Exactly what is a media buyer, then? Whether they’re watching a TV show or scrolling through a website, media buyers are the ones who get brands in front of their target market.
They’re also responsible for negotiating with publishers for ad inventory, managing budgets, and optimizing ads to improve campaign performance.
As an outbound strategy, media buying requires a well-thought-out plan. Rex Gelb, senior director of paid advertising and affiliate marketing at HubSpot, says one of the biggest mistakes brands make is not thinking through their marketing goals.
“Some ad placements might be good for one set of goals, but bad for another. Let’s say you’re an airline and your focus is impressions and awareness, rather than an immediate sale, you can buy a placement that is known to get cheap impressions,” he says.
Gelb continues, “Now, let’s say you’re a CEO who wants to promote a ‘letter to our customers.’ In this instance, what you’ll care about is cheap clicks. Buying cheap impressions, which made sense in the previous example, no longer helps you accomplish your goal.”
That’s why media planning is such an important step, as it helps you get the most out of your ads.
Media Buying vs. Media Planning
Media buying and media planning have separate but connected roles in an ad campaign. Media planners outline the campaign’s goals, focusing on overall strategy, and then media buyers carry out those goals.
The planning phase determines what media will be most effective to reach a particular audience. And the buying phase picks up from there with deal negotiations and budget management. It‘s also important to note that media planning isn’t solely for advertising — it’s for any media a brand puts out there.
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