Radio Creates Demand. Digital Captures It.

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Part One: Why the Best Marketing Strategies Don’t Choose Between Radio and Digital

Note: This is the first article in a two-part series exploring how radio and digital work together to build consumer trust and drive measurable business results.

Consumers don’t think in terms of media channels. They simply respond to messages that capture their attention. They may hear about a business on the radio during their morning commute, search for it later that afternoon and make a purchase from their phone that evening. To the consumer, it is one seamless experience. Yet marketers often evaluate each step independently, making it appear as though radio and digital are competing when, in reality, they are working together.

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The Secret to More Profitable Marketing? Audio.

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

What if one media channel could make every other part of a marketing campaign work harder?

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Black Consumers, Brand Trust and Radio’s Unique Connection

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Black consumers continue driving cultural influence, purchasing behavior and marketplace trends across industries ranging from beauty and fashion to technology, food and entertainment. Their influence extends far beyond direct spending power, shaping what becomes culturally relevant, socially amplified and commercially successful.

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Boomers Hold the Wealth. Radio Holds the Connection.

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Marketers have spent years chasing younger consumers – following emerging platforms, evolving behaviors and cultural trends. But in the race to connect with millennials and Gen Z, many advertisers may be overlooking one of the most financially powerful audiences in America: baby boomers.

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Think Radio is Dead? Better Convince 93% of America.

Contributors: Howard Robertson, CEO/founder, Spotset Media Network and Ryan Robertson, president, Spotset Media Network

The face is covered by a sheet, but the eyes are wide open. The pulse is strong. The heart beats steadily. And that pathway to the soul we call hearing? Completely intact. There is loud noise in the room, deafening yet clearly heard: about new directions, about who is in and who is out. But radio can hear every word of it. Because radio is very much alive. Those who have written radio’s obituary and left it for dead need to stop, collaborate, and listen.

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Close to Care, Closer to Action: Why Community Pharmacies Win with Radio

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Community pharmacies are evolving into frontline healthcare destinations – delivering everything from prescriptions to preventive care and wellness support. But as their role expands, so does the need to stand out locally and prove measurable impact.

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From Backyard to Business Driver: Why Lawn & Garden Is Growing and How Radio Helps It Thrive

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Lawn and garden has evolved far beyond seasonal upkeep – it’s now a reflection of how Americans live, spend and prioritize their homes. What was once about mowing and maintenance has become a category driven by outdoor living, wellness, sustainability and long-term home value.

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Audio’s Next Chapter

How radio and audio advancements in measurement, content, and AI are expanding marketing value for brands

Author: Tammy Greenberg SVP Business Development, RAB

Audio is delivering a new level of value for marketers. Innovations in measurement, content production, and artificial intelligence (AI) are enhancing what brands can accomplish, enabling clearer visibility into performance, greater flexibility in activation, and more confidence in outcomes. As these advancements take hold across radio, streaming, and podcasts, audio is emerging as a key channel that combines scalability and accountability — two integral priorities at the center of marketing decision-making.

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Renovate or Relocate? The Real Forces Driving Home Improvement — and Why Radio Matters

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Home improvement used to be about style. Today, it’s about strategy. Remodeling is no longer a weekend project. It’s a lifestyle adjustment, a financial decision and for many, a necessity. Rising housing costs, aging homes and changing living needs have shifted homeowners’ mindset from “Should we renovate?” to “How do we make our home work better for us?”

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Car Buying Got Complicated — And Consumers Are Listening Differently

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

Buying a car used to feel exciting. Today, for many consumers, it feels… complicated.

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Dental Anxiety Is Real—And It’s a Marketing Opportunity for Local Practices

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

The tooth fairy… from a young age. Many of us are told that you will receive a “reward” when you lose a tooth. So, why as adults, do so many of us dread dental visits?

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Hispanic Consumers Are Listening — Here’s Why Advertisers Should Too

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

From the music in our headphones to the some of the food and flavors we can’t live without, Hispanic culture is influencing America. Hispanics in the U.S. represent a powerful and rapidly expanding consumer segment that no advertiser can afford to overlook. With a population of 68 million and rapidly growing along with a purchasing power projected to surpass $2 trillion, Latino consumers are driving growth across nearly every category—from retail and technology to entertainment and automotive.

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Why Radio Starts the Year Strong – Even When the Economy Feels Uncertain

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

January often brings a mix of optimism and caution. Businesses are setting new goals, reviewing budgets, and closely watching economic signals. For advertisers, uncertainty can lead to hesitation — but with the help of broadcast radio, businesses can seize the opportunities that still exist.

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2025’s Most Read: Radio’s Biggest Trends & Takeaways

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

As we look back on the past year, our blog explored a wide range of topics—each shining a light on why radio continues to be America’s top media platform.

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Audio Advertising Gets Some Fine Tuning

New measurement tools in audio give marketers a better sense of their ROI

Contributor: Matthew Schwartz, director of editorial and content development, ANA

Video didn’t kill the radio advertising star. Neither did social media, online gaming, nor Netflix. The rise of digital platforms has been a veritable boon for audio advertising, which encompasses ads on streaming music services, podcasts, and traditional AM/FM and digital radio stations. Despite the dizzying number of media channels — or maybe because of them — radio continues to provide advertisers with effective reach at lower cost per thousand than linear or streaming programming.

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How Local Radio Turns Consumer Anxiety into Small Business Sales

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

The latest consumer confidence report for October just dropped. Not much changed from September, barely ticking down just one point to 94.6.

What is so interesting about this? It’s a total split between how people feel right now versus how they feel about the future.

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Radio Pumps Up Marketing Effectiveness

Audio advertising can boost audience engagement from the top of the funnel to the bottom

Author: Tammy Greenberg SVP Business Development, RAB

The pressure is on almost every marketer. A whopping 95 percent of marketing leaders say their teams are under more pressure than ever to prove marketing’s value, according to “CMSWire’s 2025 State of the CMO Report.” Equally worrisome, the report, based on the responses from 515 marketing leaders, found that 69 percent of marketers feel the gravity of responsibility to deliver quantifiable ROI, up from 59 percent in 2023. Using audio media platforms to amplify brand-building efforts — and drive full-funnel results — could be the solution to relieve the pressure.

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Holiday Shopping Creates Big Opportunities for Local Media Advertising

Contributor: Mallory Bouslog, senior account executive, Marketron

Despite fourth quarter signaling the end of the year, it is also actually a huge advertising opportunity for the year. Retail and other industries see bumps in spending, making it critical to promote their business to rake in holiday shopping sales.

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Driving Demand: How Radio Moves the Needle with RV Enthusiasts

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

As the weather begins to change in some parts of the U.S., people across the country are reminiscing about their vacations, road trips and travels. That doesn’t mean that those events are over.

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Here are Radio’s Truths

Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB

There is no doubt that today’s media landscape is fragmented and that capturing a consumer’s attention is difficult. Brands need a medium that can not only capture their attention, but one that offers scale, boosts other media, engages and delivers results.

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