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.

1. Reach

The first “R” is Reach. According to a study by Nielsen, after the actual content of the commercial message itself, reach is the most potent advertising element that can drive sales. Reach is more important than brand, recency, or even context. Tampa radio provides local business owners with the biggest reach among consumers.

Last week, 2,193,604 adult consumers tuned to their favorite Tampa Bay radio stations. This is significantly more than the 1,795,229 consumers reached by area TV stations; the 1,436,768 reached by local newspapers; or the 666,261 reached by streaming audio services. Tampa Bay radio reaches everyone. Unlike other local media, which tends to skew towards older audiences, Tampa radio reaches consumers of all ages. This includes members of Generation X, Y, and Z; Millennials, and Boomers. Everybody.

Percent of Tampa Bay Consumers Reached By Radio

Media expert Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell Associates, advises, “Everything we’ve read about listening and aging audiences would have us believe that only our grandmother is listening to radio. Turns out the industry’s biggest supporters, the radio advertisers who foot the bills, aren’t buying that at all. Radio works, and the listeners are telling us in the latest survey data that radio has one helluva return-on-investment."

2. Recall

The second “R” affecting advertising success is recall. To be effective, advertising must be remembered by the consumer when it comes time to choose which Tampa Bay business owners to patronize.

Local Ad Recall, a research company that measures the effectiveness of advertising, found that brand recall was five times higher for companies that advertised on radio versus the companies that did not. Consequently, Tampa small business owners who advertise on radio have a much better chance of being recalled and, therefore, frequented by prospective customers than companies that do not advertise on radio.

Consumer insight company, Nielsen found similar results. Across several different business categories, on average, radio advertising improved recall by 82%. The businesses measured were a health and beauty company; an information technologies company; an auto aftermarket retailer; a motorcycle company; and a mobile app company.

3. Return

The third “R” of advertising success is return-on-investment (ROI). ROI is a measurement of revenue growth that a Tampa Bay business owner can expect for each $1 invested in advertising. According to Advertising Age Magazine, when executed correctly, radio advertising can deliver a greater ROI for a local business than investing in TV, digital, or social media ads.

Over the past few years, Nielsen has conducted more than 20 studies to determine how much ROI a business owner could expect when advertising on radio. In every case, radio’s ROI was, in the words of Advertising Age, “Eye-popping.”

The most recent ROI study released by Nielsen is no exception. According to Westwood One, the company that commissioned this latest study, a radio campaign for a men’s personal-care brand produced $11.96 in sales-lift for every $1.00 invested in radio advertising.

Overall, according to Nielsen, among all of the studies conducted, radio ads produce a very impressive 10x return-on-investment.

Media expert Doug Schoen wrote in Forbes Magazine of radio’s ability to deliver the “3-Rs” of advertising.

“The implications of results like these are profound for the communications and advertising industries,” Mr. Schoen said, “and as a marketing professional with over 35 years of experience, I found this data nothing short of fascinating. It’s quite clear that we should all be paying more attention to radio, its reach and potential to help our businesses. It’s doing the job with expert efficiency.”

Tampa Bay Small Business Owners Discover The Power Of Radio

"I didn't think radio advertising would work. I was not a believer," says David Perritt, Regional Operations Manager of Lakewood National Golf Club in Lakewood Ranch, Florida.

Mr. Perritt's opinion changed after he experimented with advertising on Tampa radio stations when the club first opened in January 2017.

"I have been extremely pleased with the results," he says. "The data shows just how successful radio has been working for us."

"When we started advertising on Tampa radio stations, we saw immediate results," says Mr. Perritt. "Golfers were telling us they learned about Lakewood National from our commercials."

"Not only were they golfers, they were also the golfers we wanted. Those who could afford to buy one of the homes in the community which range from around $200,000-$800,000."

"But, what really blew me away," he says, "was how our radio advertising was driving traffic to our website."  Mr. Perritt derives this data from Analytic Owl, an attribution technology which monitors website visits within 8 minutes of a radio commercial airing.

"We notice a surge of online activity every time one of our commercials air on a Tampa Bay radio station. And when golfers come to our site, they can register to play."

"The community is selling out as fast as we can build homes," says Mr. Perritt. "We have already sold 500.  We are ahead of our goals and projections. We couldn't be happier."

Radio Advertising Delivers $21 In Sales For Every $1 Invested

Michael Hollander and his family own Weather Tite Windows in Tampa.  When he took over the company in 2006, it was deeply in debt and nearly out of business.

Since then, Mr. Hollander has built Weather Tite into the 24th largest home improvement company in America. Quite an amazing feat for a company that only sells replacement windows and doors.

"Advertising on Tampa Bay radio has been a huge part of the company's success," says Mr. Hollander. "Ninety-two percent of our leads say radio is the way they heard about us. The leads we generate from our radio ads cost us $4.00 each. That's almost half of what I pay for leads from other sources."

"To put that in perspective, the cost per lead I get from my television advertising is 15-20%. Clearly, advertising on Tampa Bay radio is a very powerful lead generation tool for us."

"In other words," says Mr. Hollander, "based on our in-depth lead tracking process, for every $1 we spend on radio advertising, we get a $21 return on investment.