Southwest Florida residents will begin receiving economic stimulus checks from the Internal Revenue Service as early as today. In all, local consumers will receive more than $1.5 billion in payments.
This infusion of cash into the Fort Myers economy was authorized by Congress last week in the American Rescue Plan legislation.
The stimulus relief legislation calls for a one-time payment of $1,400 to single adults. Married couples who filed jointly will receive $2,800 total ($1,400 apiece). Families will get an additional $1,400 for each eligible dependent regardless of age. A family of four could get $5,600 in total payments. Like the second round of stimulus payments, the third round specifically prohibits payments to anyone who died before January 1, 2020.
Many of the stimulus dollars will end up in the wallets of 334,000 Fort Myers area homeowners. Based on research from Modernize, a leader in the home improvement and home services industry, 57% of these consumers are planning to spend all or part of their checks on home improvement projects.
According to the research, homeowners are considering a variety of improvements including, HVAC, solar power, and exterior siding. The greatest proportion of consumers considering roofing and window projects indicate that stimulus funds will go to the cost of that work.
- 82.8% of those with roofing projects expect to use stimulus funds to help cover the cost
- 69.9% of window replacement jobs are likely to tap into their stimulus check
SWFL home improvement contractors who are interested in capturing a large share of this unprecedented injection of cash into the local economy will need to act swiftly. According to research from MarketWatch, with previous stimulus, payments consumers spent one-third of the money received within ten days.
The fastest way for home improvement companies to reach the most homeowners is by advertising on Fort Myers radio.
According to Nielsen, each week more homeowners are reached by Fort Myers radio than all other local media. More than are reached by local TV and cable. More than are reached by Facebook and Instagram. And, more than are reached by streaming video and audio services.
In addition to superior reach, advertising on local radio also provides business owners with a strong return-on-investment.
Between April 30 and May 27 of last year, Nielsen analyzed the sales results of a major retailer who conducted an advertising campaign on both radio and television during that period. The study revealed that the retailer earned a $28,000 increase in sales for every $1000 spent.
These findings confirm 21 previous studies by Nielsen, which demonstrate that, on average, radio advertising returns $10,000 in advertising for every $1000 invested. The chart below shows the range of returns from each study.
AdAge, a trade magazine for advertising professionals, calls these types of return "eye-popping". The magazine goes on to say radio's ROI is superior to commercials on TV, online, and social media.
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