Media buying and advertising has undergone a significant transformation with the entry of digital platforms. Initially, only companies that had budgetary power were able to afford advertising. The high cost of analog advertising put it out of reach for smaller companies.
Digital advertising came in as a savior for most companies. Online advertising is cost-efficient, you get to reach a broad audience base, and it is easier to measure the results. However, competition is high and it is important to have a top notch strategy when buying media.
In this article, we will explore the subject of media buying for both analog and digital media. Let’s dive into the topic.
What Is Media Buying?
When you book advertising space, whether online or offline, you enter into a financial transaction with the media house or site owner. That, in its simplest definition, is media buying. You negotiate the best placement in terms of ad position, pricing, and when your ad will run.
The process may sound simple, but it requires a careful thought process. That is why you need a well researched strategy to achieve the best results. At the end of the campaign, you should show value for money, otherwise it will not make sense.
Media Buying And Planning
Media buying and planning requires meticulous preparation. Media planning is the steps you will take to come up with a proper strategy. Such to include research, budgeting, goal development, and competitor analysis.
Buying media, on the other hand, is the implementation of the media strategy you come up with during the planning. The main task here is reaching out to the media houses or websites to negotiate placement costs and time frame.
Let’s get going and follow these specific steps:
- Start by understanding your target audience and the kind of media they consume. Millennial’s and Gen Z are more likely to be on social media platforms. Your best bet would, therefore, be digital marketing. The older generation still consumes a lot of analog Media. You stand a higher chance of reaching them on analog platforms such as television or print.
- Research the different platforms and see which one best reaches your target audience.
- Competitor research is critical because you can learn from their successes and mistakes.
- Come up with your strategy taking into consideration your goals and messaging.
- Determine your budget because it will impact on the platforms you opt for. If you have leeway with financing, you can go for both analog and digital advertising.
- Be careful not to spread yourself too thin. Coming up with messaging specific to each media outlet can be challenging.
- Contact the media houses and negotiate prices. You can buy media through manual bidding, programmatic buying, or direct buying. Do not be afraid to haggle a little. Most media will throw in discounts and other bonuses as a way of taking you away from their competitors.
How To Buy Digital Media
The key to buying digital media is to understand the target audiences well. The digital space offers many platforms where you are likely to find your customers. An avid Facebook user, for example, will most likely also have a Twitter and Instagram account.
Yet, you may end up spending your entire budget, without anything to show in return if you try to be everywhere at once.
Choose a platform that aligns with your brand. An insurance company, for example, may not have as much success as a cosmetic company on platforms such as Instagram or Snapchat. The ideal target audience for the former could be a platform such as LinkedIn.
Pay due attention to your advertising collateral. An online user has a very short attention span, and you must capture it immediately. Creativity in the type of ads, design aspects, attractive images, and engaging video content will do the trick.
Launching campaigns with promotions is an excellent way to grab the attention of your audiences.
Utilize different platforms to reach audiences. You have the option of free and paid advertising on the digital space. Blogs, influencer marketing, networking opportunities, PR, platforms like Craigslist, social media, and your website; will save you from having to buy media space.
Take advantage of programmatic advertising to buy media online. It is cost-effective since you are sure your ads will reach your target audience. Programmatic advertising usually segments audiences based on demographics, geography, behavior, time of day, and smart device usage.
This saves you from the mistake of using the wrong platforms, resulting in time and money loss.
Measure the Success of Your Advertising Campaigns
Successful media buying and planning for an advertising campaign must fulfill the following:
- Do you have the right audience?
- Can you reach them at the right time?
- The ability to reach them exactly where they are likely to be more receptive to your messaging?
- Is your messaging relevant to an identified need?
To summarize the above, we are talking about the right place, right time, and the right context. These three variables give you measurable metrics for your campaigns. You have different tools you can use to measure the impact of your advertising, including:
- Impressions showing the number of times your audiences have had the chance to see the ad
- Click-through rates
- Viewers and website visitors
- Interaction from audiences through comments, shares, feedback, and queries
- Return on investment through leads generation resulting in conversions
Collecting data is critical because it shows you what is working and what is not. Remember, your media buying strategy is a living document. You may need to tweak a few things to get rid of weaknesses, while building upon the strengths.
Final Thoughts On Buying Media
Buying media and the planning process will make or break your advertising campaigns. Dedicate sufficient time to coming up with the right strategy.
With the digital space explosion, companies can effectively utilize whatever money they have set aside for advertising. Eventually, you want a return on investment for your efforts.
Researching the market, audiences, competitors and available channels is important. Companies must also embrace opportunities available for free advertising to run concurrently with the paid ones. You reach a broader audience without maxing out your budget.
Alright so there you have it. Thanks for stopping by to gather my insight on this awesome subject. Stay safe and if you have questions, please contact me if you need!
