There's a reason many New England small business owners target their advertising towards consumers who have completed a four-year college degree. It's because, typically, university graduates earn $29,106 more per year than those with only a high school diploma, according to The Federal Reserve.

There are, according to Nielsen, 1.7 million college graduates living in the Boston area. In total, this population generates $129 billion in annual take-home pay.

To tap into a similar pool of spending power, a marketer would need to reach 2.8 million consumers who did not go beyond high school. The problem is, this is more than double the number than actually live in the Boston area.

The number of people reached by a campaign is, generally, what determines the cost of advertising. So, for a New England small business owner operating on a tight marketing budget, spending can be kept in check by targeting those consumers with the most money to spend. In this case, college graduates.

"Advertising on Boston radio has helped to build our company's name and reputation," says Paul Kunze. "Without radio advertising, no one would know who we are."

Mr. Kunze is the Vice President/Director of Sales and Marketing for IntraSystems, a Braintree, MA. The company provides computing-infrastructure and cybersecurity solutions to mid-market and enterprise-sized companies.

The company was founded by Mr. Kunze in 1996 along with his childhood friend, Jim Hanrahan, who serves as President of IntraSystems.

"The majority of our customers are in the healthcare and financial industries," says Mr. Kunze. State and local governments are also a big part of our business."

"We work with our clients on assessment, design, product deployment, support, maintenance, and education. Few other companies can provide this depth of service."

"Our first customers came from cold-calls I was making from Jim's living room. It paid off, though, the first year we brought in $600,000 in sales."

In an attempt to accelerate growth, IntraSystems began advertising on Boston radio in 2002.

"We want to have a dominating presence in the area where people know us and love us," says Jim Nelson, Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer of Salem Five. "Advertising on Boston radio helps us do that."

Salem Five is a mutual community bank based in Salem, MA. It serves both retail and commercial customers online and from 36 branches across Middlesex and Essex Counties.

"As a mutual bank, we are owned by our customers. That's how it has been since 1855 when we opened as Salem Five Cents Saving Bank," says Mr. Nelson. "We were called that because our first depositors were kids who could open up an account with a nickel."

Finding new depositors is essential for the long term success of the bank. "We need to continue to grow to be able to serve our customers better," says Mr. Nelson.

"Deposit gathering is about building brand, which we accomplish in part, with advertising. For the past ten years, radio has commanded the largest share of our advertising budget."

The ten most memorable brands in America have something in common: They each advertise on Boston radio stations.

According to the YouGov Brand Index, the brands whose commercials generate the highest awareness are Geico, McDonald's, Verizon, AT&T, Walmart, Subway, Direct TV, T-Mobile, Progressive, and Walgreens.

If you were one of the 3,543,709 people who tuned-in to a Boston  radio station last week, then chances are you heard the ads for these brands. All ten are among the biggest users of radio advertising.

Here's what New England business owners need to know about creating a memorable brand for their own companies using Boston radio stations.

For many generations of marketers, advertising on Boston television was considered the "gold standard". For a New England small business owner who craved massive reach, TV used to be the medium that could deliver.

Over the past few years, however, viewers have been abandoning local TV stations in vast numbers. This has propelled Boston radio into being the most potent reach medium among local consumers.

Every week, 3,552,145 adult consumers tune-in to their favorite Boston radio stations. This is significantly more than the 3,226,135 reached by local television.

For the past 39 years, Boston radio has reached almost 90% of all consumers. But, look what has happened to TV's audience.

Many times the difference between winning an election and losing is a handful of ballots. This is true in races for almost every elected office, referendum, and issue on the national, statewide, and local level.

To win a modern election requires advertising. Successful advertising requires reach. In the Boston area, the most potent way to reach voters is on local radio.

The Boston area includes the counties of Essex MA; Middlesex, MA; Norfolk, MA; Plymouth, MA; Suffolk, MA; plus portions of Worcester, MA; and Hillsborough, NH.

Last week, for instance, 90.6% of all registered voters in these counties tuned-in to a Boston radio station.  This is significantly more than were reached by local TV, local newspaper, or the major social media sites like Facebook and Instagram.

Almost 989,000 adult consumers in the great Boston area belong to a fitness club. These memberships bring in close to $1.8 billion in sales to local gym owners.

January is critical for the small business owners that operate gyms in New England. According to the International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub Association, this one month alone, accounts for 10.8% of annual membership sales. New Year's resolutions are the reason for this early year spike.

To capture a larger share of the $196-million local consumers  will spend on gym memberships in January, requires fitness center owners to advertise. The best way to do this is on Boston radio. Here's why.

There are 4,800 new, single-family homes built in the greater Boston area each year, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Since 1934, National Lumber has been supplying local builders with the materials necessary to sustain that level of construction.

"We are now the largest independent lumber business in New England," says Steven Kaitz, who is the company's Co-CEO along with his sister Margie Kaitz Seligman.

"Advertising has been part of our continued growth over the past 25 plus years," says Mr. Kaitz. "Advertising on Boston radio is, by far, the largest part of what we do. It allows us to reach both builders and homeowners."

"Had we known how effective advertising on Boston radio would be for us, then we would have started doing it much sooner," says Toni Eaton. She is the President and CEO of Old Colony Hospice and Palliative Care based in West Bridgewater, MA.

Old Colony Hospice is a non-profit healthcare organization that provides compassionate end-of-life services to patients throughout 55 cities and towns in Bristol, Plymouth, and Norfolk Counties.

"We began caring for patients in 1979," says Ms. Eaton. "At the beginning, there were just three people who were dedicated to making end-of-life care better for people in our community. Today, our services are provided by 106 employees and 100 volunteers.

"With the help of our advertising on Boston radio, we have been able to significantly increase the number of people we serve."

You've done the research. You now know that by every measure, radio advertising is the most effective way for your New England small business to market its goods and services.

You have learned, for instance, 3,543,709 adult consumers regularly tune-in to their favorite Boston radio stations.  This is more than watch local TV, read a newspaper, sign-in to social media, or log-in to streaming audio services like Pandora and Spotify.

You've also learned that, on average, adults spend almost two hours per day listening to local radio.

If you dug deep enough, then you know radio advertising delivers, on average, a $10 lift in sales for every $1 invested. This is a remarkable return for any New England small business owner.

What you may not have figured out, however, is what is the best time of day to advertise on Boston radio?