Augusta area business owners are expected to spend $9.1 million on newspaper advertising in 2020. This will be 29% fewer dollars than were spent in 2019, according to a study by Borrell Associates, a company that analyzes local media expenditures across the country.

Of course, the pandemic is part of the reason advertising revenues have plummeted at Augusta newspapers. But, the more significant factor is the sustained erosion of readership.

For example, between October 2017 and March 2019, the Monday-Saturday circulation of the Augusta Chronicle has decreased by 27%. The Sunday edition suffered a 32% decrease.

Among all advertising media available to small business owners, newspaper's ability to reach adult consumers now lags significantly behind Augusta radio, cable, broadcast TV, and social media.

Central Savannah River Areas business owners are forecast to invest $1.1 million in 2020 on email advertising campaigns to market their goods and services, according to Borrell Associates, a company analyzes ad spending by local companies across the country. 

Borrell predicts overall spending on email marketing by Augusta area companies is expected to be down by nearly 5% versus last year, primarily due to the pandemic. Regardless, now might be a good time for small business owners to consider engaging current and prospective customers with emails.

"Email is on-fire right now," says Jay Schwedelson, President of Worldata, a company that builds and measures email marketing success for Fortune 100 companies. "Since the start of the pandemic, consumers are spending 22% in their email inbox than they were in January."

Mr. Schwedelson speculates the increase in inbox time is due, in part, to many consumers working from home and depending more-and-more on written communication from co-workers and customers.

"It could also be that consumers are finding comfort in their email boxes rather than from all the noise on social media."

"Either way, email marketing is performing better than ever," says Mr. Schwedelson. "We've studied more than 200 million emails sent over the past 30 days to both business-to-consumer and business-to-business. We found that B2C open rates are up 16% since January, while B2B open rates are 25% higher."

There are over 447,000 adult consumers in the Augusta area. Collectively, in a typical year, these shoppers would generate $9.3 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 Central Savannah River Area 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 CSRA small business owners and retailers to also change their advertising strategies, too.

Central Savannah River Area shoppers are expected to spend over $2 billion during this year's November-January holiday season. This estimate is based on a forecast issued last week by Deloitte, the world's largest business accounting firm.  This spending represents a 1-1.5% increase  versus the same period last year.

How can CSRA small business owners best compete for a significant share of the 2020 holiday expenditures?

"Retailers who prioritize customers’ desires for a safe, efficient shopping journey will be the big winners this year," writes Sean Gundz on www.ChainstoreAge.com.

"The holiday season is always a stressful time for retailers, especially the ones that make the majority of their revenue in the short window between Thanksgiving and Christmas," says Mr. Gundz. 

"Within this window is Black Friday, which, along with other big holiday sales events, are going to look a lot different this year. Retailers must accommodate COVID-19 mandates that enable social distancing, minimize surface touching, and actually restrict foot traffic in their facilities. All while trying to optimize sales."

Mr. Gundz says there is no single way to deal with the challenges facing retailers this holiday season. He does offer five tips, though, that every Augusta area retailer can employ.

Central Savannah River Area consumers are expected to spend $14 million on Halloween related activities in 2020, according to information from the National Retail Federation.  This would be a slight 2.3% decrease from 2019. This is proof of the holiday's strong resistance to the pressures of a pandemic economy.

Based on data from the NRF's annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, more than 260,000 Augusta area adults plan to participate in Halloween-related activities. Among those celebrants, safe at-home activities ranked highest: 53 percent plan to decorate their homes, 46 percent plan to carve a pumpkin, and 18 percent will dress up their pet.

“Consumers continue to place importance on celebrating our traditional holidays, even if by untraditional standards,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Retailers are prepared to meet the increased demand for seasonal décor, costumes, and other items that allow families the opportunity to observe Halloween safely.”

To earn a large share of Halloween spending in 2020, CSRA small business owner will need to advertise to let consumers know their stores are open, stocked, and ready. By any metric, advertising on Augusta radio is the best way to reach holiday shoppers.

Advertising on Augusta television and cable is becoming less attractive to Central Savannah River Area business owners as viewers rapidly defect to alternative video entertainment sources including, Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Amazon and Disney+.

