Study: Radio Campaign Drove Retail Foot Traffic

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, September 8, 2026 | 10:24am CT

Cumulus Media and Westwood One

An AM/FM radio advertising campaign for a major retailer generated a 34% lift in foot traffic during a Valentine's Day promotion, according to a new analysis highlighted by the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group.

The study, conducted by location analytics firm Placer.ai, examined store visits associated with a Westwood One network radio campaign across 48 DMA markets. Media Monitors advertising occurrence data was used to determine the campaign's gross rating points (GRPs) in each market.

According to the analysis, foot traffic showed two significant surges during the campaign, on February 11-12 and Valentine's Day, February 14, 2026.

The findings also showed a relationship between the amount of AM/FM advertising delivered in a market and increases in store traffic. Markets receiving very light or light campaign weight generally experienced foot traffic increases of 0-10%, while markets with medium and heavy radio weight generated increases of 10-30%.

Markets were divided into five categories based on campaign weight. Very heavy markets averaged 75 GRPs, followed by heavy markets at 38, medium markets at 22, light markets at nine and very light markets at three GRPs.

Placer.ai measures visits to physical locations using aggregated and anonymized location information. According to the Audio Active Group, the company uses data from a panel of approximately 30 million mobile devices, representing about 8% of the U.S. population.

The Audio Active Group also pointed to previous attribution studies as evidence that radio advertising's impact on store visits can extend beyond the immediate campaign period.

A PlaceIQ analysis of a home improvement retailer's 2019 radio campaign across 44 markets found an increase in its share of category store visits that continued after the initial advertising surge. Separate research from marketing measurement firm Haus found that 25% of incremental marketing lift, on average, occurred after the media spending window had ended.

For brands selling through retail channels, Haus reported that the median share of lift occurring after the campaign period increased to 29%.

The blog also cited a Motionworks analysis of a national AM/FM campaign for a tax preparation company. That study similarly found that markets receiving greater radio advertising weight produced stronger increases in visits to the advertiser's locations.

The Audio Active Group said the results demonstrate the role of AM/FM radio's broad audience reach in driving consumers to physical retail locations and suggest advertisers evaluating radio campaigns should consider both campaign weight and effects that may continue after the advertising ends.

Read the full Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group blog here.