As Valentine's Day sales begin to dwindle, that's when Tampa Bay small business owners start thinking about Mom.

Mother's Day, which happens on the second Sunday of May, is second only to Christmas in terms of holiday spending. Last year, Tampa Bay consumers spent more than $253-million celebrating the women in their lives. That number is expected to grow again in 2020.

To claim a significant share of this Mother's Day cash, local retailers and restaurants will need to advertise.  By almost every key metric, advertising on Tampa radio is the best choice.

If you were one of the 2,193,604 consumers who tuned-in to a Tampa radio station last week, then chances are you heard at least one commercial from GEICO, Progressive, or Liberty Mutual. That's because insurance is big business in Tampa.

Each year, Tampa Bay consumers spend $4.4 billion to insure their homes and cars. That's almost $1500 for every area adult.

There is good news and bad news for the 5600 local insurance agents who are competing to earn a substantial share of the home and auto premiums consumers are paying.

According to Nielsen, 258,000 policyholders in Tampa Bay are planning to switch insurance providers during the next 12 months.

Tampa Bay consumers will spend $54.1 billion on goods and services over the next year. To claim a significant portion of those expenditures, small business owners need to be at the top of customers' minds when it comes time to buy.

Since 1922, when WDAE became the first radio station in Tampa, thousands of business owners knew, intuitively, that advertising on the medium was a potent way to be remembered when a purchase was imminent. 

Now there is proof that radio advertising creates the brand awareness necessary to drive sales.

Of all the advertising options available to Tampa Bay small business owners, streaming audio services like Pandora and Spotify are the least effective.  Here's why.

According to Nielsen, after the content of a commercial is considered, the element of an advertising campaign that drives sales the most is reach. In other words, making sure the most people possible are exposed to the advertiser's message is crucial.

When it comes to achieving reach among consumers, Pandora and Spotify rank dead last.  Advertising on Tampa radio stations, actually, can reach 266% more consumers than these two streaming-audio platforms combined.