The chaos created in Southwest Florida by the onset of Coronavirus has been a disruptive force among consumers. 

Work routines, buying habits, family life, and media consumption have all been palpably affected. These are all factors that need to be considered by small business owners who continue to advertise their goods and services during the crisis.

Before the current chaos, advertising on Fort Myers radio, by any metric, was the best way a local small business could advertise.

For instance, pre-Coronavirus, 807,000 adult consumers tuned-in to a Fort Myers radio station every week. This is significantly more than watched local TV, read a newspaper, accessed social media, or streamed audio from sites like Pandora and Spotify.

New research released from Nielsen indicates that amidst the current crisis, listening to local radio remains little changed. This is great news for those SWFL small business owners who are depending on advertising for their long-term survival.

The buying power of Black consumers in Southwest Florida is now $1.8 billion. Over the past 19 years, according to Nielsen, the pace of spending by African Americans has grown 28% faster than by White consumers.

If a local small business owner would like to earn a larger share of this spending, the best place to start is with advertising.

"For African American consumers, advertising of all types is an important touchpoint in their shopping journey," says a recent study by Nielsen. "African American consumers are more likely than the total population to agree that advertising provides them with meaningful information about the product use of other consumers."

"African Americans are avid media consumers, across multiple media channels, which gives advertisers ample opportunities to connect with them."

The best advertising medium, though, for small business owners to reach local African American consumers is on Fort Myers radio.

Almost 214,000 adult consumers in Southwest Florida belong to a fitness club. These memberships bring in close to $398 million in sales to local gym owners.

January is critical for the small business owners that operate gyms in the SWFL area. According to the International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub Association, this one month alone, accounts for 10.8% of annual membership sales. New Year's resolutions are the reason for this early year spike.

To capture a larger share of the $42.9 million local consumers  will spend on gym memberships in January, requires fitness center owners to advertise. The best way to do this is on Fort Myers radio. Here's why.

In 2003, Cadillac was the first automotive brand to make satellite radio standard in all of its new vehicles. Oldsmobile would follow a year later.

Today, there are 117 million cars on the road with satellite radio installed. 

So, have Southwest Florida drivers ditched their favorite Fort Myers radio stations in favor of music from space?  No!

According to Nielsen,  satellite radio has had no effect on the number of people who tune-in to Fort Myers radio stations each week.  For that matter, Pandora and Spotify (now owned by Sirius/XM) have not affected local radio listening either.

Of all the advertising options available to Southwest Florida small business owners, streaming audio services like Pandora and Spotify are the least effective.  Here's why.

According to Nielsen, after the content of a commercial is considered, the element of an advertising campaign that drives sales the most is reach. In other words, making sure the most people possible are exposed to the advertiser's message is crucial.

When it comes to achieving reach among consumers, Pandora and Spotify rank dead last.  Advertising on Fort Myers radio stations, actually, can reach 200% more consumers than these two streaming-audio platforms combined.