Last year, $711 million in marketing was spent online to reach SWFL area consumers, according to projections based on the 2021 IAB Internal Advertising Report.  This is 35% more than was spent during the prior year.

There is a correlation between the massive amount of money being spent to reach Fort Myers area consumers online and the extraordinary amount of time that these consumers are connecting to the internet via websites and apps.

According to Nielsen, 46.8% of Fort Myers adults are spending 10-plus hours during an average week online. Furthermore, The Pew Research Center, a public opinion research company, reports that one-in-three consumers say they are online constantly. A 50% increase from 2015.  In all, 85% of consumers say they connect at least once daily.

To successfully market and advertise a Fort Myers area business on the internet requires a full-scale understanding of precisely what online marketing is.  Spoiler alert, having a website or having a social media site is not enough.

More than 97% of Fort Myers-Naples area adults have access to the internet.  Ubiquitous technology such as computers, tablets, smartphones, and connected TVs allow Southwest Florida consumers to go online whenever they choose, which, for some adults, is always.

The Pew Research Center, a public opinion research company, reports that one-in-three consumers say they are online constantly. A 50% increase from 2015.  In total, 85% of consumers say they connect at least one time every day.

So, how are Fort Myers-Naples consumers spending all this time connected to the internet?

According to Nielsen, streaming audio and video content, social networking, checking the weather, and banking are the top online activities for Fort Myers consumers each month.

According to Nielsen, 937,000 adults in the Southwest Florida area have access to the internet, equivalent to 97.1% of the population. On average, local consumers are spending 10.68 hours per week online.

SWFL millennials, the first generation that grew up in a digital world, spend considerably more time online. Nielsen reports that, on average, SWFL's 25-39-year-old consumers are clocking 13.35 hours connected to the internet.

So, how are SWFL consumers spending their time online?

According to Nielsen, streaming audio and video content, social networking, checking the weather, and banking are the top online activities for SWFL consumers each month.

Southwest Florida consumers are expected to spend upward of $16.3-billion at retail in 2021. This would be, at minimum, a 6.5% jump over 2020. The forecast is based on newly released estimates by the National Retail Federation.

“Despite the continuing health and economic challenges COVID-19 presents, we are very optimistic that healthy consumer fundamentals, pent-up demand and widespread distribution of the vaccine will generate increased economic growth, retail sales and consumer spending,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said.

“From the outset of the pandemic, retailers have gone above and beyond even the most conservative safety guidelines to protect and serve their associates and consumers alike."

To capture the largest possible share of spending growth, local retailers will need to advertise. By the most crucial marketing metrics, the best best way to reach consumers is by advertising on Fort Myers radio.

Southwest Florida business owners are expected to invest $265-million during 2021 to advertise to consumers connected to the internet. This forecast was produced by Borrell Associates, a company that tracks business advertising expenditures across the country.

These online marketing dollars will be spent on banner advertising, search engine marketing, email, as well as audio and video advertising. This is all to capture the attention of shoppers and buyers as they go about their connected days.

According to Nielsen, 96.3% of adult consumers in the Fort Myers-Naples area have access to the internet. They connect, primarily, with desktop and laptop computers; smartphones; or tablets.

Ninety-six percent of SWFL adults spend at least one hour per week online, with most spending at least 10 hours connected.

Since 1940, advertising on Fort Myers radio has helped small business owners survive and thrive during times of peril. This includes world wars, natural disasters, depressions, and recessions.

Even during a pandemic, by almost every key marketing metric, radio advertising remains the best way for a Southwest Florida business to market its goods and services.

To prove the point, here are five statistics that vividly demonstrate the value of advertising on Fort Myers radio.

In 1921, radio came to Florida. Listeners in the Fort Myers-Naples area could tune-in signals from either WQAM in Miami or WDAE in Tampa. 

In 1939, however, The Fort Myers Broadcasting Company was granted a license to build and operate WFTM. The station went on the air in 1940 serving listeners in Southwest Florida.

WFTM switched its call sign in 1942 to WAAC and became an affiliate of the CBS radio network. Two years later, the call letters changed once again. This time to WINK.

Here are five facts every Southwest Florida small business owner needs to know about local radio in 2020.

Over 96% of Fort Myers-Naples area adults have access to the internet, according to Nielsen. Almost 63% of these consumers spend more than five hours a week connected.

Nielsen reports that Southwest Florida consumers go online to stay connected to friends and family; research products and services; learn the latest news, and obtain directions to where they are going and know what the weather will be when they get there.  

Here are some of the many reasons why Fort Myers internet users go online each month

• Social Media: 77%
• Weather: 52%
• Online Banking: 50%
• Maps/Directions: 48%
• Product Reviews: 39%
• Current Events: 37%
• Restaurant Reviews: 31%
• Sports Scores/News: 29%
• Real Estate: 14%
• Job Search: 14%

And, of course, there is shopping.  Over the past six months, according to Nielsen, 73.9% of Fort Myers consumers shopped online for every imaginable product and service including, cars, golf clubs, office supplies, wedding rings, mattresses, tires, medicine, shoes, socks, and eyeglasses.

To reach local consumers while they are online, Fort Myers businesses will spend $260 million for digital advertising in 2020, according to Borrell Associates.  Here is how the money is being spent:

Southwest Florida shoppers are expected to spend a record $2.9 billion online in 2020, based on the most recent projections from eMarketer. This would represent year-over-year growth of 32.4%.

During the same period, according to eMarketer, receipts at brick-and-mortar stores have contracted by 3.2%.  Overall, excluding gas and auto sales, e-commerce will account for 20.6% of all retail sales this year.

The Coronavirus pandemic is credited with this seismic shift in shopping behavior as consumers continue to avoid stores and opt for online shopping.

“We’ve seen e-commerce accelerate in ways that didn’t seem possible last spring, given the extent of the economic crisis,” said Andrew Lipsman, eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence. “While much of the shift has been led by essential categories like grocery, there has been surprising strength in discretionary categories like consumer electronics and home furnishings that benefited from pandemic-driven lifestyle needs.”

Even before the onset of the pandemic, 73.9% of Fort Myers-Naples area consumers had bought goods online over the prior six months, according to Nielsen research. Purchases included clothing, health & beauty products, travel reservations, books, furniture, and groceries.