Thousands of Southwest Florida small business owners depend on radio advertising to claim their share of the $22.5 billion local consumers will spend this year. Cha-ching.

These advertisers have, typically, 30 or 60 seconds to convince the 807,219 listeners who tune-in to Fort Myers radio stations each week to become customers. So, it is essential to know how to use that time effectively.

Gathering a sample of 6003 respondents, Westwood One in partnership with audio testing experts Veritonic studied how different elements of award-winning radio commercials affect a listener's intent to buy the products or services advertised. 

Here are the results of the study that SWFL business owners could find useful.

Professional advice is always welcome. Especially when you are a Southwest Florida business owner investing your own money trying to capture a larger share of the $22.5-billion local consumers will spend this year.

Thousands of business owners depend on Fort Myers radio stations to market their goods and services.  What they say in their commercials and how they say it are the most critical factors for turning listeners into customers.  This is referred to by the professionals as the "creative."

A study by Nielsen indicates that the creative elements of a commercial are responsible for 47% of an advertiser's sales result. 

Creative, it turns out, has a more significant effect on sales for SWFL small business owners than does reach, targeting, or branding elements. 

Producing and judging effective creative, though, can be a challenge for an SWFL business owner. So, here is some advice from an award-winning, advertising professional.

There are two reasons why advertising on Fort Myers 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 Southwest Florida"

Among all media available to local business owners, Fort Myers 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.

The Greek philosopher Plato was born 2368 years before there were radio stations in Fort Myers.  There's no doubt, though, he could have written some great commercials.

Plato once said, "Those who tell stories rule society." This quote sounds very familiar to rule #7 for creating a memorable commercial for Fort Myers radio:

Rule #7: Tell a story… listeners are hardwired to emotionally respond to features and benefits when presented in story-form rather than as a list. The advertiser should be the hero of the story.

Lee Habib wrote in the National Review a few years ago, "Stories are packed not with hard data but with something far more powerful: emotional data. That’s why we remember them and why they’re so easily transported, even through generations. Stories stir our souls."

When a Southwest Florida small business owner buys a 60-second commercial on a Fort Myers radio station, she is limited to about 160 words to persuade listeners to become customers.  To be successful, then, each word needs to be carefully selected to fulfill the desired marketing objective. 

A telephone number comprises seven words. Ten if the area code is included.  If the number is repeated three times during the commercial, then it will consume 21-30 words or up to 18% of the total.

So, should a SWFL business owner sacrifice a significant portion of a radio commercial to insert a phone number? Except for certain circumstances, described below, the answer is no. 

Here are the facts.

Advertising is critical for Southwest Florida small business owners looking to cash in on the $22-billion local consumers will spend at retail this year.

To successfully stay top of mind, many business owners advertise on Fort Myers radio stations. These local companies depend on radio's reliable reach, recall, and return-on-investment to convert listeners to customers.

For those local business owners who do not advertise on Fort Myers radio stations, here are five facts they need to know right now about the power of advertising on radio. 

Southwest Florida consumers will spend $22.5 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 1940, when WFTM became the first radio station in Fort Myers, thousands of local 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.

Radio advertising is processed by the brain profoundly faster than visual advertising.  This is valuable news for Southwest Florida business owners who depend on radio to market their goods and services.

SWFL consumers will recognize the first few notes of Jingle Bells five times faster than they can identify a picture of Santa Claus.  That's because it takes the human brain 5/100th of a second to process sound.  On the other hand, it takes a full quarter of a second to process visual stimuli.

This difference in processing time may seem inconsequential. But, for a local small business owner who is fighting to inject their advertising message into the mind of consumers, that .20-second gap can be the difference between success and failure.

Everybody in Southwest Florida used to watch TV. Commercials and all. But, as media options proliferate, viewers are fleeing. This is not good news for television advertisers.

Last week, for instance, according to Nielsen, only 79% of SWFL consumers watched broadcast television. To put this in perspective, 93% tuned-in to their favorite Fort Myers radio stations.

Compared to two years ago, according to Nielsen, the C3 rating for CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox have plummeted by 27%, especially among 18-49 viewers.