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Consumers Stick With Detroit Radio Despite Pandemic

Mar 30, 2021 1:39:49 PM / by Larry Julius

In 1920, when WWJ became the first radio station in Southeast Michigan, many considered the medium a fad.  Even in 1937, a hit song by George Gershwin, Our Love Is Here To Stay, considered radio to be a "passing fancy and in time may go".

Detroit radio, however, has survived the advent of talking-movies, television, eight tracks, and cassettes in stereo.  More recently, radio has withstood a tsunami of digital options including, YouTube, SiriusXM, Pandora, and Spotify.

As the Coronavirus pandemic rolls over into a second year, Detroit radio has hung tough and not ceded its ground despite listener's shifting lifestyles.  This is crucial news for local small business owners who depend on local stations to market their goods and services.

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Topics best way to advertise, reach, return on investment, ROI, corona, coronavirus, covid 19, recession, advertising reach, in-car audio, pandemic, time spent listening, work from home, radio listening, listening location, commuting

Advertise In Detroit: Shoppers' Needs Are Changing...Again!

Sep 28, 2020 2:14:53 PM / by Larry Julius

There are over 3.5 million adult consumers in the Detroit area. Collectively, in a typical year, these shoppers would generate $78.3 billion in retail sales. This money would be spent on cars, shoes, fast-food, entertainment, groceries, mattresses, adult beverages, haircuts, makeup, and an over-abundance of other of goods and services. Their money was being spent on both the essential and the frivolous. 

The way Southeast Michigan consumers spend money changed radically in March as COVID-19 began to spread. Six months into the pandemic, shopping strategies are about to change again.

It started with panic buying. Consumers began ignoring prices and were paying what was ever necessary to ensure the safety, health, and comfort of their families.  According to Nielsen, this sudden spike in demand caused widespread price increases. To put it in perspective, retail prices shot-up in 64% of all product categories stocked in grocery stores.

Almost immediately, advertising messages from local retailers shifted from promises of low prices and convenience to product availability and shopper safety.

Based on new research from Nielsen, consumers' shopping strategies are beginning to shift again. This will require Metro Detroit small business owners and retailers to also change their advertising strategies, too.

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Topics small business, small business owner, retail, return on investment, ROI, retailer, retail sales, retail store, corona, coronavirus, covid 19, small business marketing, small business advertising, pandemic

How Has Working From Home Affected Advertising On Detroit Radio?

Aug 24, 2020 6:45:00 AM / by Larry Julius

Before COVID-19, most listening to Detroit radio happened outside the home. Southeast Michigan consumers were tuning-in to their favorite stations from the car on the way to their job. Then, they tuned-in when they arrived at work. They listened again during the commute back home.

Nielsen recently surveyed consumers who worked from home before and during the novel coronavirus outbreak. The results show, as of June, 66% of respondents now work from home full-time as a consequence of the pandemic.

As consumers are compelled to work from their houses and curtail their commutes, the share of at-home listening to Detroit radio has grown by 31%, according to Nielsen.

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Topics radio advertising, best way to advertise, corona, coronavirus, covid 19, advertise on radio, radio commercials, pandemic, time spent listening, work from home, radio listening, listening location

Advertising In Detroit: Radio Listening Little Change From Year Ago

Aug 10, 2020 7:01:00 AM / by Larry Julius

During July, 1.6 million adult listeners spent 1.75 hours per day listening to their favorite Detroit radio stations, according to Nielsen. Despite an avalanche of pandemic induced disruptions, the daily time spent with radio is down by only by one-quarter-hour from a year ago.

Some advertising experts had predicted that as consumers spent more time at home because of COVID-19 concerns, the hours devoted to radio listening would dramatically decrease. That, however, was not the case.

In July of 2019, according to Nielsen, 26.3% of radio listening occurred at home. During July of this year, in-home listening jumped to 34.5%. Despite the reduction in out-of-home activities, though, consumers still spent nearly the same amount of time listening to Detroit radio.

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Topics small business, small business owner, radio advertising, best way to advertise, pandora, spotify, corona, coronavirus, covid 19, advertise on radio, small business marketing, small business advertising, podcasts, sirius/xm

Detroit Radio Listeners Will Power The Post-Pandemic Recovery

Jun 10, 2020 2:02:11 PM / by Larry Julius

At the dawn of 2020, Metro Detroit small business owners were expecting the area's retail economy to expand by 4.1%. This optimism was stoked by the National Retail Federation's chief economist who said, "Consumers remain upbeat and have the confidence to spend, and the steady wage growth that has come with the strong job market is fueling their spending. The state of the consumer is very healthy."

By February, however, the country entered into a COVID-19 induced recession. Then, to slow the spread of the pandemic, on March 24, the Governor of Michgian locked the state down. This brought the Detoirt area's $78,3 billion retail economy to a standstill.

As stores, restaurants, and offices in the Detroit area begin to re-open, consumers' appetite for spending is returning. According to Nielsen, loyal radio listeners are very likely to be first in line at the cash registers.

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Topics small business, small business owner, best way to advertise, consumer spending, retail, retailer, retail sales, automotive, retail store, corona, coronavirus, covid 19, reopen, advertise on radio, recovery

Who'll Be Buying When Detroit Small Businesses Reopen?

May 19, 2020 7:16:00 AM / by Larry Julius

To slow the spread of COVID-19, the Governor of Michigan shut down all but the most essential businesses in the state on March 23. This public safety measure inflicted a severe disruption to Metro Detroit's $78.3 billion retail economy.