Collectively these streaming services are referred to as Over-The-Top Television (OTT) and Connected-TV (CTV). Viewers can only access this OTT and CTV content via smartphone, tablets, computers, smart-TVs, Amazon Fire Sticks, and Roku Sticks, Nielsen reports that 91% of Augusta area adults own at least one these devices. Furthermore, they are using them.

According to Nielsen projections, OTT and CTV networks now reach 43.4% of CSRA consumers every week.

New data from the US Census Bureau has optimistic news for Central Savannah River Area companies that sell business-to-business.

There are approximately 8600 businesses in the Augusta 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 86% of all CSRA firms.

During the week of April 26, 75% of Georgia area small businesses reported temporary closures.  By July 1, the number dropped to 34%

Also, during that same week, 41% of small business owners in the state were reporting decreases in revenue versus the prior week.  By the end of June, that number fell to slightly over 10%.

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 CSRA, 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.

Despite all of the media options available for small business owners to market their goods and services, advertising on Augusta radio is still the best way to reach local consumers in the Central Savannah River Area.

Adult consumers are spending 741 minutes per day consuming electronic media, according to a new study by Nielsen.  This is 7.8% more time than they spent last year and 11.2% more than in 2018.

The typical daily media diet consists of radio, live TV, time-shifted TV, DVD/Blue-ray devices, game consoles, internet-connected devices, as well as internet via computers, smartphone apps, and tablet apps.

According to Nielsen, despite all of these media options, local radio reaches the most consumers every week.

There is good news for Central Savannah River Area retailers and restaurants.

As a result of the pandemic, one-third of consumers indicate they will pay a premium for local brands and products, according to a recent study by Ernst & Young

However, before consumers will buy from a local business in Augusta, Aiken, Evans, Martinez  or any town in-between, they must know they can do so without risking their health.

Advertising is the only practical way to let CSRA shoppers and diners know about the precautions and practices your small business has taken to reduce potential health threats.

During the spring, 344,400 adult radio-listeners tuned in to their favorite radio stations each week, according to Nielsen. This is 10% more than during the fall, despite the pandemic. 

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 decrease. That, however, was not the case.

In the Spring of 2019, according to Nielsen, 38.4% of radio listening occurred at home. During July of this year, in-home listening jumped to 45.4%. Despite the reduction in out-of-home activities, though, CSRA consumers still spent the almost the same amount of time listening to Augusta radio.

More than one-third of Central Savannah River Area households are 'cord-cutters' or 'cord-nevers'. This means, they have fired their cable or satellite television providers or never subscribed at all. Instead, these consumers are choosing to find their video entertainment elsewhere.

The number of local homes that subscribe to pay-TV services began plummeting in 2013. New technologies has allowed viewers to bypass cable and satellite for more compelling content at lower prices. These cord-cutters now depend on services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and Amazon Prime to fill their multiple screens.

For many years, CSRA small business owners have been investing a significant portion of their advertising budgets into cable-TV.  The medium had proven to be a low-cost, high-reach alternative to buying commercial on over-the-air television stations. 

Now, because of cord-cutting, there are 154,000 adult consumers in the Augusta Metro with unconnected TVs. This profoundly diminishes the value proposition of advertising with local cable systems.

There is a powerful and affordable solution, however, for small business owners to reach both the diminishing cable audience and the expanding number of cord-cutters.

Based on projections from the National Retail Federation, Augusta area parents are expected to spend $59.7 million to equip K-12 kids for the upcoming school year. If so, then this shopping spree will be 29% bigger than last year's and the biggest take since 2012.

“By any measure, this is an unprecedented year with great uncertainty, including how students will get their education this fall whether they are in kindergarten or college,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay says.

“Most parents don’t know whether their children will be sitting in a classroom or in front of a computer in the dining room, or a combination of the two. But they do know the value of an education and are navigating uncertainty and unknowns so that students are prepared."

Along with pencils, paper, pens, and knapsacks, the NRF survey says 63 percent of K-12 families expect to buy computers and other electronics this year, up from 54% last year, and they expect to spend more at an average $274.44, up from $203.44 last year. The $71 difference accounts for the largest share of the overall increase in average spending of almost $93.

Also, because many parents are unsure if learning will take place at school or at home, back-to-school spending this year is expected to include home furnishings such as desks, chairs, and lamps.

To claim a meaningful share of this year's booming back-to-school economy, local retailers will need to advertise to let parents know that their stores are open, it is safe to shop, and the needed supplies are in stock.

By any metric, the best way to reach these parents is on Augusta radio.

Car radios came to the Central Savannah River Area in June of 1930. For just $120, about $1200 in present dollars, local drivers could install these early mobile devices into their Fords, Studebakers, Packards, and DeSotos, 

The first car radios were built by the Galvin Manufacturing Company of Chicago. They named their invention, and eventually their company, Motorola.

Today, more than 357,000 car radios fill ears of area drivers with music, news, sports, and information. As a result, local radio reaches more consumers than all other media.

In a typical pre-COVID-19 week, according to Nielsen, 89% of adult consumers would tune-in to an Augusta radio station. This is significantly more than were reached by local TV, cable, social media, newspaper, or streaming media sites Pandora and Spotify.

If you were one of the 412,000 adults who tuned-in to an Augusta radio station last week, then no doubt you heard multiple commercials that included phrases like 'troubling times', 'uncertain times', 'unprecedented times', 'new normal', and 'we're in this together'. 

In March, as the pandemic began to disrupt consumers' lives, using these phrases was a powerful way for CSRA small business owners to acknowledge the severity of the crisis and to exhibit empathy. But 120 days later, these words have become cliche and have lost potency.

A cliche, says the Oxford Dictionary, is "a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought." 

According to the Writing Center at The University of North Carolina, the dependence on cliches could create a harmful perception of a business that uses them. For instance, these overused phrases can make an advertiser's message seem boring. They can be perceived as vague. They can be interpreted to be a sign of laziness. They can also result in a lack of credibility. 

The words an Augusta area small business chooses for its advertising will have the most significant effect on sales. That's why eliminating cliches is critical.

In a typical week, 412,000 adult consumers tune-in to Augusta radio stations.  But, since the onset of the Coronavirus, the weeks have not been typical.

Before social-distancing and work-from-home orders, 221,000 Central Savannah Area consumers would drive to-and-from work each day. More than 94% of these commuters could be reached by radio.  

CSRA small business owners who depend on radio advertising to market their goods and services, therefore, might be concerned that the disruption in commuting patterns could depress the amount of time consumers spend with local radio.

According to market research, however, radio listening remains an important part of the daily life of consumers. Even amid the current chaos.

Central Savannah River Area consumers are expected to spend $1.3 billion on this year's holiday shopping, based on predictions by The National Retail Federation.  This would be a 4% increase over last year.

Deloitte, one of the world's top four accounting firms, forecasts similar growth.

"The projected holiday season growth is, in part, due to the current health of the labor market,” said Daniel Bachman, Deloitte's U.S. economic forecaster. “Near record-low unemployment rates, coupled with continued monthly job creation, may encourage people to spend more during the holiday season. The economy is still growing, albeit at a slower rate. Additionally, we continue to see consumer confidence elevated, which also helps boost holiday spending."

For most CSRA retailers, holiday spending brings in about 20% of annual sales But, long gone are the days when the bulk of this shopping occurred between Black Friday and Christmas.

Last week, according to Nielsen, 94,966  single, adult women tuned-in to an Augusta, GA radio station.  This is 89% of every consumer who fits this description.

Why should Central Savannah River Area small business owners take note of this demographic? A study by investment bank Morgan Stanley finds 41% of working-age women are single. That number is expected to increase to 45% over the next ten years.

The study, called 'Growth of the SHEconomy', indicates that single women outspend the average household in many retail categories. Remarkably, says, Erica Sweeney of MarketingDive, "Women purchase more than half of products traditionally considered 'male' including autos, home improvement products, and consumer electronics."

"Advertising on Augusta radio has been great for us," says Eddie Jordan. He is the Managing Partner of ten Papa John's Pizza restaurants in the CSRA. "Customers tell me all the time that they hear our ads. When they think about pizza, they think about us."

Mr. Jordan began his career at Papa John's in 1994 as a delivery driver. He worked his way up to assistant manager, general manager, and area supervisor. After six years he bought in as an owner.

