Based on projections from the National Retail Federation (NRF), Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) consumers are on track to spend $8.1-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, Augusta area business owners are expected to spend $169.9 million 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 CSRA 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 AdvertiseInAugusta.com.  

Here are the top five most-read articles on the site in 2021:

Every week, according to Nielsen, Augusta, Georgia radio reaches 362,800 adult consumers in the CSRA. This is significantly more people than are reached by local TV, cable, social media, streaming video, streaming audio, or newspapers.

Because of its humongous reach, CSRA small business owners advertise on Augusta radio to successfully market the products and services they sell.

Many first-time advertisers on Augusta radio will ask how many times a consumer needs to hear a commercial before they become a customer.  Often the business owner is told that to be effective, a consumer needs to be exposed to a message three times before they will buy.  Unfortunately, this prescription for a three-time frequency is more myth than substance.

A study by Nielsen provides some data-based insights about effective frequency, But first, here's the origin of the mythological rule of three.

Every week, according to Nielsen, 88% of adult consumers tune in to an Augusta, Georgia radio station. This is significantly more people than watch broadcast TV, local cable, or video streaming services. It's more than use social media sites like Facebook or Instagram.  And, it's more than read local newspapers.

Augusta radio is also the medium with the greatest reach among millennials, a generation that not only has embraced an abundance of online media options but also accounts for nearly a third of all local consumer spending.

This reach advantage is a crucial reason why Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) small business owners depend on Augusta radio to market their goods and services.

A study released this week by Edison Research and NPR discovered that their six distinct types of radio listeners. The study also examines how each group of listeners engages with both programming and advertising.  These distinctions are important for Augusta small business owners to understand.

The six listener categories as described in the study are:

Each week, according to Nielsen, more than 394,000 adult consumers tune-in to an Augusta radio station. This is significantly more than watch local TV or cable. More than stream video channels like Netflix or Hulu. More than read local newspapers. More than use Facebook or Instagram. More than listen to online audio services like Pandora and Spotify.

But almost everyone knows (including many who advertise on Augusta radio) that consumers only listen to local radio stations during the day. Right? Wrong!

According to Nielsen, 40% of local consumers listen to Augusta radio stations each week between 7:00pm and 12:00am. This is a larger audience than Pandora, Spotify, and Instagram combined reach during an entire week.

For CSRA small business owners, radio's immense nighttime audience offers a unique value proposition.

There are more than 357,000 car radios in the Augusta area. In early April, though, many of these devices became quarantined along with their owners. That was the day when the Governors of Gerogia and South Carolina shut down their states to slow the spread of COVID-19.

According to the Apple Mobility Index, the Governors' public-safety orders caused traffic on CSRA roadways to plummet to 45% of pre-pandemic levels.

By the beginning of July, however,  the AMI indicates that traffic in Augusta began to exceed pre-Covid levels. The surge in mobility is due, in part, to work-from-home, furloughed, and laid-off employees returning to their workplaces.

According to Nielsen, during the week of April 30, only 39% of adults with jobs were working outside-the-home.  During the week of October 1, though, that number had expanded to 61%.