Small businesses are thriving and looking at 2018 in a positive way, and radio is the perfect vehicle to help them meet their 2018 revenue expectations and goals. Each year BIA/Kelsey conducts Local Commerce Monitor™ (LCM), a survey that tracks small-business advertising and marketing spending, buying preferences, and reported return on investment. Within the LCM, BIA/Kelsey also examines franchises. A franchisor licenses its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its business model, brand, and rights to sell its branded products and services to a franchisee.
In the past year, strong economic growth has led to an increase in spending by small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and franchisees on advertising and marketing.
Continuing a trend from prior years, franchisors surveyed remain aggressive in their current and future advertising spend:
- Three out of four plan to increase advertising spend in 2018.
- These spending behaviors are not surprising given that franchises report almost half of their business is derived from promotions.
- The increase can be related to the top two factors they say determine advertising spend: economic conditions and money left after expenses.
Live and local radio continues to be a star for local businesses, with 54.2% of franchises relying on radio to drive their local marketing efforts.
Radio delivers for small businesses and franchise operations by engaging listeners with great promotions that meet their objectives. Only two-thirds of local owners take advantage of co-op dollars. By educating the franchise operations on how to leverage local co-op dollars, local radio stations play an important role in guiding their local marketing initiatives.