Small business owners in Southwest Florida must advertise to claim a fair share of the $22.7 billion retail economy.

“Think you have a great product?” asks the U.S. Small Business Administration. “Unfortunately, no one’s going to know about it unless you advertise.”  The SBA goes on to say, “Advertising, if done correctly, can do wonders for your sales, and you know what that means: more revenue and more success for your business."

During 2019, many SWFL small business owners sought advertising guidance on the advice pages of www.AdvertiseInFortMyers.com. Below are the top ten most-read articles from the past 12 months.

There's a reason many Southwest Florida small business owners target their advertising towards consumers who have completed a four-year college degree. It's because, typically, university graduates earn $29,106 more per year than those with only a high school diploma, according to The Federal Reserve.

There are, according to Nielsen, 357,458   college graduates living in the Fort Myers-Naples area. In total, this population generates $19.9 billion in annual take-home pay.

To tap into a similar pool of spending power, a marketer would need to reach 442,109 consumers who did not go beyond high school. The problem is, there is only about 79% of that number living in Southwest Florida

The number of people reached by a campaign is, generally, what determines the cost of advertising. So, for an SWFL small business owner operating on a tight marketing budget, spending can be kept in check by targeting those consumers with the most money to spend. In this case, college graduates.

Over the next 12 months, Southwest Florida consumers are expected to spend $22.7 billion at retail.  To capture a larger share of this cash,  local small business owners should consider advertising.

The US Small Business Administration recommends that every SWFL small business advertise consistently.  “Think you have a great product?” asks the SBA. “Unfortunately, no one’s going to know about it unless you advertise.”  The SBA goes on to say, “Advertising, if done correctly, can do wonders for your product sales, and you know what that means: more revenue and more success for your business."

Local business owners have depended on Fort Myers radio advertising to market their goods and services since 1940. That's when William E. Benns put the first Fort Myers station, WFTM, on the air.

Today, Fort Myers radio, by any key advertising metric, is still the best way for business owners to reach local consumers.

Attention Southwest Florida small business owners. The five busiest shopping days of the year are imminent.

Based on data from the National Retail Federation, more than 667,000 Fort Myers-Naples area consumers are likely to shop beginning on Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday.

“The tradition of Thanksgiving weekend holiday shopping has become a five-day event with consumers spending money in stores, supporting local small businesses, and online with their mobile devices and computers,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Even as people are starting to purchase gifts earlier in the season, consumers still enjoy finding good Thanksgiving deals and passing time shopping with family and friends over the long holiday weekend.”

Based on the NRF findings, here are the number of shoppers local business owners can expect on each of these five days: