Radio was the first broadcast medium. Despite the growing popularity of TV during the 1950s, radio was able to thrive. Thanks to the invention of the transistor and small portable radios, teenagers made the medium essential to their lifestyles. Today, digital technologies challenge radio and TV. Just as the TV audience has fragmented, music streaming services, podcasts and a variety of audio devices have done the same to radio.

Direct mail is experiencing a remarkable resurgence in 2025, delivering an average ROI of $42 for every dollar spent while achieving response rates of 3.63%—significantly outperforming digital channels struggling with privacy regulations and ad fatigue. Eighty-two percent of marketing executives plan to increase direct mail investment this year, with modern campaigns leveraging AI-powered personalization and QR codes for attribution tracking that boost response rates by 63% when integrated with digital touchpoints. For local media sales representatives and agency professionals, this shift represents a significant opportunity to offer higher-value services, though success requires mastering new competencies in data strategy and attribution modeling. The convergence of digital advertising headwinds and direct mail's tangible advantages suggests this is a fundamental market realignment rather than a temporary trend, positioning early adopters to capture disproportionate value.

Weekly Newsletter February 16, 2026

Looking for a fun and effective way to boost your sales team’s communication skills? Try the Elevator Pitch Challenge! This engaging game will help your team members refine their ability to deliver concise and compelling pitches, a critical skill for any successful salesperson.

Per new research, a mere 26% of organizations say 90% or more of their reps met quota last year. Today’s uncertain economic climate only complicates matters. Many revenue leaders have gone in search of the right tools and strategies to help sellers thrive. And many have turned to sales enablement. At Mindtickle, we recently commissioned a survey of 500+ sales leaders, sales reps,

In today’s fragmented and fast-changing advertising landscape, local media sellers face the challenge of promoting a product—news and community media—that can feel both complex and misunderstood. But this very complexity offers a unique opportunity: to become more than just ad reps by positioning themselves as trusted partners aligned with their clients' values. By shifting focus from features to solutions, leaning into authenticity, and involving advertisers in the creative process, local media professionals can mitigate risk, deepen trust, and foster long-term client relationships. This approach not only increases revenue potential but also reinforces the critical role of community media in a rapidly evolving world.

Rupert Murdoch is a transformative figure in global media, known for building one of the most powerful and controversial media empires in history. From inheriting a small Australian newspaper to founding Fox News and acquiring The Wall Street Journal, he reshaped journalism, politics, and entertainment across continents. Murdoch’s unique blend of editorial influence, aggressive business tactics, and strategic risk-taking set him apart from traditional media owners. Despite facing scandals and criticism, his legacy endures as a blueprint for media dominance and disruption. His story offers valuable lessons in vision, resilience, and the power of owning the narrative.

Local media companies are under growing pressure from platform competition, advertiser fatigue and fragmented buying behavior, but the deeper problem is not a lack of demand—it is an overreliance on transactional selling and short-term revenue. The strongest local media organizations will be the ones that borrow the discipline of SaaS-style go-to-market systems by focusing on recurring revenue, retention, customer success, smarter packaging and predictive metrics across broadcast, print, outdoor and digital. For AEs, managers and agencies alike, the opportunity is to stop merely selling inventory and start building renewable advertiser relationships that create stronger client results and more stable long-term growth.

In many ways, decision-making is the quintessential job of a leader. It is also the biggest driver of performance in business and in life. Researchers estimate we make nearly 35,000 decisions each day. Therefore, it’s critical that leaders embrace a decision-making process that reliably results in wise decisions.

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Sales meetings are a critical component of keeping your team aligned and motivated. But too often, they can feel like a chore rather than an opportunity for growth. With proper planning, these meetings can energize your media sales team and drive results.

Consumers are increasingly “unsubscribing” not just to save money, but to reclaim time and mental bandwidth from digital overload—especially email, streaming, and convenience memberships. For local advertisers, agencies, and media sellers, the opportunity is to win by being lower-noise and more useful: fewer, better touches; clearer offers; service-style content; and outcome-based measurement instead of channel-first thinking. The action is to redesign campaigns and CRM programs around trust, preference control, and relevance—so opting in feels safe and attention feels earned.

Omnicom and Publicis report that advertising spending remains stable in early 2025, with clients continuing to invest to maintain brand strength despite economic uncertainty. Both agencies caution that volatility in inflation, tariffs, and geopolitics may impact future spending, but Q1 growth was solid—7% for Omnicom and 4.1% for Publicis in the U.S. Clients are taking a wait-and-see approach for the remainder of the year, holding off on major new investments until conditions clarify. Analysts warn that a potential decline in consumer spending could lead to modest reductions in ad budgets later in 2025.

Quite likely, the dominance of sports in modern American culture is only exceeded by the biggest non-athletic competition, politics. Kantar Media’s report on total US advertising expenditures for 2014 – a 0.7-percent increase to $141.2 billion – supports this conclusion, as it stated the increase was attributable to the Winter Olympics, World Cup and the mid-term elections. According to Kantar

You negotiate for far more than the final deal or agreement as a sales rep. You negotiate to get access to speak to a prospect, for their time, for the information you need to advance the sale and to talk to those on the buying team. The whole process is a negotiation to create a win-win situation for your organization and your prospect.