"When I started, we just had two stores in the area. We added a new location every year until we had six and then stopped for a while," says Mr. Jordan. "But, in 2007, we knew the population in the CSRA was going to grow like crazy, so we started building again. In 2017, we added our ninth and tenth locations. We now have restaurants in Aiken, Augusta, and North Augusta."

Mr. Jordan was right. Pizza has become big business in the CSRA.  Last week, according to Nielsen, more than 135,000 adults used a local pizza restaurant. This is almost one-third of the entire population.

Advertising on Augusta radio stations is the best way for Central Savannah River Area small business owners to reach the lucrative, local mother market.  Here's why.

CSRA consumers will spend $8.4 billion over the next 12 months. Forbes magazine reports that it is moms who will control 85% of all household purchases. In the Augusta, GA area there are more than 110,000 women with children under the age of 17 at home.

Local small business owners need to pay special attention to these mothers and their wallets.

Mark Twain has some script writing advice for Central Savannah River Area  small business owners who depend on radio advertising to market their goods and services.

"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter - 'tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning," advises Mr. Twain.

In other words, fill your commercials with lightning, not bugs!

Currently, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, there are 171,476 in the English language. A handful of these words, CSRA small business owners can't use in their radio commercials. The Supreme Court of the United States says so.

Of all the words that can be used in broadcast advertising, however, there is one word that should be shunned: 'get' and all of its nasty derivative forms including 'got' and 'gotten'.  Here's why.

Two things are remarkable about voting day in 1920.  It was the first time, ever, women could participate in the selection of the U.S. President. It was also the first time live election results were broadcast on the radio. Not to mention, it was also the first radio broadcast, ever.

The voters' choice that night was between Warren G. Harding  and James M. Cox.  Both men had derived their political power as successful newspaper publishers.  It is quite ironic, then, that one of these men would reach the highest office in the land on the same night that the nascent radio broadcasting business began its takedown of the newspaper industry.

Nowhere is this takedown more apparent than locally, where radio has become, by far, the advertising medium with the largest reach among Central Savannah River Area consumers.

First Choice Home Builders is an Evans, Georgia based construction company. It has been building spec and semi-custom luxury homes in the Central Savannah River Area since 2003.

"In 2018, we sold 48 homes," says Jade Ross, the company's Marketing Coordinator. "The year before we sold 32."

"Advertising on Augusta radio stations has been very important in the growth of our company," she says. "We have used it to build our brand so that when people in the CSRA are ready to buy a newly built home, the first company they think about it us."

Market research indicates that radio advertising is the best way to reach the prospective home buyers that First Choice needs to reach to be successful.

If you don't have time to read this entire article, then I will tell you right now. The best way to advertise in the Central Savannah River Area is on Augusta radio.

A vital function of advertising is to build mental availability, which nudges a consumer toward the purchase of a product or service. It also serves to provide public notice that a product or service exists and is available for purchase.

Consumers in the CSRA area are expected to spend at least $8.6 billion at retail this year. To claim a greater share of this giant pool of cash requires local business owners of every size to advertise their goods and services. As Professor Jef Richards at Michigan State University points out, “Advertising is totally unnecessary…unless you want to make money."

"Endorsement commercials on Augusta radio is now our predominant form of advertising," says Jeff Rucker. He is the owner of three Mathnasium franchises throughout the Central Savannah River Area with locations in Augusta, Evans, and Aiken.

"We originally signed up for a six-month campaign," he says. "but, it worked so well we are now on Augusta radio every weekday, 52 weeks a year."

"Mathnasium," explains Mr. Rucker, "is similar to a gymnasium. At a gym, people go to keep their bodies fit.  When parents bring their kids to us, it's for a mind workout. Our instructors help school children from grades 2-12 develop their math skills, exercise their thinking skills, and help them with their math homework."

"And, like at a gymnasium," he continues, "parents pay a monthly membership so their kids can come to us as many times as they need to be successful in school."

One of the reasons radio advertising performs so well for Mathnasium is the medium's ability to reach CSRA parents with school-age kids.

Suppose you found a 100-year-old machine in your attic. You, then, quickly learned that every time you deposited a dime in the machine, one dollar popped out.  How many dimes would you drop in that machine?

Good news for Central Savannah River Area  small business owners: such a machine exists and you probably have one in your car, at work, at home, even on your phone. It's called local radio.

