BIA Sees AI Creating New Opportunities For Radio Sales Teams.

Artificial intelligence may be disrupting the advertising business, but it could also give local media companies a powerful new competitive advantage. As businesses struggle to navigate AI-powered search, increasingly fragmented digital platforms and rapidly changing marketing technology, BIA Advisory Services sees an opportunity for broadcasters and other local media operators to become more valuable to advertisers, not less. The advantage isn't necessarily better technology or lower prices. It's the relationships local media companies already have with advertisers, combined with the ability to help businesses make sense of an increasingly complicated advertising marketplace.

Speaking on BIA's "Numbers & Narratives" podcast, analyst Mike Boland says the confusion surrounding AI search and digital marketing is creating an opening for local media sales teams. "Local media companies can be that the trusted entity that defragments and demystifies all of that chaos," Boland says.

The rapid emergence of AI-powered search is adding a layer of uncertainty for local businesses that spent years learning how to make themselves visible through traditional search engines. They must now understand how customers discover products and services through AI-generated answers, while continuing to manage conventional search, social media and other advertising channels.

"A lot of businesses sort of had their SEO game sewn up after sort of learning about it and applying it and advancing and optimizing it over the last decade," Boland says. "Suddenly some parts of that playbook are still valid, but there's a whole new set of rules to sort of surface in AI engines, in addition to surfacing yourself in traditional search."

For local media salespeople, Boland says the opportunity is to become an educational resource rather than simply another company selling advertising. He recommends a "sell by not selling approach," helping businesses understand how technology is changing marketing and earning their trust in the process. "The result will be, in a lot of cases, that will translate to dollars in terms of their commitments and spend," he predicts.

BIA Managing Director Rick Ducey says local media companies have advantages that national digital platforms cannot easily replicate, including established advertiser relationships, local market knowledge, and the ability to combine their own advertising inventory with digital products sold by other companies.

"They have local sellers on the street with direct accounts, they have their own inventory they can sell and they can resell the digital inventory that everybody else is already selling," Ducey says. "But through their brand, through their relationships, and in that local market context, it makes a big difference."

Those relationships can also give smaller advertisers access to digital campaigns that might otherwise be beyond their budgets. Ducey offers the example of a business that might face a steep $50,000 monthly commitment when buying certain digital advertising products directly. But he points out a local media seller may be able to offer access to similar advertising opportunities through a $5,000 monthly campaign.

Boland also encourages sales teams to experiment with AI tools themselves so they can speak confidently with advertisers about the technology and its applications. The payoff could extend beyond advertising. Boland sees opportunities for local media companies to offer AI-powered business services, including tools that answer customer inquiries, manage leads and book appointments.

"The dirty little secret has always been that local businesses don't have a marketing problem, they have an operational problem," he says. "They do all that work and spend all that money to make the phone ring."

Boland believes AI services could be particularly attractive to home improvement and home services businesses, where owners often work away from a desk and struggle to respond to every potential customer. He says AI-powered tools could help these businesses operate more efficiently, creating another opportunity for local media companies to expand their relationships beyond advertising sales.