, the medium has reached more than 9-in-10 consumers every week.

Small business owners have been advertising on Tampa radio since the first station, WDAE, went on the air in 1922.  By almost every metric, the medium remains the best way to successfully market goods and services to local consumers.

Before  Tampa Bay businesses finalize their marketing plans for this year, here are five facts they should know about radio advertising.

Ask any Tampa Bay small business owner how to measure the success of an advertising campaign. The answer will almost always 'sales.'

According to Nielsen research, the media-element of a campaign that has the most significant effect on sales is reach. This is the number of different people exposed to the advertiser's message.

There are more ways than ever to advertise. But, which of those options has the largest reach among Tampa Bay consumers?

Doug Schoen, an advertising professional with 35 years of experience, writes in Forbes: "You wouldn’t know it from all the media coverage focused on streaming video and streaming music, but radio actually has the most reach among American media consumers. 93% of adults listen to the radio each week as compared to 87% who watch TV, a substantive difference."

Tampa Bay small business owners have depended on radio advertising to market their goods and services since 1922.  That's when the Tampa Times newspaper put the first local radio station, WDAE, on the air.

Today, there are 27 radio stations that serve the five counties of Tampa Bay. Each provides a unique blend of music, information, and entertainment.  Some stations focus on politics or sports. Some play country music. Some play the hits. Some play classic rock. Some are on the AM dial. Some are on FM.

When WDAE began broadcasting, there were no TV stations in Tampa. Those would come 29 years later. Also, there was no social media, YouTube, Sirius/XM, Pandora, Spotify, or smartphones. Each of those would be products of a new Millenium.

With an overabundance of advertising options now available to small business owners, does advertising on Tampa radio still make sense?  Here are five facts that serve to answer that question.

Is advertising on the radio just a day job for Tampa Bay small business owners?  

Thousands of local companies depend on radio advertising to market their goods and services. But, most of these business owners choose to buy commercials only between 6:00 am and 7:00 pm.  Is this a good idea? Maybe not.  Here are the facts.

Last week, for instance, 2,193,604 adult consumers tuned-in to their favorite Tampa radio stations. This is significantly higher than the number that tuned-in to a local TV station, read a local newspaper, logged-on to social media sites like Facebook, or streamed audio from Pandora and Spotify.

But radio listeners do not roll-up their ears just because the sunsets. According to Nielsen, 56.4% of Tampa Bay consumers who listen to the radio during daylight hours, also tune in at night.

Did my ears deceive me, or did you just refer to the 2.1 million adult consumers who tuned-in to a Tampa radio station last week as 'nobodies'?

If you did make that mistake, then you wouldn't be the first Tampa Bay business owner or media professional to do so. Even, Doug Schoen used to share that opinion. He came clean, however, in a Forbes article.

"You wouldn't know it from all the media coverage focused on streaming video and streaming music," writes Mr. Schoen, "but recent Nielsen data shows radio actually has the most reach among American media consumers. 93% of adults listen to the radio each week as compared to 87% who watch TV, a substantive difference."

This is true in Tampa Bay, as well, where radio listeners far outnumber the people who watch local TV; read local newspapers; or stream audio sites like Pandora and Spotify; or log-on to social media sites like Facebook and Instagram.

Advertising is critical to the success of every Tampa Bay small business owner.  One of the most powerful elements of any advertising campaign is how many people it reaches.

Nielsen, the world's largest consumer insights company, found that advertising reach has a more significant effect on sales than branding, recency, and context.

There are many ways a local business owner can advertise. This includes traditional media like Tampa radio, local TV, and newspaper. It also includes online advertising options such as Facebook, Instagram, and Pandora.

They type of customer an individual business needs to reach depends on the goods and services the company sells. For instance, a daycare operator might want to reach households with young children. On the other hand, a real estate agent could be looking for consumers in the market to purchase a new home.

The charts below reveal how the different advertising options available to Tampa Bay business compare in terms of the ability to reach customers with specific characteristics. This includes age, income, education, employment status, political affiliation, number of children, ethnicity, and purchase intent.

The National Retail Federation has predicted that this year's back-to-school shopping season will set a new record. Households with school-age children are expected to spend, on average, $696.70 preparing their kids for the first day of classes. This tops the previous record set in 2012.

For Tampa Bay small business owners, this means there is $560,193,514 of back-to-school bucks in play between now and the first bell of the school year.

According to the NRF, here's how the $696.70 per household will be spent.

• Clothing & Accessories: $239.82
• Computers & Electronics: $203.44
• Shoes: $135.96
• School Supplies: $117.49

To grab the largest share of back-to-school spending will require small business owners to advertise.  By any metric, advertising on Tampa radio stations will be the most effective.  Here's why.