Media buying

In advertising management, media buying is the procurement of media inventory. The media buying function negotiates price and placement for advertisements.

Media buyers (also known as "practitioners in media") negotiate and purchase audience targeted time and advertising space to convey a marketing message.

They consider station formats, pricing rates, demographics, geographic, and psychographics relating to the advertiser's particular product or key performance indicator (KPI). All media inventory goes through phases of optimisation, which is dependent on budget, type of medium (radio, internet, TV, print etc.), target audience and targeting. Media buyers can purchase media inventory regionally or nationally. National media buyers might have to factor in considerations based on their particular geography.

Rates, demand of leads, space, and time, and state licenses vary by state. National media buyers need national media planning to generate national media marketing strategies and national media advertising that can be adaptable from area to area but also work on a national level.

There is an apparent distinction between general marketing media buyers and direct response media buyers (DRMB). General market media buyers enact or actualize media plans drawn up by media planners. They negotiate rates and create media schedules based on a media plan constructed by a media planner. Through the media planner, general market media buyers rely on published cost per point guides. An experienced DRMB knows which stations generate a specific quantity of response and knows within reason, the break even point of the expenditure versus the return. With that information, the DRMB is efficient in negotiating a functional rate and in purchasing media from the appropriate stations. The DRMB attaches unique phone numbers to each station they purchase media from and track the sales, and make adjustments to the media plan and schedule as necessary to optimize results. DRMB can be short-form or long-form, although long-form is becoming increasingly unpopular. With these differing methodologies, direct response marketing can be considered a specialized arena.

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