For an advertising campaign to be successful and marketing investments to pay off, you need to develop a strong message to consumers that resonates with their interests and concerns. This message must be delivered to the right place, at the right time, and a minimal cost to the company. Media buying is just the purchase of platforms and airtime for advertising from different media resources.

What is media buying, and who is involved in it?

Media buying is the purchase of time and space for advertising on various websites, radio, television, social networks and offline platforms. This term implies not only purchasing media but also further tracking the campaign results with subsequent improvement of its effectiveness.

There are 2 parties involved in media buying:

•       Publishers. These are the owners of media resources;
•     Media buyers and advertisers. These are those who rent advertising platforms, make a media plan and look for optimal advertising platforms for the company.

The main task of a media buyer is to select exactly those advertising messages that will hook the target audience and place them in the right format, at the right time and in the right media resource.

Advantages and disadvantages of media buying

Now, you can easily place your ads in many different types of media. The greatest effectiveness now shows digital media buying, which can be fully automated. In this case, the purchase and sale of space for advertising occurs through a separate platform without human intervention. Technology allows to make the process of buying advertising simple, fast and low-cost. Advertisements can be placed on any advertising platform, including Facebook, Google, TikTok, etc. All advertising platforms provide online analytics. It allows you to understand the quality of conversions better.

Due to the large number of digital media resources, securing payment for advertising campaigns used to take a lot of work. Everything has changed with the advent of the Business Wallester multifunctional platform. With its help, an unlimited number of media buying smart cards can be instantly issued to pay for multiple advertising campaigns. Individual limits can be set on such cards, considering the parameters of campaigns and never exceeding the planned budget.

The negative side of media buying is the presence of many fraudsters among publishers. They can be engaged in clicks, impressions and conversions. It can lead to unnecessary expenditures of the advertising budget on fake accounts.

The main stages of media buying

The process of media buying may seem a bit complicated at first, as it is not just the buying and selling of an advertising platform but a whole complex of related services:

1. Market Analysis. Initially, media research is conducted. Analyze the market, product line, and the audience to which the advertising is aimed. The information obtained will help to select such advertising platforms that will provide the greatest result from advertising.
2. Media planning. Based on the results of media research, a campaign plan is created. It prescribes not only the sites where advertising is placed but also specifies the types of placement, time frames, different rates, and covered audience. The final stage of media planning is the forecast of the results of advertising placement.
3. Negotiation. First, the budget for the advertising campaign is drawn up. Then, the media buyer negotiates with publishers on possible discounts and participates in the bidding. In this case, the media buyer seeks to invest in the budget. Documents are being formalized. At this stage, the sale of many advertising platforms passes automatically on the principle of the stock exchange. The transaction is made on a centralized exchange, where the purchase and sale of advertising space occurs according to a certain scheme in a matter of seconds.
4. Preparation. When there is space for advertising, advertising material is created – text, banner, video, etc. It must meet the requirements that the publisher has for advertising.
5. Campaign launch. The advertising is launched, its results are monitored, and, if necessary, the media plan is adjusted along the way.

In the final stage, the results of the advertising campaign are analyzed, and its effectiveness is evaluated.With help of Business Wallester multifunctional smart card issuing platform and understanding what media buying is. What stages are included in it, will allow business owners to more competently make a media plan and place advertising with the most appropriate publishers.