More than 94% of Fayetteville adults have access to the internet.  Ubiquitous technology such as computers, tablets, smartphones, and connected TVs allow North Carolina consumers to go online whenever they choose, which, for some adults, is always.

The Pew Research Center, a public opinion research company, reports that one-in-three consumers say they are online constantly. A 50% increase from 2015.  In total, 85% of consumers say they connect at least one time every day.

So, how are Fayetteville consumers spending all this time connected to the internet?

According to Nielsen, streaming audio and video content, social networking, checking the weather, and banking are the top online activities for Fayetteville consumers each month.

According to Nielsen, 329,000 adults in the Fayetteville, North Carolina area have access to the internet, equivalent to 94.1% of the population. On average, local consumers are spending 8.62 hours per week online.

Fayetteville millennials, the first generation that grew up in a digital world, spend considerably more time online. Nielsen reports that, on average, Fayetteville's 25-39-year-old consumers are clocking 10.71 hours connected to the internet.

So, how are Fayetteville consumers spending their time online?

According to Nielsen, streaming audio and video content, social networking, checking the weather, and banking are the top online activities for Fayetteville consumers each month.

Fayetteville, North Carolina area business owners are expected to invest $65-million during 2021 to advertise to consumers connected to the internet. This forecast was produced by Borrell Associates, a company that tracks business advertising expenditures across the country.

These online marketing dollars will be spent on banner advertising, search engine marketing, email, as well as audio and video advertising. This is all to capture the attention of shoppers and buyers as they go about their connected days.

According to Nielsen, 94% of adult consumers in the Fayetteville area have access to the internet. They connect, primarily, with desktop and laptop computers; smartphones; or tablets.

Ninety-four percent of Fayetteville adults spend at least one hour per week online, with most spending at least 10 hours connected.

Ninety-four percent of Fayetteville adults have access to the internet, according to Nielsen. Almost 60% of these consumers spend more than five hours a week connected.

Nielsen reports that Fayetteville consumers go online to stay connected to friends and family; research products and services; learn the latest news, and obtain directions to where they are going and know what the weather will be when they get there.  

Here are some of the many reasons why Fayetteville internet users go online each month

• Social Media: 72%
• Weather: 46%
• Maps/Directions: 43%
• Online Banking: 35%
• Product Reviews: 29%
• Sports Scores/News: 22%
• Current Events: 22%
• Restaurant Reviews:19%
• Job Search: 17%
• Real Estate: 12%

And, of course, there is shopping.  Over the past three months, according to Nielsen, 71.8% of Fayetteville consumers shopped online for every imaginable product and service including, cars, golf clubs, office supplies, wedding rings, mattresses, tires, medicine, shoes, socks, and eyeglasses.

To reach local consumers while they are online, Fayetteville businesses will spend $65 million for digital advertising in 2020, according to Borrell Associates.  Here is how the money is being spent:

Type "Fayetteville REAL ESTATE AGENTS" into Google. In slightly over a half-second, the search will deliver 5,080,000 results. Similar searches for Hope Mills, Dunn, Lumberton, Spring Lake, or Ft. Bragg produce a proportional number of returns.

Despite the economic hardships imposed by the Coronavirus crisis on North Carolina consumers, the demand for real estate is booming. 

The Wall Street Journal published a trend yesterday indicating that mortgage applications for purchase a home have achieved levels equal to last year.

According to redfin.com, home buying demand is 16.5% higher now than it was pre-COVID-19 on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Redfin attributes this explosive growth in real estate shoppers to two factors, including record-low mortgage rates. The other primary driver is a migration trend from expensive metropolitan areas as buyers hunt for more space at lower prices.

To capture a larger share of the robust market, local real estate agents need to stand apart from the millions of Google results.  Advertising on Fayetteville radio will help accomplish this.  Here's why.

In January, Fayetteville small business owners were in a panic. The unemployment rate was at a record low 4.8%, and there were not enough workers to fill their open jobs. 

As of today, though, North Carolina is reporting that at least one-in-five of the state's workforce have lost their jobs for Coronavirus related reasons. Yet, many small business owners are still struggling to find employees.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "For some workers, unemployment benefits are now paying more than their old jobs did. For others, safety concerns or a lack of child care, as most schools and day-care centers remain closed, are making them hesitant to go back."

“That’s going to get in the way of any real recovery,” Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of American Action Forum and former director of the Congressional Budget Office, told WSJ.

The struggle to hire employees creates an additional threat for those Fayetteville small business owners who received loans under the SBA's Paycheck Protection Program.  

To qualify for the loan forgiveness provision of the PPP, business owners must restore its workforce to pre-Coronavirus levels. This must be accomplished within eight weeks of receiving the monies.

So, just like in January, local small business owners are under pressure to fill open jobs. Advertising on Fayetteville radio is a potent way to attract and hire the needed employees.

Facebook usage has swelled since the onset of the Covid-19. 

