Think about the ads you’ve seen today. Where did you see them?
Depending on your activities, you might have noticed them on billboards, TV, social media, websites, newspapers, or search results. Each represents a transaction between an advertiser (a company or business) and a media outlet (ad platform).
Media buying handles the full scope of purchasing and placing these diverse ad types. A skilled media buyer can help you determine the most effective media channels, secure the best deals, and achieve your advertising goals.
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about media buying—from the basics to actionable tips from industry experts—to help you make profitable advertising decisions.
What is media buying?
Media buying is the process of purchasing advertising space or time on various platforms such as TV, radio, print, websites, streaming services, or outdoor media to reach a specific audience. It involves selecting the right channels, negotiating prices, scheduling ad placements, and optimizing ad performance to achieve marketing objectives.
The key is to target channels that your audience uses and buy ad placements at time slots when the majority of them are active and likely to see your ad. This helps you maximize your return on ad spend (ROAS).
What do media buyers do?
Media buyers purchase advertising placements across relevant media platforms so a brand can cost-effectively reach its target audience. Their role is a mix of strategy, negotiation, and analytics, says James Hacking, founder of Socially Powerful, a renowned social media and influencer marketing agency. “A media buyer’s role has evolved from simply negotiating ad space to analyzing real-time metrics, understanding platform algorithms, and aligning campaigns with audience behaviors,” James says.
Here’s a breakdown of media buyers’ key responsibilities:
- Strategy. Identify the best channels (TV, digital, social media, print, etc.) based on audience demographics, preferences, and behaviors. Work with media planners to align media purchases with campaign goals and overall marketing strategy, then allocate budgets to each channel to maximize advertising returns.
- Negotiation. Negotiate the best deals and ensure ads appear in the most relevant and impactful positions.
- Coordination. Coordinate with the creative team to provide ad assets (e.g., videos, banners, or print ads) to publishers on time.
- Analytics. Monitor the campaign’s performance, reallocate the budget, and tweak strategies as needed.
Why is media buying important?
Media buying is important because it directly impacts the performance of your marketing and advertising campaigns. When done well, it helps you do several things:
Reach your audience on the most relevant platforms
Media buyers strategically select channels and ad placements that align with your audience’s demographics, interests, and online behavior. For example, a fitness brand might target Millennials and Gen Z with video ads on Instagram and TikTok during peak engagement times.
Optimize your advertising budget and ROI
Media buyers aim to provide the most value for ad spend by securing premium ad placements at discounted rates. James says, “Optimizing media budgets starts with a deep understanding of your audience and being selective with platforms. For example, we once tested a small-scale TikTok campaign for a fashion brand by collaborating with micro-influencers. The results were impressive. So we shifted the budget toward high-performing creators and niche content types. And their ROI increased by 35%.”
So continuously analyze the data and pivot as required. Small, informed adjustments can lead to bigger returns.
Stay competitive
Media buyers plan your ad campaigns with trends and media consumption patterns in mind. This way, you can benefit from the latest advertising opportunities and stay ahead of the curve.
How is media planning different from media buying?
While media planning and media buying are complementary aspects of advertising, there are clear distinctions between them.
Here’s a concise table to explain the differences between media planning and media buying:
Media planning | Media buying | |
---|---|---|
Definition | Strategizing and developing a media plan based on marketing goals | Executing the media plan by purchasing ad placements |
Focus | Strategy—identifying the best media mix to reach the audience | Execution—securing ad placements and ensuring delivery |
Key responsibilities | Researching audience and channels, setting goals and budget, creating the media plan | Selecting media outlets, negotiating rates, managing placements, monitoring performance |
Timeline | Happens at the beginning of the campaign to define strategy | Done after planning to implement the strategy |
Expertise needed | Analytical and strategic planning skills | Negotiation and operational skills |
Output | Media plan outlining channels, budget, and timeline | Purchased ad placements and performance reports |
Here’s more about each process in detail:
Media planning
Media planning involves conducting research and using your business’s marketing goals, budget, target audience insights, and key campaign messages to develop a comprehensive media plan.
Your media plan will determine your campaign’s media mix and identify key channels for paid media, owned media, and earned media tactics.
Basically, media planners determine how to reach the target audience by selecting the most effective media channels and developing the overall strategy.
Media buying
Once the media plan is finalized, it is handed off to the media buyer, whose primary role is to execute the paid media portion of the plan. Media buying focuses on selecting and vetting media outlets, purchasing ad space, and negotiating with vendors to secure favorable rates and placements.
Media buyers execute the plan by purchasing the ad space and ensuring the campaign runs smoothly and efficiently.
Some companies have separate media planning and media buying teams who work together to plan campaigns. Small businesses might delegate both tasks to the same member of a marketing or media team.
Types of media buying
Media buying often includes traditional methods (like TV and print) as well as digital options, such as programmatic advertising, where ads are bought and placed automatically through technology-driven platforms. Here’s how to distinguish between direct and programmatic media buying:
Direct media buying
Direct media buying involves purchasing advertising space from individual media companies, such as publishing companies or ad vendors. For instance, a media buyer might reach out to a physical newspaper or website, request a media kit, and purchase ad options. This is typically the route for buying traditional ads, but you can directly purchase digital ads as well.
