Advertising is crucial to the success of Tri-state area business owners. According to Investopedia, "lack of adequate marketing and publicity are among the issues that drag down small business".

According to Borrell Associates, a company that tracks advertising trends across the country, Wilmington, Delaware area business owners are expected to spend $337 million to advertise the goods and services they sell. This represents a 6.5% increase versus last year.

The majority of these dollars are being spent by Wilmington business owners to capture a significant share of the $10.2 billion dollars local consumers will be spending this year. These estimates are based on a revised forecast from the National Retail Federation (NRF).

Of course, there is an over-abundance of ways a local business owner can advertise. Perhaps the best way to generate sales from local consumers is with Wilmington radio. Here are the top five reasons why...

Every week, 500,115 Wilmington, Delaware consumers tune-in to their favorite local radio stations. 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 Tri-state small business owners who advertise on Wilmington 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. Wilmington area 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?