Physical retail maintains strong pull despite e-commerce growth, offering local media and agencies key targeting opportunities. Despite e-commerce growth, 76% of consumers consider in-store shopping a holiday ritual, with three-quarters saying it's essential to feeling festive and connected. Physical stores drive higher-value purchases, as 70% of shoppers feel more comfortable buying premium items in-store versus 30% online, while 72% trust in-store quality more than online options. The research challenges Black Friday's effectiveness, with 84% of consumers preferring deals spread throughout November and December rather than concentrated one-day events. For local media sales reps and agencies, the data suggests opportunities in sustained promotional campaigns, experiential retail messaging, and targeting Gen Z shoppers who show the strongest affinity for in-store discovery.

This year's Black Friday performance highlighted a critical lesson for local media advertisers: simple, benefit-driven value messaging is far more effective at driving traffic and sales than purpose-driven brand positioning. While Walmart achieved record sales by focusing maniacally on its "Save Money. Live Better" promise, Target struggled, suggesting its focus on socio-cultural initiatives came at the expense of core retail value. For local retailers, the takeaway is clear: marketing budgets should prioritize consistent, clear communication of price, product, service, and availability to motivate the middle-class consumer. Media sales professionals should advise clients to shift the conversation from corporate virtue to tangible customer benefits to maximize transactional performance.

Agentic AI is turning chat-based assistants like ChatGPT into active shopping gateways that can recommend products, adjust prices, and even complete transactions—quietly reshaping how consumers discover retailers. To be visible in this new environment, retailers must own and optimize their product feeds into AI platforms, treating “agentic commerce” much like SEO or paid search. For local media reps and agencies, the opportunity is to position their outlets as the story layer above the algorithms—using radio, TV, print, and digital to build brand preference so AI recommendations land on familiar names. The winners will be those who help clients bridge clean AI integrations with emotionally compelling local campaigns, proving a distinctly human value in a machine-driven buying journey.

Consumers plan to spend the same or more this holiday season despite financial pressures, but many feel overwhelmed by promotional noise and are abandoning purchases out of frustration. Generative AI is emerging as a “holiday helper,” giving shoppers curated recommendations and clearer choices—if retailers feed it structured, consistent content. At the same time, physical stores are reclaiming center stage as experiential hubs and omnichannel switchboards, from community-driven formats to BOPIS, returns and in-store events that build confidence and connection. For local media sellers and agencies, the opportunity is to help retailers simplify decisions, turn stores into local events, align AI and in-store promises, and ultimately sell confidence rather than just more clutter.

A record 186.9 million Americans plan to shop from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, creating unprecedented opportunities for local media sales and advertising agencies as retailers compete during the industry's most critical period. While Black Friday remains dominant with 130.4 million expected shoppers, Saturday's local business focus and 59% of shoppers using digital wallets demand multi-platform strategies spanning the entire weekend. With 58% of consumers already shopping by early November and total spending forecast to exceed $1 trillion, advertisers must launch campaigns earlier with value-driven messaging across search, mobile, and geo-targeted channels.

Gen Z is reshaping how news is consumed, with 40% getting most of their information from TikTok or X. Influencers like Kelsey Russell, known as The Print Princess, are turning print stories into personality-driven videos that resonate with younger audiences. This trend reflects a deeper need for cohesive narratives in a fragmented media landscape and offers local media sales teams a unique opportunity: integrate TikTok strategies to connect advertisers with Gen Z. Practical steps include turning newsroom talent into creators, partnering with influencers for behind-the-scenes content, and bundling TikTok with traditional media to deliver authenticity and measurable ROI. The Media Audit provides the data to target fast-growing categories and position radio as a relevant solution in this evolving market.

Home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) are surging again in 2025–2026 as homeowners sitting on record equity and ultra-low first-mortgage rates look for smarter ways to fund renovations and consolidate high-interest debt. HELOCs growth is a great opportunity for local media. Unlike the pre-2008 era, today’s growth is driven by more disciplined, prime borrowers and stricter underwriting, making HELOCs a strategic tool rather than a reckless ATM. Banks, credit unions, and fintechs are all racing to capture this demand, but local media are uniquely positioned to help them win by combining trusted storytelling with data-driven targeting of equity-rich homeowners. For local media sellers and agencies, this creates a timely opportunity to build HELOC campaigns around real-life use cases—“don’t move, improve,” credit-card cleanup, and life events—while pairing brand messaging with performance channels. Ultimately, the HELOC revival reveals a middle class trying to regain control in an anxious economy, using their homes not to splurge, but to stabilize their financial lives.