Ashot Nanayan, founder of the SEO agency DWI, says, “Traditional media still has a place, especially for brands targeting broader demographics or looking for mass awareness. For example, TV and radio can be very effective during big seasonal events like Black Friday or product launches. You can secure both traditional and digital media placements with direct media buying.”
Programmatic media buying
Programmatic buying involves purchasing digital ads with the help of an automated ad-buying platform. Instead of selecting a single media outlet, a media buyer will sign up with a demand-side platform (DSP) and specify campaign details.
The DSP then purchases ad inventory on an ad exchange or through an ad network using a process known as real-time bidding.
Ashot says, “Digital and programmatic offer precision and scale. With digital, you can target a segment of the audience with personalized messaging, track in real time, and iterate quickly. It’s not about choosing between the two but integrating them into one strategy that leverages the strengths of each.”
The media buying process
- Review media plan
- Develop target list
- Develop and send RFPs
- Evaluate options and purchase media
- Send insertion orders
- Develop creative
- Track results
Use these steps to guide your own media buying process:
1. Review media plan
Review your media plan, paying special attention to the campaign’s target audiences, marketing goals, ad spend budget, key performance indicators (KPIs), and target media mix.
Although you won’t finalize the ad creative until later in the process, start considering what types of ads you’d like to run. For example, if you plan on running video ads, research online publications that allow the format.
That said, success in media buying isn’t only about hitting KPIs or short-term goals, says Steve Hutt, founder of eCommerce Fastlane, an ecommerce blog and podcast helping Shopify stores accelerate growth. “It’s about maximizing the lifetime value (LTV) of customers and bringing in new ones efficiently,” he says. “Instead of just focusing on metrics like ROAS or CPA.”
With this in mind, review your plan for long-term revenue opportunities.
2. Develop target list
Develop a list of media outlets, ad agencies, and ad vendors under consideration. If you’re considering both direct and programmatic placements, list media buying platforms here and note pricing. It can be helpful to create a spreadsheet of target media outlets and organize them by what ad types they support, pricing, primary audiences, and how to submit a request for proposal.
3. Develop and send RFPs
An RFP (or request for proposal) can help you simplify the ad-buying process by putting some of the work on media outlets and ad agencies. Your RFP will include advertising campaign details such as your goals, target audiences, approximate budget, KPIs, and a response deadline. Vendors will respond with a tailored campaign proposal based on these specific goals.
4. Evaluate options and purchase media
Gather and review the RFP responses, then further organize data points such as tactic, audience, cost, and estimated KPI performance into your spreadsheet. Although media buyers don’t typically send RFPs to programmatic media buying platforms, including these vendors in your target list can help you compare the cost of these options to direct placements or agency contracts.
Once you’ve organized your data, compare options and select a cost-effective set of ad placements, making sure your selected media mix aligns with the specifications in your media plan.
5. Send insertion orders
An insertion order (IO) is the legal agreement between an ad vendor and the organization placing an ad. It will include the cost, run dates, add specifications, and information about KPIs (if applicable). Create and send an IO for each media placement.
6. Develop creative
Coordinate with your account managers and creative team to develop the creative assets and place your ads with vendors according to the deadlines specified in your IO.
Media buyers are now deeply involved in the creative process. “With programmatic buying automating much of the technical side,” says James Hacking, “media buyers now focus on strategy and storytelling, using both data and intuition to connect with audiences effectively.”
7. Track results
Monitor campaign performance data—such as click-through rates and conversions—and make adjustments to your creative assets to optimize the results. If your vendor guarantees certain performance metrics (like impressions), double-check that your campaigns deliver on the promise. If they don’t, reach out to your vendor to negotiate a make-good.
3 tips for effective media buying
Media buying is a time-intensive process. These tips can help you increase efficiency and optimize returns on your ad spend:
1. Plan around KPIs
Comparing and tracking ad performance can be tricky. To make it easier, select ad placements for which you can effectively track the KPIs specified in your media plan and confirm how and when ad vendors will provide performance data. Then set calendar reminders that coincide with the reporting periods for each ad vendor.
Gerti Mema, marketing manager at Equipment Finance Canada, says, “The main KPIs I track are cost-per-lead (CPL), conversion rates, and return on ad spend (ROAS). These help me understand how efficiently our campaigns are driving quality leads and ensure we are maximizing our budget. In our recent campaign, targeting the construction sector [and] tracking CPL and ROAS helped us optimize ad spend across different channels, resulting in a 20% increase in qualified leads.”
2. Leverage RFPs
One of the tricky things about media buying is that each ad vendor will organize proposal information differently. Some will report cost per click, others total campaign cost, and still others cost per day. The same is true of performance data; vendors might report an estimated number of impressions, clicks, deliveries, or other campaign performance metrics.
For a media buyer, this can feel like comparing apples to oranges, making it challenging to analyze campaign options. A thoughtful RFP can simplify that media buying process. Although it isn’t always possible to streamline a diverse set of metrics, setting RFP parameters can speed things up.
