Based on projections from the National Retail Federation (NRF), Southeast Michigan consumers are on track to spend $63-billion with retailers by the end of this year. This would be 13.5% higher than was spent in 2020.
To earn a significant share of these retail dollars, Detroit area business owners are expected to spend $1.6 billion to advertise by year's end, according to Borrell Associates. This company tracks advertising expenditures in local markets across the U.S.
To ensure they are spending their advertising and marketing dollars wisely, many Detroit business owners research how to best target prospective customers by using local media. An exceptional resource for local business owners to investigate the media habits of localconsumers is on the advice section of AdvertiseInDetroit.com.
Here are the top five most-read articles on the site in 2021:
Advertise On Detroit Radio: Still Best Option For Small Business
Jul 9, 2021 10:31:04 AM / by Larry Julius
Retail spending in the Detroit area is expected to reach $63 billion this year, a 13.5% increase versus 2020. These estimates are based on a revised forecast from the National Retail Federation (NRF).
Since 1920, when WWJ-AM signed on as the first station in Detroit, local business owners have depended on radio advertising to help market their goods and services to Southeast Michigan consumers. But has the Coronavirus pandemic altered the medium's ability to deliver customers to ring up sales for local retailers?
Two critical marketing metrics indicate that advertising on Detroit radio remains the best way for a small business to advertise.
The first measurement is reach. This is the number of different consumers who are exposed to an advertising campaign.
The second measure is return-on-investment (ROI). This is the amount of sales a business can expect for every one dollar invested in advertising.
Based on these metrics, here is how advertising on Detroit radio measures up to other options available to local small business owners.
How To Fill Open Jobs In Detroit
Sep 10, 2021 3:31:27 PM / by Larry Julius
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According to the US Census Bureau, there are 163,433 businesses in the Detroit area. Some of these companies are small. Some are large. Some sell machine parts. Some sell software. Some provide legal services. Some provide eyecare.
Regardless of the size of the business or what it sells, all of these local companies have one thing in common: they are struggling to fill open jobs with qualified candidates. This is true in Detroit as well as Dearborn, Pontiac, Rochester Hills, Ypsilanti, Birmingham, and every point in between.
Right now, across the country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 10.9 million open jobs. This is an all-time record.
To put this mammoth number of open jobs in perspective, the Federal Reserve says there are now five job openings per every four unemployed people.
Attempting to recruit Detroit workers from the ranks of the unemployed has proven fruitless for local companies. This is because many people who lost their jobs during the pandemic have no intention of returning to the workforce anytime soon.
There are several reasons so many Detroit workers are not coming back.
First, older workers have opted to retire earlier than expected. Second, childcare issues are making it necessary for some parents to stay home. Third, other workers cite health safety issues for the reason why they chose not to work. Finally, some of the unemployed are choosing to live off the savings they amassed during the pandemic.
So rather than focusing recruitment efforts among former employees and the ranks of the unemployed, local business owners need to target the 1.7 million passive job seekers in Detroit.
Advertising In Detroit: What's The Best Way To Reach Pet Owners?
May 12, 2021 4:06:24 PM / by Larry Julius
A surge in pet adoptions and sales during the pandemic has increased the number of pet owners in the Detroit area to 1,872,507, according to Nielsen.
As a result, the amount of money that will be spent in Southeast Michigan during 2021 on domestic dogs, cats, birds, ferrets, and other cuddly creatures will achieve a record-high $1.5 billion. These figures are based on recent forecasts from The American Pet Products Association (APPA),
“We have reached a critical milestone in 2020, generating $103.6 billion in sales [in the U.S.],” said Steve King, President, and CEO of APPA. “We are bullish for the coming year, projecting growth of 5.8% - well above the historical average of 3 to 4%."
Detroit pet owners will be spending in four ways:
- Food & Treats which includes everything from canned and bagged food to biscuits and chewies.
- Veterinary Care and Product Sales which includes routine veterinary care, surgical procedures, and sales of pharmaceuticals and other products through veterinary clinics
- Supplies, Live Animals, and Over-The-Counter Medications which, in addition to dogs and cats. includes fish, birds, small animals, and reptiles. This also includes cages, food and water bowls, as well as leashes and collars. OTC includes medications for allergy relief, gastric distress, and oral hygiene.
- Other includes services such as boarding, grooming, and pet sitting.
To capture a significant share of the local pet economy, local business owners who provide these four types of goods and services will need to advertise. By almost any marketing metric, the best way to reach pet owners is by advertising on Detroit radio.
Wow!! Detroit Millennials Turn 40 This Year
Apr 29, 2021 2:48:30 PM / by Larry Julius
There are 864,537 millennials in the Detroit area. The oldest of them turn 40 this year. According to The Pew Research Center, millennials comprise the generation of Americans born between 1981 and 1996.
As a consumer group, millennials account for an outsized percentage of retail spending. This generation represents 24.6% of the Detroit area population but almost one-third of metro-area sales.
All in, Detroit millennials are expected to ring up more than $27.3 billion in purchases during 2021. You name it, millennials are planning to buy it.
According to Nielsen, over the next 12 months, Detroit millennials will show up in huge numbers at auto dealerships, furniture stores, mattress stores, appliance stores, home improvement stores, and scores of other area retailers and service providers.
Television Advertising In Detroit: Where Are The Viewers?
Jul 1, 2021 2:46:10 PM / by Larry Julius
Broadcast television came to Southeast Michigan in 1946 when WWDT-TV (now WDIV-TV) signed on for the first time. In those days, only about 0.5% of local households actually owned a set, a number that would grow 100-fold by the mid-1950s.
At first, Detroit consumers needed rabbit-ears or outdoor antennas to receive signals from a small handful of local stations, including WXYZ and WJBK. The quality of reception varied day-to-day.
By the early 1960s, however, local cable systems began to bring higher-quality, reliable reception to households throughout the Detroit area. The number of programming options, though, remained limited to affiliates of ABC, NBC, and CBS.
In 1972, viewing options began to expand as local cable began offering Detroit area consumers the opportunity to purchase premium services, including HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax. Five years later came an explosion of non-premium cable channels such as TBS and CNN.
In the early 1990s, Detroit viewers could not only receive their television programming over-the-air or by cable, but options expanded to include satellite delivery by DishTV and DirectTV.
The next TV innovation came in 2007 as Detroit consumers started turning to the internet to watch streaming channels like Netflix and Hulu. These new services allowed viewers to watch TV on their phones, computers, and tablets as well as their living room LCD and Plasma screens.
Today, all of this video technology offers viewers the ultimate flexibility to choose how, when, and where to watch TV. So, what are they watching?
More Advertising Advice For Detroit Small Business Owners
- What Are Detroit Consumers Watching On TV?
- Detroit New Car Buyers Agree: Put AM/FM Radio In My Dashboard
- Does The Facebook Name Change Affect Detroit Advertisers?
- Best Way To Reach Detroit's Holiday Shoppers In 2021
- Advertise In Detroit: In-Store Shopping Exceeds Pre-COVID Level