According to Nielsen, before the current chaos, 62% of Fayetteville area adults used Facebook each month. This was significantly fewer than were reached by local radio or television each week.

According to the New York Times, however, since the start of the Coronavirus, daily Facebook traffic has increased by 27%. This compares to 33% growth in the amount of time consumers spend listening to local radio during a similar period.

Based on the surge in Facebook consumption, North Carolina small business owners might be tempted to purchase advertising on the social media platform to augment their regular, free postings. Here are are few facts these businesses should consider before investing.

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

North Carolina 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 Fayetteville'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.

Every week, 288,946 adult consumers tune-in to a Fayetteville radio station. That is way more than are reached by other media, including local television, newspaper, social media, or streaming audio sites like Pandora and Spotify.

A more significant number for thousands of North Carolina small business owners who advertise on Fayetteville radio is how many of these listeners stick around when their commercials come on.

A 2011 Nielsen study discovered that, on average, 93% of listeners stayed with the radio station they are tuned-to when the commercials come on. That number amazed many advertisers at the time who believed that audiences were far more likely to defect when the music stopped.

A lot has changed since 2011. Fayetteville consumers have many more media options and can instantly connect to each  with a button-push, mouse-click, screen-tap, or voice command. With all of these choices, do radio audiences still stay tuned during commercial breaks?

The chaos created in Fayetteville by the onset of Coronavirus has been a disruptive force among consumers. 

Work routines, buying habits, family life, and media consumption have all been palpably affected. These are all factors that need to be considered by small business owners who continue to advertise their goods and services during the crisis.

Before the current chaos, advertising on Fayetteville, by any metric, was the best way a local small business could advertise.

For instance, pre-Coronavirus, 2.1 million adult consumers tuned-in to a Fayetteville radio station every week. This is significantly more than watched local TV, read a newspaper, accessed social media, or streamed audio from sites like Pandora and Spotify.

New research released from Nielsen indicates that amidst the current crisis, listening to local radio remains little changed. This is great news for those North Carolina small business owners who are depending on advertising for their long-term survival.

Retailers in the Fayetteville area rang-up $8,527,802,000 in retail sales last year, according to Nielsen. But wait. It's about to get better.

The National Retail Federation forecasts that in 2020, sales will increase by as much as 4.1%. This will create another $349 million for local small business owners.  

“The economy is growing at a more modest pace, but the underlying economic fundamentals remain in place and are positive,” stated NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz. “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.

To claim a fair share of this enlarged pool of spending will require Fayetteville small business owners to advertise.

“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.”  

How quickly the millennials have grown up.

According to Nielsen, 71% of all Fayetteville area parents with children under the age of 18 are millennials.  

From the time their kids are born until they reach they are 17, these young parents will, spend, on average, $233,000 per child. This does not include the cost of college.

Currently, there are 114,779 children under the age of 18 living in the Fayetteville metro area. That means the local parenting economy is worth upwards of $26 billion. These dollars are being spent, among other things, on diapers, daycare, transportation, toys, education, electronics, clothing, and health care.

For local small business owners interested in competing for a substantial portion of this multi-billion dollar pool of parental cash, they must advertise to millennial moms and dads. By almost any measurement, advertising on Fayetteville radio is the best way to reach this audience.

March is the biggest single month for used car sales in Fayetteville. During these 31 days alone, local pre-owned vehicle dealers are expected to bring in $16 million in sales. This will represent 10% of their annual revenue.

By the end of May, these dealers owners will sell more than $45.6 million worth of pre-owned cars and trucks. This, undoubtedly, makes March-May 'used car season' in the Fayetteville area.

Although most Fayetteville used car dealers are small business owners, they do really big business. In all, over the next 12 months, more than 56,000 pre-owned vehicles will be driven off their lots.

To capture a larger share of the area's $164 million used car market requires pre-owned vehicle dealers to advertise. By any measure, the best way for these business owners to advertise is on Fayetteville radio.

As Valentine's Day sales begin to dwindle, that's when Fayetteville small business owners start thinking about Mom.

Mother's Day, which happens on the second Sunday of May, is second only to Christmas in terms of holiday spending. Last year, Fayetteville consumers spent more than $34-million celebrating the women in their lives. That number is expected to grow again in 2020.

To claim a significant share of this Mother's Day cash, local retailers and restaurants will need to advertise.  By almost every key metric, advertising on Fayetteville radio is the best choice.

Over 80,000 consumers in the Fayetteville area now own a smart speaker. Ownership of these devices, including Amazon Echo and Google Home, has grown five-fold since the beginning of 2017.

According to Adobe Analytics, significantly  more consumers are asking Siri and Alexa to play music than any other activity.

Many local small business owners depend on Fayetteville radio to advertise their goods and service. So, how does the use of smart speakers as an audio device affect their radio advertising's ability to reach local consumers? The answer is: none at all.