How quickly the millennials have grown up.
According to Nielsen, 51% of all Charlotte area parents with children under the age of 18 are millennials.
From the time their kids are born until they reach they are 17, these young parents will spend, on average, $233,000 per child. This does not include the cost of college.
Currently, there are 566,078 children under the age of 18 living in the Charlotte metro area. That makes the local parenting economy worth upwards of $131 billion. These dollars are being spent, among other things, on diapers, daycare, transportation, toys, education, electronics, clothing, and health care.
For North Carolina small business owners interested in competing for a substantial portion of this multi-billion dollar pool of parental cash, they must advertise to millennial moms and dads. By almost any measurement, advertising on Charlotte radio is the best way to reach this audience.
Every week, for instance, 95.8% of all millennial parents tune-in to a Charlotte radio station. This is substantially more than are reached by local TV, newspapers, social media, or streaming audio sites like Pandora or Spotify,
Historically, companies marketing goods and services related to parenting targeted mothers. It was the mom who bought the groceries and did the back to school shopping. It was mom who found the pediatricians and the babysitters. It was mom who did the Christmas shopping.
Charlotte's millennial parents are making purchase decisions differently.
Jeff Fromm, author of the book Millennials with Kids: Marketing to This Powerful and Surprisingly Different Generation of Parents, points out that stay-at-home dads make up 25% of the households where one parent does not work.
"We have this new structure that takes place in families, where basically everyone has a voice," says Mr. Fromm. "The decision making is chaotic."
To successfully market to millennial parents, then, requires advertisers to target both the mom and the dad. Advertising on Charlotte radio has the most potent media reach among both parents.
When advertising to millennial parents, building strong brand is essential.
According to the National Retail Federation, 49% of millennial parents will stay loyal to a brand even when there are more affordable alternatives available. This compares to only 30% for all other generations.
For an advertising message to create and maintain a strong brand among millennial parents, it must be heard repeatedly. This is what media experts refer to as frequency.
According to Nielsen, "The number of times consumers are exposed to a campaign will inform the strength of their response to the brand."
For local small business owners with limited advertising budgets, advertising on Charlotte radio provides the most efficient way to achieve the necessary levels of effective frequency.
In more than 20 advertising studies conducted by Nielsen, radio advertising, on average, returned $1000 in sales for every $100 invested.
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.
Radio's ability to deliver effective reach, frequency, and ROI lead media expert Doug Schoen to observe in Forbes, "I found this data nothing short of fascinating. It’s quite clear that we should all be paying more attention to radio and its potential to help our businesses. It’s doing the job with expert efficiency.”
More Advertising Advice For Charlotte Small Business Owners
- Why Charlotte Used Car Dealers Need To Advertise Now
- Advertising In Charlotte: Reach Mother's Day Shoppers
- Radio Advertising Drives New Clients To Charlotte Law Firm
- Smart Speakers: What Charlotte Consumers Are Listening To
- Best Way To Advertise Insurance Products In Charlotte
- Advertising In Charlotte: How To Choose The Best Radio Stations
- Small Business Proves Advertising On Charlotte Radio A Sound Investment
