Advertising in Greensboro, NC

Income, homes and households

The metropolitan statistical area covers Greensboro and High Point.

Money first: median household income in the Greensboro metro is $65,565, 19 percent below the national figure. Homes are valued at a median of $231,000 against $332,700 nationally, 31 percent below the national figure.

Age and education shape how people search and who answers the phone. Age first: the median is 38.9, about the same as the national median. Of 396,585 people in the labor force, 4.5% are unemployed, about the same as the US share. Owner-occupied housing 63.8%, 1 points below the US share, which is the figure home-service advertisers should watch. Among adults 25 and over, 32.2% have at least a bachelor's degree, 4 points below the US share.

Greensboro, NC versus North Carolina: income 9 percent lower than the North Carolina figure, home values 20 percent lower than the North Carolina figure, business density about the same as the North Carolina figure.

Competition, counted

The establishment count for Greensboro, NC is 18,589. Density runs 23.6 businesses for every 1,000 residents, 6 percent below the national figure. The table breaks out the categories that spend the most on local advertising; restaurants is the biggest of them at 1,387. The home-services slice is 982 establishments, 5.3% of the base, about the same as the US share.

Reading the index: 1.00 matches the national mix, 1.50 means half again as common here, 0.50 half as common.

Some trades are heavier here than in the country at large: automobile dealers, plumbing and HVAC contractors, general automotive repair and child day care services. Automobile dealers show it most, with 141 establishments, 1.4 times the share nationwide. Under-represented categories: specialty trade contractors, physicians' offices, legal services and personal care services. Specialty trade contractors: 59 establishments, about 62% of the national share. Neither crowded nor thin: roofing contractors, electrical contractors and concrete contractors.

Adjusted for population, restaurants are the thickest on the ground (176.4 per 100,000), with physicians' offices and plumbing and HVAC contractors next. By raw count the largest categories here are restaurants (1,387), physicians' offices (309) and plumbing and HVAC contractors (303). Grouped, automotive businesses hold 1.2 times the share they hold nationally, while medical and dental practices sit at about 70% of.

Where the openings are

In the crowded trades (automobile dealers, plumbing and HVAC contractors and general automotive repair) the map pack decides more calls than the ads do. Business Profile completeness, review volume and review recency become the separating factors, and paid search has to be tight rather than broad. The thin categories, specialty trade contractors, physicians' offices and legal services, are the cheapest place to build a name: fewer bidders, cheaper clicks, and searchers with fewer options. With a median age about the same as the national median, the classic path of search, reviews and a phone call still carries most of the business. Where income runs 19 percent below the national figure, financing and clear pricing belong in the ad itself, not on a later page.