This year, according to Nielsen, one million Las Vegas area consumers will spend $974 million on eco-friendly goods and services. Sales for sustainable products have grown 20% since 2014, a trend expected to continue into 2021.

Tensie Whelan and Randi Kronthal-Sacco of the New York University Stern Center for Sustainable Business write in the Harvard Business Review, "Consumers are voting with their dollars against unsustainable brands. The legacy companies that will thrive are those that accept this shift and are willing to pivot.” 

For Clark County small business owners who are skeptical that sustainability affects purchase decisions, retail analyst Stacey Widlitz provided this advice, recently, in Forbes.

"Retailers only need to look to IBM's recent study, in association with the National Retail Federation, to understand just how fast consumer priorities are changing," says Ms. Widlitz. "Findings from the study revealed nearly 60% of consumers surveyed are willing to change their shopping habits to reduce environmental impact. For the nearly 80% of respondents who said sustainability is important to them over 70% would pay a premium of 35% on average."

To compete for a share of consumers' spending on green goods and services requires local small business owners to advertise.

Before the onset of COVID-19, more than 297,000 Clark County households were planning to spend $520 million on furniture, according to Nielsen. Unfortunately, many of those plans were put on pause as consumers sheltered in place to help slow the spread of the virus.

A recent study by Elevate | SmithGeiger suggests that the fortunes of home furnishing retailers, however, are about to improve.

According to the study, 32% of consumers who had been planning to buy furniture will do so within three months of the pandemic easing. Fifty percent will do so within six months. The numbers for mattress shoppers are even stronger.

To capture a significant share of the post-pandemic sales of furniture and mattress will require retailers to advertise. The most effective way to reach the customers who are ready to buy is on Las Vegas radio.

Based on statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, before the COVID-19 crisis, Las Vegas households were putting more than $5 billion in the bank every year. 

Since February, however, Las Vegas area banks and credit unions noticed that customers' savings accounts were beginning to swell to record levels.

According to the Federal Reserve, for many years, the personal savings rate has hovered well below 10%.  The PSR is the percentage of personal disposable income that remains after taxes and all other spending.

In April of this year, the PSR hit an all-time high of 33%. The rate remained at stratospheric levels in May, as well. The previous record high was 17.3% in September of 1975 at the tail-end of a deep recession.

There are more than 7562 banks and credit unions in Nevada that would love to earn a large share of this infusion of new savings. To compete, though, requires advertising.  By almost any metric, the best way to reach new depositors is by advertising on Las Vegas radio.

Las Vegas small business owners are learning that 're-opening' may not be an appropriate word for the challenges they face as the Coronavirus crisis winds down.  A better term might be 're-introducing'.

Since the Governor of Nevada shuttered the state on April 1, to slow the spread of COVID-19, Clark County consumers have discovered new ways to buy the goods and services they need.  It's now the burden of local business owners to lure these customers back. The first step is re-introduction.

On November 1, 1940, KENO signed-on as the first radio station in Las Vegas. Since then, local business owners have used radio advertising to introduce themselves successfully to new customers. Radio has also helped these businesses survive recessions, depressions, world wars, hurricanes, and blizzards. By any metric, advertising on local radio remains the most effective tactic a small business owner can use post-pandemic, as well.

For Clark County small business owners, marketing and advertising are crucial to surviving any crisis, including Coronavirus. The business literature has an abundance of case studies from depressions, recessions, natural disasters, and, yes, pandemics that affirm this existential conclusion.

Advertising, however, may seem extravagant right now to Nevada businesses that are struggling to make rent, purchase inventory, and meet payroll. Henry Ford, though, is often quoted as saying, "Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping a clock to save time."

Therefore, as business owners from Pahrump to Mesquite (and every point in between) are cinching their belts tighter-than-ever to stay alive, the dollars invested in advertising must be spent in the most effective manner possible.

During periods of uncertainty, advertising works the hardest when placed in within media that consumers trust.  During the time of COVID-19, advertising on Las Vegas radio has earned that trust among local consumers.

Every week, 1,502,898 adult consumers tune-in to a Las Vegas radio station. 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 Clark County small business owners who advertise on Las Vegas 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. Nevada 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?

In a typical week, 1.5 million adult consumers tune-in to Las Vegas radio stations.  But, since the onset of the Coronavirus, the weeks have not been typical.

Before social-distancing and work-from-home orders, 1.1 million Clark County consumers would drive to-and-from work each day. More than 93% of these commuters could be reached by radio.  

Las Vegas area small business owners who depend on radio advertising to market their goods and services, therefore, might be concerned that the disruption in commuting patterns could depress the amount of time consumers spend with local radio.

According to market research, however, radio listening remains an important part of the daily life of consumers. Even amid the current chaos.

Clark County consumers spent more than $45.6 billion with retailers last year. The National Retail Federation forecasts 4.1% more will be spent this year.

Who are the shoppers that will be spending all this money?

According to Nielsen, 43.4% of retail dollars are spent by Las Vegas area consumers over the age of 50. This may surprise many small business owners because older consumers comprise only 35% of the area's adult population.

These older consumers account for a substantial share of spending in almost every retail category. This includes furniture, cars, pet supplies, fast food, and electronics.

To earn a share of these massive dollars spent by these older consumers requires Las Vegas small business owners to advertise.

Consumers in Las Vegas spent a record $2.7 billion on home improvements in 2019. This level of spending is projected to drop modestly next year, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

“Declining home sales and home-building activity coupled with slower gains in permitting for improvement projects will put the brakes on remodeling growth,” says Chris Herbert, the center’s managing director.

“However, if falling mortgage interest rates continue to incentivize home sales, refinancing, and ultimately remodeling activity, the slowdown may soften some.”

If Clark County small businesses that sell home improvement products and services would like to continue to grow despite the softening market, then advertising will be required.

Advertising is critical to the growth and ultimate success of a Las Vegas small business. The U.S. Small Business Administration recommends that mature businesses should budget 7-8% of its annual income for advertising the company's goods and services. 

Businesses that are in an early growth phase, however, should plan on investing 10-12%.  Start-up companies that may not yet be familiar to their target consumers should consider investing even a larger percentage.

Deloitte, the world's largest business consulting firm, recommends that "radio advertising should be a big part of the mix for those buying advertising."