Over the past few years, Nielsen has conducted over 20 studies to determine what type of return-on-investment (ROI) a business can expect from radio advertising.  Although the results varied by industry, the average company generated $100 in sales for ever $10 invested.  Turning dimes into dollars.

If you were one of the 412,144 adults who tuned-in to an Augusta radio station last week, it is likely you heard a commercial for Indeed.  That's because, last week, Indeed, the world's largest online job site was also one of radio's biggest advertisers.

There is a good reason Indeed invested so heavily in radio advertising. The site has far more job openings posted than there are job-hunters to fill them. 

This is not unlike the predicament of Central Savannah River Area small business owners who are also having difficulty finding and hiring qualified candidates. These employee-strapped businesses can learn something from Indeed.

What Indeed has figured out is that there are not enough unemployed people or disgruntled white-collar workers searching for jobs. So, the company is looking to attract what human resource experts call the 'passive job seekers'.

It turns out that advertising on Augusta radio is the best way for any business owner to recruit, hire, and retain passive, white-collar job seekers.

Of all the advertising options available to Central Savannah River Area business owners, streaming audio services like Pandora and Spotify are the least effective.  Here's why.

According to Nielsen, after the content of a commercial is considered, the element of an advertising campaign that drives sales the most is reach. In other words, making sure the most people possible are exposed to the advertiser's message is crucial.

When it comes to achieving reach among consumers, Pandora and Spotify rank dead last.  Advertising on Augusta radio stations can reach 201% more consumers than these two streaming-audio platforms combined.

Forty-percent of contractors nationwide report that they have turned down jobs this year because they don't have enough skilled blue-collar workers. In Georgia, over one-third of contractors say they would add 25 more employees this year if they could recruit qualified candidates.

The labor crunch isn't confined to construction. Overall, half of all CSRA employers say they are having difficulty hiring enough blue-collar employees to fulfill the increasing demand from customers. This includes truck drivers, plumbers, HVAC technicians, electrical workers, machinists, metal workers, landscapers, janitors, and mechanics.

Local business owners can benefit from a study by The North Carolina Works Commission. The NCWC found that the recruitment efforts of many employers in that state are failing because they depend on hiring strategies from a time when qualified candidates were plentiful.

These failing strategies include posting on job boards like Monster and Indeed; publishing employment ads in local newspapers; and pleading on social media pages. Some small business owners still depend on hanging help-wanted signs.

"Radio advertising, truly, put our store on the map," says Suzanne Lilly Honeymichael. She and her late husband Ray Lilly started Hardwood Floors & More in Evans, Georgia during  the late 1980s.

"For the first years we were in business," she says, "We worked out of our home."  In 2006, though, the business had grown large enough to move into an 800 square foot showroom which they outgrew after just a year.

In 2007, the Lilly's expanded into the 8000 square foot store on Washington Road, where it has been ever since.

"I was hesitant to start advertising back then," says Ms. Lilly Honeymichael. "I just didn't realize what a strong return-on-investment advertising could bring for us. So, we started slowly."

The National Retail Federation has predicted that this year's back-to-school shopping season will set a new record. Households with school-age children are expected to spend, on average, $696.70 preparing their kids for the first day of classes. This tops the previous record set in 2012.

For Central Savannah River Area small business owners, this means there is $155,483,400 of back-to-school bucks in play between now and the first bell of the school year.

According to the NRF, here's how the $696.70 per household will be spent.

• Clothing & Accessories: $239.82
• Computers & Electronics: $203.44
• Shoes: $135.96
• School Supplies: $117.49

To grab the largest share of back-to-school spending will require small business owners to advertise.  By any metric, advertising on Augusta radio stations will be the most effective.  Here's why.

The number one job of every commercial on Augusta radio is not to sell products.

The number one job is not to build store traffic or to create top of mind of awareness.

The number one job of a radio commercial is not to build brand or deliver ROI.

The number one job of every commercial on an Augusta radio station is to be heard. Period. When a commercial is heard, then all the rest will follow. But being heard is not easy.

At the exact second a radio commercial begins, 11,000,000 other pieces of information are all wrestling for the listener's attention.  Sadly, a consumer's brain is only capable of dealing with about 50 bits of that information at a time.