Thanksgiving weekend remains a cultural and commercial powerhouse, with 88% of U.S. adults planning to spend $127 billion despite economic uncertainty. Millennials and Gen Z lead the charge, driving omnichannel shopping behaviors that blend online convenience with in-store experiences. Consumers are highly motivated by deals, with nearly three-quarters using the weekend to stock up on essentials and 63% leveraging AI tools to find the best offers. For local media sellers and ad agencies, this is a prime opportunity to position radio as the holiday companion—trusted, local, and omnipresent—while bundling it with digital extensions for maximum reach. The big takeaway: Thanksgiving weekend isn’t just about transactions; it’s about rituals, meaning, and community—making local media the perfect bridge between brands and consumers.

Most media sellers show up to renewal meetings eager to talk schedules and impressions, while their clients are preoccupied with upstream issues like market share, competition, and sales performance. This article introduces the “Marketing Continuum” — Product, Brand, Sales, Message, Media — to explain why advertisers live upstream while radio and other media live at the far end. Because of this gap, many renewal conversations are misaligned, with sellers pushing media solutions while clients are still wrestling with deeper business questions. Sellers who deliberately “walk upstream” by asking thoughtful questions about the client’s current challenges shift the dialogue from “Do you need a Q1 schedule?” to “What are you trying to achieve right now?”. Over time, this upstream posture transforms them from vendors into trusted thought partners, earning earlier visibility into plans and larger, more strategic opportunities.

Physical retail maintains strong pull despite e-commerce growth, offering local media and agencies key targeting opportunities.

Despite e-commerce growth, 76% of consumers consider in-store shopping a holiday ritual, with three-quarters saying it's essential to feeling festive and connected. Physical stores drive higher-value purchases, as 70% of shoppers feel more comfortable buying premium items in-store versus 30% online, while 72% trust in-store quality more than online options. The research challenges Black Friday's effectiveness, with 84% of consumers preferring deals spread throughout November and December rather than concentrated one-day events. For local media sales reps and agencies, the data suggests opportunities in sustained promotional campaigns, experiential retail messaging, and targeting Gen Z shoppers who show the strongest affinity for in-store discovery.

Consumers plan to spend an average of $890.49 this holiday season—the second-highest level in 23 years—despite concerns about tariffs and rising prices. About $628 will go toward gifts, showing budgets remain strong even as shoppers grow more value-conscious. While 42% begin browsing before November, 63% plan to buy mainly over Thanksgiving weekend, with 60% finishing in December. Online leads all channels (55%), followed by grocery, department, and discount stores, underscoring the need for integrated digital and local strategies. For local media and agencies, success will hinge on value-driven, well-timed, and locally relevant campaigns that blend digital precision with community connection.

The 2025 Marketing Brew Summit revealed that agility is now the defining skill in marketing, with 87% of marketers calling it essential as the industry rapidly evolves toward 2026. Marketers are shifting focus from AI upskilling to experimenting with new channels—especially social, influencer, and emerging platforms—while simultaneously prioritizing better attribution and outcome-based measurement. Despite this ambition, most teams remain under-resourced and structurally slow, forcing marketers to “do more with less” and improvise speed within rigid systems. For local media sales teams and agencies, the insights signal opportunity: agile local campaigns, modular testing packages, and measurable ROI can outperform national one-size-fits-all models. The future of local marketing success will depend on turning experimentation into strategy, measurement into proof, and community engagement into long-term brand value.

National advertising campaigns offer valuable lessons for local media, ad agencies, and advertisers—especially in the areas of consistency, emotional storytelling, and omnichannel strategy. By studying how major brands build Top-of-Mind Awareness (TOMA), use data to target audiences, and measure results, local marketers can apply similar principles at a smaller scale. Emotional resonance, community influencers, and purpose-driven messaging are just as powerful locally as they are nationally. Tools like co-op advertising, AI-driven creative, and cross-platform media planning can help local businesses compete more effectively. Ultimately, the key takeaway is this: think like a national brand, but act with local insight and agility.

Holiday shopping stress is surging, with 84% of consumers abandoning carts due to feeling overwhelmed, according to Accenture’s 2025 Holiday Shopping Survey. Younger shoppers are especially prone, with 89% of Gen Z and 91% of millennials reporting they walk away from purchases. The survey also found 82% of consumers feel overwhelmed by advertising and 77% cite too many options, up sharply from prior years. While this poses a risk to retailers, it also presents an opportunity for local merchants to stand out by simplifying choices, highlighting human expertise, and creating stress-free shopping experiences. For local media sales reps and agencies, the key is positioning clients as solution providers, using advertising that cuts through the noise with clarity, trust, and confidence.

Digital ad spending is showing signs of recovery, with display retargeting and prospecting CPMs rebounding significantly in Q3, according to AdRoll. AI-driven traffic to retail sites has surged over 4,700% year-over-year, signaling a major shift in how consumers discover products. Marketers are being urged to invest earlier—September and October—to build brand recognition ahead of the holiday season. For local media sales teams and agencies, this presents an opportunity to pitch awareness-focused campaigns across connected TV, radio, and digital. The takeaway: early, visibility-driven advertising strategies could secure more revenue as advertiser confidence returns.