69,498 Las Vegas area companies fit the description of being a small business, according to the US Census Bureau.  A recent survey by the National Federation of Independent Business Owners found that after inflation, the most critical problem facing these businesses is the inability to recruit and retain quality employees.

Right now, says the Federal Reserve,  unfilled jobs remain near an all-time with 1.7 openings per unemployed person.  As a result, only one person is being hired per every four job openings.  To put this dismal hire-to-opening ratio in perspective, ten years ago, there was one hire per every job opening.

Compounding the recruitment woes of Las Vegas's small business owners is the very stubborn quit rate.  According to the Federal Reserve, for every ten hires made, seven current employees quit. 

Although the labor crunch affects Las Vegas business owners of every size, nearly half of all job vacancies are at companies with fewer than 50 employees.

So what is the best way for local small business owners to attract qualified candidates to fill open jobs?  Most metrics indicate that advertising on Las Vegas radio may be the optimal choice.

The combined weekly reach of Las Vegas's broadcast television stations has slipped to 66.0% of all adults, according to Nielsen. These stations include KSNV, KVUU, KLAS, KTNV, and KLVX.  

The combined Las Vegas TV audience now falls behind streaming platforms at 70.4% and cable programming at 66.8%. To put this virtual dead heat into perspective, none of the three video media is a match for Las Vegas radio which reaches more than 81.2% of local adults every week.

But although the reach of broadcast TV, cable, and streaming are neck-and-neck, the share of time consumers spend with each of these media is dramatically different.

Las Vegas area business owners have an abundance of options for marketing their goods and services to local consumers. New research from Nielsen, however, indicates that advertising on Las Vegas radio is still the best way to reach local shoppers.

Every week, according to Nielsen, Las Vegas radio reaches 1.5 million adults. This is significantly more than are reached by social media, local TV stations and cable systems, newspapers, streaming video and audio, and podcasts.

In addition to listening to their favorite Las Vegas radio stations over the air, Nielsen reports that 447,352 adults also listen to local stations online every month.

As a matter of fact, according to a study conducted by Edison Research during the third quarter of 2022, among Adults 25-54, 17% of all time spent listening to local AM/FM stations occurs online. This share of online listening has nearly doubled since 2016.

Economic concerns among Las Vegas area consumers are not expected to subdue holiday shopping in in 2022.  Based on forecasts from The National Retail Federation, local shoppers are projected to spend at least $6.6 billion this year. This would be 6% more than was spent in 2021.

“While consumers are feeling the pressure of inflation and higher prices, and while there is continued stratification with consumer spending and behavior among households at different income levels, consumers remain resilient and continue to engage in commerce,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “In the face of these challenges, many households will supplement spending with savings and credit to provide a cushion and result in a positive holiday season.”

The biggest challenge facing Las Vegas business owners is keeping holiday spending local. NRF expects 10-12% of purchases to happen online from retailers like Amazon and Walmart.

To lay claim to this expanding pool of holiday spending,  and keep business local, small business owners will need advertising. By, most marketing metrics, the best way to advertise is on Las Vegas radio.

According to Nielsen, 1.8 million adults in the Las Vegas area have access to the internet. Eighty-one percent of these consumers conduct online research before making a retail purchase, says a report from GE Capital Bank. 

To reach Las Vegas area adults in the market to buy their goods and services, businesses spent $1.3 billion in 2021 on digital adverting, according to projections based on the 2021 IAB Internal Advertising Report.  This is 35% more than was spent during the prior year.

This mammoth pool of online advertising dollars targeted at Las Vegas consumers is being spent on a variety of digital resources including search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), display ads, video ads, audio ads, email, and social media. Each of these tools can precisely target consumers who are currently in the market to buy whatever it is a business is selling.

Most forms of online advertising are designed to compel Las Vegas consumers to click on a digital ad that will transport them to the website of a company that sells whatever it is consumers are in the market to buy.  Is investing only in digital advertising enough to drive sales for a local business? 

Many marketing experts believe that online advertising needs to be part of a broader marketing strategy to be successful.

Last year, $1.3 billion in marketing was spent online to reach Southern Nevada consumers, according to projections based on the 2021 IAB Internal Advertising Report.  This is 35% more than was spent during the prior year.

There is a correlation between the massive amount of money being spent to reach Las Vegas area consumers online and the extraordinary amount of time that these consumers are connecting to the internet via websites and apps.

According to Nielsen, 50.7% of Clark County adults are spending 10-plus hours during an average week online. Furthermore, 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 all, 85% of consumers say they connect at least once daily.

To successfully market and advertise a Southern Nevada business on the internet requires a full-scale understanding of precisely what online marketing is.  Spoiler alert, having a website or having a social media site is not enough.

Las Vegas area small business owners have an abundance of options for advertising their goods and services. Choices include local TV, local cable, social media, streaming video, streaming audio, podcasts, and newspapers.

The best way to advertise in Las Vegas, however, is local radio.

Every week, according to Neilsen, 1.5 million adults tune-in to their favorite Las Vegas radio stations. This is significantly more than any other advertising medium.

In addition to the adults who listen to Las Vegas radio over-the-air, an incremental 68,766 adults connect to their favorite stations online as well using their phones, computers, and tablets. In all, according to Nielsen, 26.3% of all Las Vegas radio listeners listen both online and offline.

According to Nielsen research, 1.2 million people in the Las Vegas area will likely participate in the upcoming election on November 8th. To sway these voters, candidates and political action committees are expected to spend a record amount on advertising.

AdImpact, a company that measures advertising expenditures by political campaigns, says more than $3.6 billion have been spent to reach voters so far in 2022. This puts spending on a course to obliterate the record level of campaign dollars set during the 2020 presidential elections.

Despite crumbling ratings, through August 1st, 58% of all political spending has been dished out to local TV stations, according to AdImpact.

Nielsen reports that since 2017, the reach of broadcast TV stations like KSNV, KVUU, KLAS, KTNV, and KLVX has decayed by 10%.

Local consumers may have a gloomy feeling about economic conditions, but their spending has not tapered. This is good news for the 69,498 small business owners in the Las Vegas area.

According to the latest University of Michigan's Survey of Consumers, sentiment about current economic conditions remains near the all-time low. Concerns about volatile gas prices, rampant inflation, and a looming recession have driven the survey's index down 37% versus a year ago.

Despite these dim consumer sentiments, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis's July report shows that real personal consumption expenditures are pacing well above pre-Covid levels. According to Morgan Stanley research, consumers' ability to spend is being driven, in part, by a massive amount of excess savings accumulated over the course of the pandemic.

Earlier this year, based on per capita spending data from the National Retail Federation (NRF). Las Vegas consumers were forecast to spend nearly $34 billion at retail this year. The current level of spending suggests that shoppers are on track to hit that number.

Of course, for local business owners to successfully compete for a share of this record spending requires marketing. By most key marketing metrics, the best way to advertise is on Las Vegas radio. This is especially true among business owners who must limit the number of marketing channels that can be used because of economic restraints.

Of all media, advertising on the radio provides the greatest return on investment.