Now is a crucial time for Fayetteville small business owners to advertise.  

According to the Conference Board, consumer confidence has surged to 110, the highest it has been since the onset of the pandemic last March.  The index has bounced back from a low of 89.6 in February. 

Moving forward, North Carolina business owners can expect buyer optimism to remind high.

“The recovery in consumer confidence is set to continue in the coming months, buoyed by the combination of improving health conditions and wider vaccine distribution,” said Lydia Boussour, lead U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. “This should support hearty consumer spending and pave the way for a mini-boom in economic activity this spring and summer.”

As Fayetteville consumers gain confidence, they are expected to unleash the record $1.7-billion in personal savings amassed during the pandemic. This number is based on figures reported by Barron's in November. 

This combination of consumer confidence and the cache of cash-on-hand has led the National Retail Federation (NRF) to forecast a 7% increase in retail spending in 2021 versus last year.

To claim a significant share of the expected spending tsunami, Fayetteville business owners plan to boost advertising investments this year.

According to Borrell Associates, a company that tracks advertising trends across the country, Fayetteville business owners are expected to spend $123-million to advertise the goods and services they sell. This represents a 5.0% increase versus last year.

Radio advertising is processed by the brain five-times faster than visual advertising.  This is awesome news for Fayetteville business owners who depend on radio to market their goods and services.

Fayetteville consumers will recognize the first few notes of Jingle Bells five times faster than they can identify a picture of Santa Claus.  That's because it takes the human brain 5/100th of a second to process sound.  On the other hand, it takes a full quarter of a second to process visual stimuli.

This difference in processing time may seem inconsequential. But, for a Fayetteville small business owner who is fighting to inject their advertising message into the mind of consumers, that .20-second gap can be the difference between success and failure.

Consumers in the Fayetteville, NC metro area (Cumberland and Roberson counties) are expected to spend at least $7.1 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.

The U.S. Small Business Administration recommends that established businesses with more than $5-million dollars in gross revenue should budget 7-8% to advertise. Businesses who have not yet achieved that level of revenue, should plan on investing 10-12%. Newer businesses that may not yet be familiar to their target consumers should plan on investing a larger percentage.

There are numerous ways for North Carolina small business owners can allocate their advertising budgets. Options include local newspapers, local magazines, local television, and online.