If you are a Central Savannah River Area business owner who would like to secure a larger share of the $8.6 billion local consumers will spend this year, then what you say first in your commercial is crucial to winning the battle for a consumer's ear.

When a Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) small business owner buys a 60-second commercial on an Augusta radio station, she is limited to about 160 words to persuade listeners to become customers.  To be successful, then, each word needs to be carefully selected to fulfill the desired marketing objective. 

A telephone number comprises seven words. Ten if the area code is included.  If the number is repeated three times during the commercial, then it will consume 21-30 words or up to 18% of the total.

So, should a CSRA business owner sacrifice a significant portion of a radio commercial to insert a phone number? Except for certain circumstances, described below, the answer is no. 

Here are the facts.

Eight months ago, Jonathan Wingard opened his own State Farm insurance agency in North Augusta, South Carolina. Since then he has added 120 new households as clients.

After about 30 days in business, Mr. Wingard began advertising on Augusta radio stations. "New customers come in all the time," he says, "and say they heard about us on the radio."

Mr. Wingard always knew he wanted to be in insurance. "I was introduced to the business in college by one of my elementary school teachers who had become a State Farm agent herself.  I liked her confidence. I liked the way she listened to people. I liked her professionalism.  I knew I wanted to be like that, too."

Before opening up his own small business, Mr. Wingard worked for another agency to "learn the ropes."  After four years, he was ready to go out on his own by absorbing 800 accounts from an agent who was moving out of town."

"When I started my business," says Mr. Wingard, "there were already six other State Farm agents in North Augusta. So, I knew I had to build my own brand to differentiate myself. Advertising was the way to go." 

"I do as much as I can afford," he says. "Since I opened, I have invested about 8% of the income generated by my existing accounts back into advertising."

It's time to set some misinformed CSRA small business owners straight.  When we say everybody listens to Augusta radio stations, we mean everybody.  Generations X, Y, and Z. Baby boomers, and, yes, the millennial generation.

You know...millennials. Those are the "kids" who came of age at the turn of the millennium (which is, debatably, either 2000 or 2001).  This means 18-34 year olds. 

Thousands of Central Savannah River Area small business owners depend on radio advertising to claim their share of the $8.6 billion local consumers will spend this year. Cha-ching.

These advertisers have, typically, 30 or 60 seconds to convince the 412,144 listeners who tune-in to Augusta radio stations each week to become customers. So, it is essential to know how to use that time effectively.

Gathering a sample of 6003 respondents, Westwood One in partnership with audio testing experts Veritonic studied how different elements of award-winning radio commercials affect a listener's intent to buy the products or services advertised. 

Here are the results of the study that CSRA business owners could find useful.

Professional advice is always welcome. Especially when you are a Central Savannah River Area business owner investing your own money trying to capture a larger share of the $8.6-billion local consumers will spend this year.

Hundreds of business owners depend on Augusta radio stations to market their goods and services.  What a company says in their commercials and how they say it are the most critical factors for turning listeners into customers.  This is referred to by the professionals as the "creative."

A study by Nielsen indicates that the creative elements of a commercial are responsible for 47% of an advertiser's sales result. 

Creative, it turns out, has a more significant effect on sales for CSRA small business owners than does reach, targeting, or branding elements. 

Producing and judging effective creative, though, can be a challenge for a CSRA business owner. So, here is some advice from an award-winning, advertising professional.

It is not a gimmick. Many CSRA business owners qualify for free advertising on Augusta radio stations. They pay nothing out-of-pocket.  Zero. Zilch. Zip. Bupkis. Free.

Henry Ford understood that the continual investment in advertising was necessary for a business to be successful. “Stopping advertising to save money," he said, "is like stopping your watch to save time.”

Sometimes, though, when daily expenses challenge their cash flow, CSRA small business owners must prioritize spending. Many times, unfortunately, Mr. Ford’s advice is ignored and buying commercials on Augusta radio will move down the list behind making payroll, maintaining delivery vehicles, and replenishing stock. A lot of times, advertising doesn’t make a list at all.

Some CSRA business owners have discovered that their radio advertising doesn’t have to be sacrificed at all when belts need to be tightened. It turns out there’s a deep pool of “free money” that can be dipped into for the singular purpose of advertising. These funds are called cooperative funds, or co-op for short.