Almost 650,000 adult, Tampa Bay consumers belong to a fitness club. These memberships bring in close to $1.1 billion in sales to local gym owners.

January is critical for the small business owners that operate gyms in the Tampa area. According to the International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub Association, this one month alone, accounts for 10.8% of annual membership sales. New Year's resolutions are the reason for this early year spike.

To capture a larger share of the $125.8 million local consumers  will spend on gym memberships in January, requires fitness center owners to advertise. The best way to do this is on Tampa radio. Here's why.

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."

By April 15th next year, 1.2 million residents of Tampa Bay will file a tax return.  More than 53% of these returns will be completed by the taxpayer themselves, either by hand or with the help of an online provider like Turbotax.

Every season, Tampa Bay small business owners who specialize in tax preparation services lose customers to the do-it-yourself options.  This year, 589,000 local consumers will spend $113,000,000 with professionals. But, based on the average cost of services, more than $129,000,000 will stay in the wallets of the DIY crowd.

To clawback this enormous amount of money from the DIY market, Tampa Bay's tax services will need to advertise the valuable benefits of using a professional.

The best advertising option for professional tax professionals is on Tampa radio stations. Here's why.

Tampa Bay small businesses that sell products or services to pet owners should sit up and take notice.  Local consumers will spend $753,000,000 this year on behalf of Fido and Fluffy. This amount has increased 323% since 1994, with no sign of letting up.

According to the American Pet Products Association, here's how local spending on furry companions breaks down:

• Food: $301,527,000
• Supplies/OTC Medicine: $161,795,000
• Vet Care: $183,858,000
• Live Pet Purchases: $22,062,000
• Other Services: $66,188,000

The biggest month for sales of pet-related products and services in Tampa Bay is, by far, December. That is when 10.5% of all annual spending happens in this category.

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.

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.

Here's a quiz for Tampa Bay small business owners:

Which of these online sites reach more adults each month than Tampa Bay radio stations: Google? Netflix? ESPN? YouTube? Twitter Facebook?

The answer may be a surprise. Radio reaches more adult consumers every month than all websites and apps.  This is critical information for Tampa Bay business owners to knows to be able to choose the best way to advertise their goods and services.

The number one media characteristic that contributes to the success of an advertising campaign is reach. This is a measure of how many different people are exposed to an advertiser's message.

Forty-percent of contractors nationwide report that they have turned down jobs this year because they don't have enough skilled blue-collar workers. In Florida, over one-third of contractors say they would add 25 more employees this year if they could recruit qualified candidates.

The labor crunch isn't confined to construction. Overall, half of all Tampa Bay employers say they are having difficulty hiring enough blue-collar employees to fulfill the increasing demand from customers. This includes truck drivers, plumbers, HVAC technicians, electrical workers, machinists, metal workers, landscapers, janitors, and mechanics.

Tampa Bay business owners can benefit from a study by The North Carolina Works Commission. The NCWC found that the recruitment efforts of many employers in that state are failing because they depend on hiring strategies from a time when qualified candidates were plentiful.

These failing strategies include posting on job boards like Monster and Indeed; publishing employment ads in local newspapers; and pleading on social media pages. Some small business owners still depend on hanging help-wanted signs.

Advertising on Tampa radio stations is the best way for small business owners to reach the lucrative, local mother market.  Here's why.

Tampa Bay consumers will spend $54 billion over the next 12 months. Forbes magazine reports that it is moms who control 85% of all household purchases. Locally,  there are more than 455,000 mothers with children under the age of 17 at home.

Tampa Bay small business owners need to pay special attention to these mothers and their wallets. For example, compared to the general population, over the next 12 months, local moms live in households that are

• 30% more likely to buy a new vehicle
• 61% more likely to purchase a smartphone
• 155% more likely to purchase a recreational vehicle
• 38% more likely to buy a house/condo
• 433% more likely to pay for daycare services
• 15% more likely to purchase carpet/flooring
• 20% more likely to pay for kitchen remodeling
• 33% more likely to move
• 49% more likely to get married
• 77% more likely to refinance a mortgage

There are two reasons why advertising on Tampa radio stations is more effective than advertising on TV.

The first reason is reach.  In a study conducted by Nielsen, the number of consumers who are exposed to a commercial contributes profoundly to the number of sales it will create.  This is discussed in depth in the free eBook, "Seven Steps For Advertising Successfully In Tampa Bay."

Among all media available to Tampa Bay business owners, radio offers the biggest reach.

The second reason why radio advertising is so powerful has been revealed in a new study Mindshare, an advertising agency that buys media for some of the most successful companies in the world including General Mills, Nestlé, Domino's, IBM, Rolex, and John Deere. The Mindshare study indicates that when a brand tells a story using audio media, it elicits a 21% higher emotional intensity than the same story told using visual media.