There are 205,625 small businesses in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Almost every one of these businesses is competing for a portion of the $103 billion of local retail spending expected to occur in 2023.*

To capture the largest share of this giant pool of consumer cash, Boston small business owners will need to consider advertising.

"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. Advertising, if done correctly, can do wonders for your sales., and you know what that means: more revenue and more success for your company."

One of the best ways to advertise in Boston may be on local radio, a fact not lost on the world's largest advertiser, Proctor & Gamble. Last year, P&G upped spending on the radio by 43% to $235 million, according to Vivvix (formerly Kantar Media), led by a big jump in local radio.

Local business owners have depended on Boston radio to market their goods and services since WBZ, the city's first radio station, went on air in 1921. Despite the advent of new media and technologies since then, advertising on local radio stations is still the best way for the area's 205,625 small business owners to create and maintain customers.

Here are five facts every business owner should know about advertising on Boston radio in 2022.

To ensure success, every Boston business owner needs to advertise.

"Think you have a great product?" asks the US Small Business Administration. "Unfortunately, no one’s going to know about it unless you advertise.”

The SBA goes on to say, “Advertising, if done correctly, can do wonders for your product sales, and you know what that means: more revenue and more success for your business.”

There are dozens of ways for local small business owners to advertise. By most metrics, the best way to advertise is on Boston radio. These measures of effectiveness, however, are often obscured by the glimmer and glitz of newer technologies. 

To help reduce the glare that often blinds business owners to the potency of advertising on Boston radio, here are the top five things many local business owners get wrong.

In 2020, there were 217,348 new cars and trucks registered in the Boston metro area. This number is based on projections from the National Auto Dealers Associaton (NADA) and the U.S. Census bureau.

In all, says NADA, there are 381 new-car dealerships in Massachusetts. Despite the pandemic, these dealers, including those in the Boston area, sold $20.1 billion worth of new vehicles.

Through June of this year, these same dealers have already rung up $12.5 billion in new car sales.

When it comes to buying new vehicles, Boston consumers have a broad range of preferences. Some buyers want Fords while others want Chevrolets, Toyotas, or Teslas.  Some buyers want pick-up trucks, while others want sub-compacts, SUVs, or sports cars. Of course, some want blue vehicles, while others want pearl white, orchard green, or redolent red.

There is one purchase criterion, however, that most Boston car buyers can agree on. They want an AM/FM radio smack-dab, in the middle of their dash.