Since 2020, local entrepreneurship has exploded, with nearly 5 million new business applications filed annually across the US. The best part for radio? They’re far more likely than their legacy competitors to choose AM/FM ads over digital spend to stand apart.
Since the pandemic, the average annual number of new business applications has grown by 9.7%, translating to 1,600 new ventures in every US county every year. The number of registered small businesses has followed suit, jumping 4.7% in 2024 alone.
Even better, Borrell’s survey found that businesses established after 2020 are more than twice as likely to increase spending on radio, broadcast TV, and newspapers than older businesses. In fact, 14% of these newer companies said they plan to increase their radio budgets in 2025, compared to just 7% of pre-2020 firms. And as these younger businesses mature, they’re beginning to seek alternatives to the complexities and isolation of digital advertising.
“They want to differentiate themselves from competitors using digital-only marketing,” the report notes. “Perhaps they’ve found digital marketing too complex and are looking for a real person to assist them.” Effectiveness scores for radio are also on the rise. In 2024, 34% of advertisers rated radio “very” or “extremely” effective, up from 25% in 2017. This surpasses newspapers and magazines, and nearly matches direct mail.
Yet while this would initially seem like welcome news for local media, the influx has left many sales organizations flat-footed.
As Borrell points out, sales teams tend to prospect with “eyes and ears” – spotting businesses through billboards or commercials they happen to see or hear. But today’s new businesses are more likely to invest in social, search, and email marketing first, and remain invisible to reps focused on legacy clients or obvious advertising activity.
The result? A fast-growing segment of the advertiser market is flying under radio’s radar.
Traditional measurement tools aren’t helping either. Because most in-market tracking tools are tethered to legacy media, they only reflect a small portion of actual advertising activity. With so many newer SMBs relying on digital-first “owned” media strategies, the current sales model is missing key data and valuable prospects.
This moment presents a chance for radio to reset its sales approach, especially at the local level. With more small businesses open to traditional media and looking for trusted marketing partners, stations that rethink their prospecting, data usage, and sales narratives stand to gain ground.
Borrell Associates is making its Annual Digital Benchmarking report available to all attendees of its May 29 webinar with CEO Gordon Borrell and EVP of Local Market Intelligence Corey Elliott at no cost.