3. Consider media buying agencies
Advertising agencies and media buying agencies employ experienced media buyers. Some also offer media planning services. They can help with your media plan strategy, vendor selection, and performance tracking; some even offer feedback on ad creative or insights into underperforming campaigns.
Since agencies purchase a large volume of ads, they can also exercise more leverage in negotiating media buys than an individual media buyer can.
Evaluate your team’s skills and capacity and consider using an advertising or media buying agency to take on all or part of the media buying process.
Factors to consider when buying media
Here are some key factors to consider when buying media:
Media budget
Your budget determines which channels, formats, and ad placements are feasible for your ad campaigns. Let’s say, you’re a small business with a $10,000 budget. In this case, you might want to run Google or Facebook ads instead of costly TV commercials. Also, factor in production expenses (e.g., creating ad visuals or videos) along with ad placement costs when planning your media budget.
Experiment with small-budget campaigns before scaling, says Ashot from DWI. “Case in point: We worked with a D2C skin care brand with limited resources but big growth goals,” he says. “Instead of spreading the budget thin across multiple platforms, we tested on Facebook and Google Ads. By finding the most cost-effective creatives and audiences, we were able to get four times ROAS when we scaled the winning campaigns.”
Campaign objectives
Define your campaign goal—whether it’s brand awareness, lead generation, or sales. Your objectives influence your channel choice, creative strategy, and performance metrics.
For example, a campaign focused on lead generation may want to allocate resources to Google Ads with purchase-intent keywords. However, a brand awareness campaign might focus on video or display ads.
Vendor reputation and reliability
Working with trustworthy vendors ensures smooth execution and reduces risks like missed deadlines or poor-quality placements. For instance, if you’re planning to run a programmatic campaign, you might choose a well-known demand-side platform like The Trade Desk, Outbrain, or MediaMath for reliability and advanced targeting options.
Placement timing
Timing impacts how well your campaign performs. Consider factors like time of day, seasonality, and event relevance to maximize visibility and engagement.
For instance, a sports drink company might run ads during major events like the Olympics, whereas a toy brand could go heavy on ad placements during the holiday season.
Performance metrics
Track KPIs like impressions, click-through rate (CTR), and cost per acquisition (CPA) to measure the effectiveness of your ad placements and optimize your campaigns.
James Hacking adds, “We track a mix of performance and engagement metrics depending on the campaign goals. Key metrics include cost per acquisition, click-through rates, and return on ad spend, alongside deeper indicators like video completion rates and sentiment analysis. These numbers help us assess both immediate impact and long-term brand connection and ensure every campaign delivers value on multiple levels.”
Media buying tools and platforms
These are some of the top tools and platforms to manage and optimize your paid media campaigns:
Google Ads
Google Ads allows you to advertise on various platforms such as Search, Display, Shopping, Gmail, and YouTube ads. It offers advanced targeting options, including keywords, demographics, and geographic locations.
Best for: Search engine marketing (SEM), retargeting, and video ads.
Example: A local bakery using Google Ads to bid on keywords like “best cakes near me” to attract nearby customers searching online.
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Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram Ads)
Meta Ads helps businesses run targeted campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network. It provides granular audience targeting and detailed performance analytics.
Best for: Social media advertising, audience engagement, and brand awareness.
Example: A fashion retailer running Instagram Stories ads targeting users aged 18 to 35 with interests in fashion and shopping.
The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk is a demand-side platform that lets you buy programmatic ad placements across multiple channels like video, display, audio, and CTV.
Best for: Programmatic advertising and cross-channel campaign management.
Example: A global brand uses The Trade Desk to run synchronized campaigns on connected TVs and mobile apps.
Amazon Ads
Amazon Ads allows businesses to run search ads, display ads, and video ads directly on Amazon’s platform or off-site through Amazon DSP.
Best for: Ecommerce brands looking to target high-intent shoppers.
Example: A skin care brand running product display ads to appear when users search for similar products on Amazon.
LinkedIn Ads
LinkedIn Ads helps businesses target professionals based on job title, industry, company size, and more. It supports sponsored content, message ads, and video ads.
Best for: B2B campaigns and lead generation.
Example: A SaaS company using LinkedIn Ads to promote white papers to decision makers.
Media buying FAQ
What types of media can be bought through media buying?
Paid media placements can include traditional media options such as print, TV, and radio ads, billboards, and direct-mail campaigns, and digital media placements such as banner ads, paid search ads, video advertising, and sponsored content.
What are some common mistakes to avoid when buying media?
Common media buying mistakes include:
- Not tracking key performance indicators (KPIs)
- Tracking the wrong KPIs
- Not sufficiently diversifying your media mix
- Diversifying your media mix too much
- Spending too little (or too much)
- Not confirming a vendor’s execution of a purchase agreement
- Not aligning media buys with strategic recommendations
What role does data play in modern media buying?
Data has two critical functions for the modern media buying process:
- Performance. Media buyers use performance data—like click-through rates, conversions, and other marketing analytics—to evaluate campaign performance and optimize results.
- Cost. Media buying platforms use data to place programmatic ads, selecting the best available ad mix for a specific campaign for the lowest possible cost.