Should I Advertise On Fort Myers Radio? Small Business Owners Ask.

Southwest Florida small business owners have more advertising options than ever. Choices include television, cable, billboards, online, and newspapers. But according to Deloitte, the world's largest business consulting firm, radio "should be a big part of the mix for those buying advertising."

Some small business owners might dismiss Deloitte's advice. They might wonder, "Does anyone listen to the radio anymore?"

"But," says Deloitte, "radio has commonly been underestimated. Radio is the voice whispering in our ear, in the background of dinner, in an office, or while driving the car. It is not pushy or prominent … but it is there."

Almost Everybody Listens To The Radio

Deloitte recommends radio advertising because of this. "Radio’s weekly reach—the percentage of people who listen to radio at least once—has been remarkably stable in the United States. Not only has reach hovered around 94 percent for the last few years, but that number is essentially unchanged from the 94.9 percent figure in spring 2001 (when Apple introduced the iPod)."

"Further, an August 2018 Deloitte Global survey found that, of those who report listening to live radio [in the United States], over 70 percent say they listen either every day or on most days. A majority of radio listeners are tuning in as part of their daily lives."

This is also true in Southwest Florida, where 807,291 adult consumers tuned to their favorite Fort Myers radio stations. This is significantly more than the 742,100 consumers reached by area TV stations or the 246,583 reached by local newspapers.

Additionally, radio reaches everyone, unlike other local media which tends to skew towards older audiences. Fort Myers radio reaches consumers of all ages. This includes members of Generation X, Y, and Z; Millennials, and Boomers. Everybody.

Radio's demographic appeal is a major reason Deloitte recommends the medium be part of every business's advertising mix.

"One might think," says Deloitte, "since radio in North America is popularly perceived to be largely free and ad-supported, that it would appeal mainly to demographics that are of less interest to those who buy advertising. The exact opposite is true."

"The August 2018 Deloitte Global survey found that the percentage of Americans who report listening to live radio is higher for those who are working, those with more education, and those with higher incomes. Keep in mind, too, that, because radio listening in this survey was self-reported, the real numbers are likely 25 percentage points higher for older demographics and 40 percentage points higher for younger age groups.

Southwest Florida Business Owners Find Radio Advertising Effective

Biggy's Place is a 164-seat restaurant serving breakfast and lunch in Fort Myers. Since new owners took over the location just over five years ago, sales have increased an astonishing 65%.

"We've grown every year since we started," says Bob Bigelow (aka Biggy) who now owns the restaurant along with his wife, Dawn. "Advertising on Fort Myers radio has been a large, large part of our growth."

Mr. Bigelow has a strong pedigree for producing results in the hospitality business.  Before Biggy's Place, he successfully owned and operated 18 Domino Pizza franchises throughout Southwest Florida as well as two Coldstone Creamery locations. "It was this experience," he says, "that taught me the value of radio advertising.  So, it seemed only natural to me to include a budget line for advertising on Fort Myers radio when we opened Biggy's."

Mr. Bigelow says, "Every small business in Fort Myers and Naples can make radio advertising work just like us.  I recommend setting aside 6% of every sale to use for marketing. But the real key is to stick with it.  You must promote…promote…promote.  If a business does not begin to see results after about three months, then the problem isn't radio, it is a problem with the message. I learned that with Dominos, and I learned that at Biggy's Place."

"We went through several commercials before we hit on the right message," says Mr. Bigelow. "It took us 3 or 4 tries before we really got the results we wanted.  Now, customers will brag to me how far they drive and how many other restaurants they passed to eat here.  It's all because they heard our advertising on Fort Myers radio."

Rock Solid Countertops & More: Radio Built This Business

Advertising on Fort Myers radio built this business," says Dann Krinsky. He oversees the marketing efforts of Rock Solid Countertops & More, a Naples-based retailer of natural stone countertops.

"Fifteen years ago, when Hugo Vargas opened for business, the showroom was one-quarter the size it is now. There was half the number of employees. And there was no fabrication shop. It was a shoestring operation," explains Mr. Krinsky.

"Eleven years ago," he continues, "I convinced Mr. Vargas to advertise on the radio for the first time." Originally, Rock Solid committed to a weekend-only campaign on a Fort Myers rock-and-roll station for one month. "We saw results almost immediately and have been advertising on Southwest Florida radio every day ever since."

After a few months of advertising on a single radio station, Mr. Vargas noticed that a new auto dealer had moved into the area and seemed to be advertising on every local radio station multiple times each day. "He asked me," says Mr. Krinsky, "if we increased the number of Fort Myers radio stations Rock Solid was on and added more commercials, would we see greater results?"

"So," continues Mr. Krinsky, "we added a second radio station and we saw a huge increase in customers pretty quickly. We then added another, and another, and another. At one point, we were on running eight commercials per day on 16 different Fort Myers radio stations."

"For three years we used only radio advertising to grow the business," says Mr. Krinsky. "Based on our success, though, we were eventually able to expand into television and print to augment our radio campaign."

"So," continues Mr. Krinsky, "we added a second radio station and we saw a huge increase in customers pretty quickly. We then added another, and another, and another. At one point, we were on running eight commercials per day on 16 different Fort Myers radio stations."

"For three years we used only radio advertising to grow the business," says Mr. Krinsky. "Based on our success, though, we were eventually able to expand into television and print to augment our radio campaign."

Learn More About Advertising On Fort Myers Radio