There are approximately 83,556 businesses in Southeast Michigan, 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 95% of all Detroit area firms.
During the week of April 26, 60% of Detroit area small businesses reported temporary closures. By July 1, the number dropped to 15%
Also, during that same week, 81% of Southeast Michigan small business owners were reporting decreases in revenue versus the prior week. By the end of June, that number fell to 30%.
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 Detroit 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.
By almost any metric, the best way for local B2B companies to advertise is on Detroit radio.
According to Nielsen, there are 520,637 area business people who participate in their company's purchasing decisions. Every week, Detroit radio reaches 96.3% of those B2B consumers. This is significantly more local decision-makers than are reached by any other medium.
Detroit radio is an especially potent way to reach small business owners, a group crucial to the success of every B2B company.
There are more than 163,552 small business owners in the Detroit area, according to Nielsen. Every week, local radio reaches 98.3% of them.
In addition to providing near-universal reach among those people who make purchasing decisions at Southeast Michigan businesses, radio advertising also provides a strong return-on-investment.
Over the past few years, Nielsen has conducted more than 20 studies to determine what type of ROI a business owner can expect from radio advertising. Although the results varied by industry, the average company generated $100 in sales for every $10 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.
When presented with this ROI data, marketing expert Doug Schoen wrote in Forbes, "The implications of results like these are profound for the communications and advertising industries and as a marketing professional with over 35 years of experience, I found this data nothing short of fascinating. It’s quite clear that we should all be paying more attention to radio, its reach and potential to help our businesses. It’s doing the job with expert efficiency."