As local small business owners prepare to reopen, each must concentrate on supercharging their cash flows to compensate for weeks of consumer abstinence. Turning the lights back on and hanging out a welcome sign might not be enough, though, to bring even the most loyal customers back.

Some customers may not return because of personal safety concerns. Other customers may have discovered alternative sources to purchase goods and services.

But, there is one thing every Southeast Michigan small business owner can be assured of. Consumers will not return if they aren't aware that a business has reopened.

Advertising is a potent tactic for any Detroit small business that needs to reintroduce itself to local consumers.

“Think you have a great product?” asks the U.S. Small Business Administration. “Unfortunately, no one’s going to know about it unless you advertise.”

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Topics small business, small business owner, best way to advertise, retail, radio advetising, store traffic, retailer, retail sales, retail store, corona, coronavirus, covid 19, crisis marketing, reopen

Should Your Metro Detroit Small Business Continue To Advertise?

May 16, 2020 7:21:00 AM / by Larry Julius

COVID-19 has had a profound effect on cash register receipts in Southeast Michigan. Every day small business owners from Monroe to Auburn Hills are being challenged by the pandemic induced recession.

Just yesterday, for instance, the US Commerce Department announced that April retail sales were down by 20% vs. the same month last year. This is sure to take a massive bite out of the $78.3 billion in annual consumer spending Metro Detroit businesses had been expecting in 2020.

“April was the cruelest month,” Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, told the Wall Street Journal. "Retail spending likely bottomed out in the first week of May with spending picking up due to Mother’s Day and gradual state reopenings.

“It’s going to be less worse with each month,” said Mr. Johnson, “as people slowly come out of the foxhole and enter the mainstream of American consumerism.”

The ability of a Southeast Michigan small business to survive past the lockdowns will depend on the steps it takes now.

WARC, a company that collaborates with more than 50 respected marketing organizations, including the Advertising Research Foundation and the Association of National Advertisers, has identified ten tactics that businesses should implement immediately. The #2 step on this list: Keep advertising if you can.

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Topics small business, small business owner, best way to advertise, corona, coronavirus, covid 19, recession, crisis marketing, WARC

Reclaim 'Top Of Mind' When Your Detroit Small Business Re-Opens

May 1, 2020 12:54:08 PM / by Larry Julius

Business was booming in Detroit. Then it was not.

Before the chaos brought on by Coronavirus, it had been predicted, based on estimates from the National Retail Federation, Detroit area consumers would spend 4.1% more in 2020 than they did in 2019. On March 23, however, when Michigan's Governor shut down the state, the expectations of growth for many small business owners were replaced with fights for survival.

As the state prepares to reopen, Metro Detroit small businesses will learn that turning the lights back on and hanging out the welcome sign might not be enough to bring even the most loyal customers back.

Some customers will not return because of personal safety concerns. Other customers may have discovered alternative sources to purchase goods and services.

More likely, though, customers will not come back because a business has lost a valued parcel of real estate: the position at the top of a customer's mind. This is the place where purchase decisions are made.

There is a way to regain top-of-mind status. First, though, it's important to understand why a business can be forgotten so quickly. 

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Topics small business, frequency, small business owner, radio advertising, best way to advertise, advertising recall, top of mind, corona, coronavirus, covid 19, recall, top of mind awareness, recency

Who Do Detroit Consumers Trust During A Crisis?

Apr 27, 2020 2:03:01 PM / by Larry Julius

For Detroit small business owners, marketing and advertising are crucial to surviving any crisis, including Coronavirus. The business literature has an abundance of case studies from depressions, recessions, natural disasters, and, yes, pandemics that affirm this existential conclusion.

Advertising, however, may seem extravagant right now to Southeast Michigan businesses that are struggling to make rent, purchase inventory, and meet payroll. Henry Ford, though, is often quoted as saying, "Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping a clock to save time."

Therefore, as business owners from Monroe to Lapeer (and every point in between) are cinching their belts tighter-than-ever to stay alive, the dollars invested in advertising must be spent in the most effective manner possible.

During periods of uncertainty, advertising works the hardest when placed in within media that consumers trust.  During the time of COVID-19, advertising on Detroit radio has earned that trust among local consumers.

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Topics small business, small business owner, radio advertising, best way to advertise, reach, advertising recall, corona, coronavirus, covid 19, recession, crisis marketing, trust, context

Web Traffic Is Soaring For Detroit Small Business Owners

Apr 24, 2020 11:15:30 AM / by Larry Julius

Since the onset of the Coronavirus crisis, consumers are not flocking into the showrooms, storefronts, offices, or dining rooms of Southeast Michigan small business owners. It turns out, though, social distancing has not proven to be an impediment to shopping.

Metro Detroit consumers are still spending money despite the chaos imposed by the pandemic, according to Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell & Associates. His company specializes in the collection of marketing data from business owners across the country.

"During depressions, recessions, floods, hurricane, earthquakes, fires, and, now, pandemics, commerce goes on," Mr. Borell told members of Detroit's small business community during a recent teleconference.

To prove his point, he shared research from IBISworld  which, indicates spending continues despite a plunge in consumer confidence.

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Topics small business, small business owner, consumer spending, online advertising, radio advetising, corona, coronavirus, covid 19, attribution, web traffic, website visitor, e-commerce

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