Charlotte area business owners have an abundance of options for marketing their goods and services to local consumers. New research from Nielsen, however, indicates that advertising on Charlotte radio is still the best way to reach local shoppers.

Every week, according to Nielsen, Charlotte radio reaches 1.9 million adults. This is significantly more than are reached by social media, local TV stations and cable systems, newspapers, streaming video and audio, and podcasts.

In addition to listening to their favorite Charlotte radio stations over the air, Nielsen reports that 552,33 adults also listen to local stations online every month.

As a matter of fact, according to a study conducted by Edison Research during the third quarter of 2022, among Adults 25-54, 17% of all time spent listening to local AM/FM stations occurs online. This share of online listening has nearly doubled since 2016.

Local business owners have depended on Charlotte radio to market their goods and services since WBT, the city's first radio station, went on air in 1922. Despite the advent of new media and technologies since then, advertising on local radio stations is still the best way for the area's 92,427 small business owners to create and maintain customers.

Here are five facts every business owner should know about advertising on Charlotte radio in 2022.

To ensure success, every Charlotte business owner needs to advertise.

"Think you have a great product?" asks the US 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 product sales, and you know what that means: more revenue and more success for your business.”

There are dozens of ways for local small business owners to advertise. By most metrics, the best way to advertise is on Charlotte radio. These measures of effectiveness, however, are often obscured by the glimmer and glitz of newer technologies. 

To help reduce the glare that often blinds business owners to the potency of advertising on Charlotte radio, here are the top five things many local business owners get wrong.

When WBT-AM became Charlotte's first radio station in 1922, there was no Facebook, no Spectrum, no Sirius/XM, no Netflix, and no podcasts. It would be 27 years before there was even a local TV station.  Consequently, it was pretty easy for radio to become the number one reach medium among local consumers.

Over the past 99 years, Charlotte business owners have come to depend on the mammoth reach of radio among local shoppers to successfully market the goods and services they sell. Advertising on Charlotte radio has helped North Carolina companies to survive and thrive during world wars, natural disasters, recessions, depressions, and even a pandemic.

Heading into 2022, local consumers have more media choices than ever before. But, despite the overabundance of social media, video streaming, audio streaming, cable, and other technological marvels, Charlotte radio is still the most used advertising medium.

In 2020, there were 108,229 new cars and trucks registered in the Charlotte metro area. This number is based on projections from the National Auto Dealers Associaton (NADA) and the U.S. Census bureau.

In all, says NADA, there are 249 new-car dealerships in North Carolina. Despite the pandemic, these dealers, including those in the Charlotte area, sold $28.2 billion worth of new vehicles.

Through June of this year, these same dealers have already rung up $17 billion in new car sales.

When it comes to buying new vehicles, Charlotte consumers have a broad range of preferences. Some buyers want Fords while others want Chevrolets, Toyotas, or Teslas.  Some buyers want pick-up trucks, while others want sub-compacts, SUVs, or sports cars. Of course, some want blue vehicles, while others want pearl white, orchard green, or redolent red.

There is one purchase criterion, however, that most Charlotte car buyers can agree on. They want an AM/FM radio smack-dab, in the middle of their dash.

Every month, 1.7 million adults in Charlotte use social media, according to Nielsen. Seventy-six percent of these consumers use Facebook, far more than other sites like Instagram (also owned by Facebook), Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

As a stand-alone medium, Facebook is used by more people in Charlotte than watch local TV stations and cable channels. Only Charlotte radio reaches more consumers.

The large audience commanded by social media has attracted a significant amount of advertising dollars from local advertisers. According to Borrell Associates, a company that measures advertising expenditures across the county, Charlotte-area businesses are expected to spend $248 million on social media advertising, a 31.7% increase over 2022. The overwhelming majority of these dollars are being spent with Facebook.

Yesterday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced the company was changing its name to "Meta".  This change, though, only affects the name of the parent company. There will be no change to the company's brands like Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp.

How will this name change affect Charlotte businesses that advertise on Facebook?

According to Nielsen, 612,792 Charlotte consumers listened to or downloaded a podcast during the past 30 days. This is 28.1% of the adult population.

A podcast is a downloadable digital audio file available to listeners on an internet-connected device like a smartphone, tablet, or computer. These files are typically part of series focusing on a particular theme such as true crime, professional football, politics, or pop culture.

Charlotte consumers can listen to their favorite podcasts whenever they choose using apps like Spotify, Pandora, Google, and Stitcher. The most used podcasting app, though, is Apple Podcasts.

Research from PodcastHosing.org indicates that Charlotte consumers can access more than 2,000,000 podcast series comprising over 48,000,000 unique episodes. According to data compiled by Edison research, the top 10 podcasts during the second quarter of 2021 were:

There are 676,000 adults in the Charlotte area who have earned a four-year college or postgraduate degree, according to research from Nielsen. A study from the Federal Reserve indicates that these educated consumers have been least affected by the economic consequences of the pandemic.

"While the labor market disruptions have affected workers in a wide set of industries and occupations, those without a college degree have experienced the most severe impact," say Mary C. Daly, Shelby R. Buckman, and Lily M. Seitelman authors of The Unequal Impact of COVID-19 in the Economic Letter published by the Federal Reserve of San Francisco.

Although the unemployment rate increased among consumers of every education level in late March when the Governors of North Carolina and South Carolina lockdown their states to slow the spread of the Coronavirus, the smallest increase was among those with bachelor or postgraduate degrees, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Seven months later, job recovery among those with college degrees is closer to pre-pandemic levels than consumers with lower levels of educational attainment.

Many small business owners have seen the correlation between advertising and survival during the economic crisis inflicted by the pandemic.  With precious few dollars to invest, it is crucial that every advertisement reaches consumers who have disposable income to buy. Right now, the most likely spenders are customers with college degrees.

By key advertising metrics, the best way to reach consumers with higher education is on Charlotte radio.

New data from the US Census Bureau has optimistic news for Charlotte companies that sell business-to-business.

There are approximately 57,000 businesses in the Charlotte area, according to the Census Bureau. Indeed, many of these businesses have suffered since the onset of the Coronavirus, especially in April.

Census information is now showing positive indicators that the fortunes of area companies are improving. This includes those with 500 or fewer employees. These small businesses account for 91% of all Charlotte area firms.

During the week of April 26, 31% of Charlotte area small businesses reported temporary closures.  By July 1, the number dropped to 7%.

Also, during that same week, 74% of Charlotte small business owners were reporting decreases in revenue versus the prior week.  By the end of June, that number fell by almost half.

In both June and July of this year, national data shows all retail and food services spending significantly outperformed the prior year by between two and three percent.

As the business climate improves in the Charlotte area, the fortunes of B2B companies will accelerate as well. These include those businesses that sell office supplies, restaurant supplies, cleaning services, legal services, accounting services, transportation services, banking services, technology, and commercial real estate.