Over 95% of Tampa Bay adults have access to the internet, according to Nielsen. Almost 65% of these consumers spend more than five hours a week connected.

Nielsen reports that Tampa Bay consumers go online to stay connected to friends and family; research products and services; learn the latest news, and obtain directions to where they are going and know what the weather will be when they get there.  

Here are some of the many reasons why Tampa Bay internet users go online each month

• Social Media: 75%
• Online Banking: 53%
• Weather: 51%
• Maps/Directions: 46%
• Product Reviews: 39%
• Current Events: 31%
• Restaurant Reviews: 30%
• Sports Scores/News: 26%
• Job Search: 16%
• Real Estate: 12%

And, of course, there is shopping.  Over the past three months, according to Nielsen, 76.7% of Tampa Bay consumers shopped online for every imaginable product and service including, cars, golf clubs, office supplies, wedding rings, mattresses, tires, medicine, shoes, socks, and eyeglasses.

To reach local consumers while they are online, Tampa area businesses will spend $706 million for digital advertising in 2020, according to Borrell Associates.  Here is how the money is being spent:

Following the lead of many national marketers, some Tampa Bay small business owners are considering canceling or, at minimum, pausing their advertising schedules with social media network Facebook and its co-owned photo-sharing platform, Instagram.

According to the New York Times, "more than 400 companies, from Coca-Cola and Adidas to Ford and Lego, have vowed to halt advertising on the social network, in a growing protest over how it handles hate speech and other harmful content".

With the pandemic figured in, Tampa Bay small business owners were expected to spend $164million on Facebook and Instagram advertising in 2020. This is according to Borrell Associates, a firm that specializes in the collection and analysis of local marketing expenditures in every city across the United States. But these expenditures could shrink if the protests become louder.

Every type of Central Florida business imaginable, including clothing stores, plumbers, HVAC repair, funeral homes, restaurants, dentists, and nonprofits, has come to realize how powerfully social media can contribute to their bottom lines.

Part of what makes Facebook and Instagram attractive to small business owners is the enormous reach these platforms have among consumers. Locally, the audience size for these two social media sites now rival Tampa radio, TV, cable, and newspaper outlets.

For small business owners considering a hiatus from social media advertising, there is a viable way to redirect these dollars into a different medium without losing the marketing equity or momentum built-up on Facebook.

Facebook usage has swelled since the onset of the Covid-19. 

According to Nielsen, before the current chaos, 61% of Tampa Bay adults used Facebook each month. This was significantly fewer than were reached by local radio or television each week.

According to the New York Times, however, since the start of the Coronavirus, daily Facebook traffic has increased by 27%. This compares to 33% growth in the amount of time consumers spend listening to local radio during a similar period.

Based on the surge in Facebook consumption, Tampa area small business owners might be tempted to purchase advertising on the social media platform to augment their regular, free postings. Here are are few facts these businesses should consider before investing.