Southeast Michigan small business owners have an abundance of options for advertising their goods and services. Choices include local TV, local cable, social media, streaming video, streaming audio, podcasts, and newspapers.

The best way to advertise in Detroit, however, is local radio.

Every week, according to Neilsen, 2.8 million adults tune-in to their favorite Detroit radio stations. This is significantly more than any other advertising medium.

In addition to the adults who listen to Detroit radio over-the-air, an incremental 173,228 adults connect to their favorite stations online as well using their phones, computers, and tablets. In all, according to Nielsen, 23.3% of all Detroit radio listeners listen both online and offline.

Local consumers may have a gloomy feeling about economic conditions, but their spending has not tapered. This is good news for the 158,041 small business owners in the Detroit area.

According to the latest University of Michigan's Survey of Consumers, sentiment about current economic conditions remains near the all-time low. Concerns about volatile gas prices, rampant inflation, and a looming recession have driven the survey's index down 37% versus a year ago.

Despite these dim consumer sentiments, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis's July report shows that real personal consumption expenditures are pacing well above pre-Covid levels. According to Morgan Stanley research, consumers' ability to spend is being driven, in part, by a massive amount of excess savings accumulated over the course of the pandemic.

Earlier this year, based on per capita spending data from the National Retail Federation (NRF). Detroit consumers were forecast to spend nearly $67.6 billion at retail this year. The current level of spending suggests that shoppers are on track to hit that number.

Of course, for local business owners to successfully compete for a share of this record spending requires marketing. By most key marketing metrics, the best way to advertise is on Detroit radio. This is especially true among business owners who must limit the number of marketing channels that can be used because of economic restraints.

Of all media, advertising on the radio provides the greatest return on investment.

Southeast Michigan business owners have depended on Detroit radio to market their goods and services since WWJ, the city's first radio station, went on air in 1920. Despite the advent of new media and technologies since then, advertising on local radio stations is still the best way for the area's 158,041 small business owners to create and maintain customers.

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

Local business owners have been advertising on Detroit radio since WWJ first signed-on in 1920.  But, back then, there were only two options for reaching a mass audience: newspapers and radio.

Today, though, advertisers have an over-abundance of marketing options both over-the-air and online. But every week, according to Nielsen, 2.8 million adults listen to a Detroit radio station, giving the 101-year-old medium, by far, the biggest reach amongst local consumers.

A new report released last week by Nielsen underscores AM/FM radio's durable reach among all media.

Despite an abundance of media options, Detroit radio reaches the most consumers every week. 

According to Nielsen, every week 2.8 million adults tune in to their favorite Detroit stations. This is more than watch local TV stations, cable, or streaming video. It is more than browse social media. It is more than listen to streaming audio services or podcasts. It is more than read local newspapers.

Not all listening to Detroit radio happens on car radios, table-top radios, or boom boxes. Instead, local consumers also use their smartphones, computers, and tablets as a way to connect to their favorite local stations.

Neilsen finds that 23.3% of all consumers who listen to a Detroit radio station over the air will, at some point during the month, also connect to a local station via the internet. As a matter of fact, during a typical hour, Nielsen data suggests that 7.7% of a station's total audience is listening on a device other than a traditional receiver.

Each week according to Nielsen, 2.8 million consumers tune in to a Detroit radio station. This is significantly more adults than watch local TV stations, cable, or streaming video. It is more than browse social media. It is more than listen to streaming audio services or podcasts. It is more than read local newspapers.

There are two traits Detroit radio listeners have in common. First, they are very loyal to their favorites, tuning-in to, on average, only 2.7 different stations each week.

Second, and of particular importance to Southeast Michigan small business owners, radio listeners are returning to 'normal' at a faster rate than the general population after more than two years of pandemic.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, Nielsen has been measuring consumer sentiment in regard to normal behaviors. In a survey conducted in March of this year, 83% of adults say they are "ready to go and feel life is becoming more normal". This is up dramatically from the same time last year.

There are 158,041 small business owners in Southeast Michigan, according to the US Census Bureau. Each of these companies will need larger advertising budgets to successfully compete for a fair share of the expected explosion in consumer spending this year.

Based on new forecasts from The National Retail Federation (NRF), Detroit area consumers are expected to spend between $67.6 and $68.8 billion at retail in 2022, a six to eight percent growth over the previous year.

The NRF's forecasts exclude restaurants, gas stations, and automotive dealers. Included in the numbers, though, are non-store and online sales, which, in Detroit, could reach as high as $16.2 billion this year. This level of spending would be 13% more than in 2021.

Even though the rate of growth rate for 2022 is lower than the 14% jump in 2021, the NRF points out that this year's spending will be well ahead of the 10-year,  pre-pandemic growth rate of 3.7%

To participate in the expected surge in retail spending will require Detroit business owners to advertise. Especially if retailers want to hold their own against the continued growth of non-store and online competition.

There are about 2,900,000 registered passenger vehicles in the Detroit area. Some are cars. Some are trucks. Some are Hondas. Some are Fords. Some are Teslas. Some have four doors. Some have two. Some go fast. Some go slow. Some guzzle gas. Some sip. Some are red. Some are blue.

The one thing that almost every car and truck in the Detroit area have in common, though, is the AM/FM radio smack-dab in the middle of the dashboard.

The first car radio went on sale in 1930. It was an invention of the Galvin Manufacturing Company. The company named the radio 'Motorola,' and its cost was $130, around $2000 in today's dollars. By 1935, more than three million car radios had been installed.

Today, AM/FM radio is part of every car and truck on Detroit area roads. In addition to the radio, many of these vehicles also provide drivers with other audio options, including a CD player, Sirius/XM, Pandora, Spotify, podcasts, and easy access to personal MP3 collections.

It is fair, then, for small business owners who depend on Detroit radio to advertise their goods and services to ask: with all the audio options on today's dashboards, is anyone listening to local AM/FM radio in the car anymore?

Construction companies in Southeast Michigan will need to recruit 8,982 blue-collar workers on top of the normal pace of hiring in 2022 to meet the demands of the current building market. These statistics are based on forecasts from Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. (ABC), an association comprised primarily of U.S. firms that work in industrial and commercial construction sectors.

"The construction industry desperately needs qualified, skilled craft professionals to build America," said Michael Bellaman, ABC president and CEO. "The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in November and stimulus from COVID-19 relief will pump billions in new spending into our nation's most critical infrastructure, and qualified craft professionals are essential to efficiently modernize roads, bridges, energy production, and other projects across the country. More regulations and less worker freedom make it harder to fill these jobs."

The construction industry's appetite for new hires in the Detroit area will continue into 2023, according to ABC. It is expected that during that year,  an additional 8,153 blue-collar workers in addition to the normal pace of hiring.

Right now, at least one of the 163,433 businesses located in the Southeast Michigan area is thinking about using the phrase 'March Madness' as part of upcoming advertising and marketing plans. Why not? It's a great use of alliteration. It's a familiar term. And, it's that time of year.

A furniture store in Troy might think it would be clever to use 'March Madness' in its commercials on Detroit radio to promote a big spring sale. A non-profit in Dearborn feels it would be a good way to describe its charity fun run on social media and online advertising. A sports bar in Southfield believes it would be a no-brainer to use the term in streaming video and audio ads to bring in scores of basketball fans.

It is, indeed,  tempting for a Detroit small business owner to use this term for advertising or marketing purposes. But,  to avoid a costly legal battle, the use of this trademarked phrase should be a non-starter. Here's why.