10.1 Introduction
BuyerOne of the most essential parts of advertising
management is media buying, and this is what this particular module is all
about. After the advertising campaign has been planned and
designed, marketers need to look for media buyers and planners to purchase
advertising space for displaying their ad campaign. This is usually the final
step in the advertising process.
In this module, you will find out how space for advertising
is purchased and what media buyers should focus on when making a purchasing
decision.
10.2 Who is Responsible for Buying Advertising Space?
Buyer-The responsibility of buying media space belongs to a
media buyer.
Media buyers are individuals who purchase space and time for
advertisements. These individuals consider many factors before buying a space,
including demographics, pricing, time, psychographics, and geographics.
Advertising space can be bought and sold, and then used to
build a brand's advertising message in the most effective way. This is done
through the most effective platform, and at the most appropriate time, and
getting this job done is the responsibility of a media buyer.
Media buyers contact advertising sales agents to buy space
for their clients' ad campaign. Advertising space is available for television,
radio, newspapers, magazines, internet, social media, billboards, and banners.
A media planner is someone who decides what medium they are going to target,
and in most cases, media planners and buyers are the same individuals.
A media buyer's job is to get the best advertising space by
negotiating with the advertising sales professionals or companies. They also need to choose the ad space very wisely by looking
into different factors. The space that a media buyer purchases also depends on
the budget provided by the company.
Although most of the media buyers are
looking to buy the best space in different media, they need to make sure that
their budget allows them to buy this space. It is entirely possible that a
media buyer must make a sacrifice in their advert in some form in order to get
a better spot, or they must choose a less-effective space.
There are small and big ad spaces available in all of the
various advertising media, but the one that fits your advertising goals and
budget are the ones that media buyers should focus on.
Media buyers must also pay attention to the number of people
that the ad space targets.
For instance, a brand might be looking to target a mass
market. This means that the media buyer needs to buy the space that is viewed
by the most people. Buying multiple ad spaces on television for prime time is a
good way to target a mass market, but they are very expensive. In fact, all of
the spaces that target a mass market are the ones that are more expensive, so
this is not an option for all businesses.
Furthermore, the shows that have the
highest viewership have the most expensive ad time slots, so choosing the exact
programme is also a consideration. So, when advertising on television or via
another mass media type, a media buyer must think about the product and budget,
and then choose the right spot to meet their needs. Yes, choosing to air a
commercial at 3 am is going to be cheaper, but will it reach the target
audience?
Media buying is an important part of advertising because it
helps brands reach out to their target audience by using the best medium. These
media channels are used to not only market the products and services, but to
also attract a new audience. A media buyer's job is to increase the reach of
the brand by placing ads in the right places, and then also monitor the
different media vehicles to find about their reach and competitors' presence. They
are also required to get the best ad space by negotiating the lowest price.
Here are the steps that a media buyer or planner must take before buying
advertising space.
Identification of the Target Audience
A media buyer is someone who has multiple roles at hand, and
in addition to choosing advertising space, they must also identify a target
audience. They have to keep in mind several factors when designing a plan to do
this.
Let's imagine that they are working for a company that sells
frozen meals. First, they have to identify the media channels that their target
audience will be available on, then they need to find out about their interests
and behaviours to learn about the channels that will be perfect to reach this
audience. They also must find out the best way to communicate the message to
the target audience.
If their target audience is adults, they would need to find
out the media channels that are best suited for them. They need to find whether
their target audience makes use of internet, smartphones, televisions, or if
they can be reached through outdoor media channels. This decision falls
entirely on media buyers and planners who have to consider every aspect of the
target audience to come to a decision.
Conduct Industry Research
Doing market research is not the only thing that media
buyers need to conduct. They also have to conduct industry research to find out
about the effectiveness of different media channels. If the media planners and
buyers decide to buy space in newspapers, for instance, they must find out the
number of copies, distribution location, and target audience of that newspaper.
Information like this will help media buyers purchase space only in the media
channels that will result in a greater reach.
Similarly, when it comes to television, media buyers need to
find out the number of viewers. If the media buyer has picked a particular time
slot between a show, then they need to find out about how many viewers are
available, as well as other demographic information including age, income,
gender, and location.
When researching internet channels, media buyers need to
find out about the target audience visiting their chosen site as well as the
amount of traffic that the website gets. Conducting research on things like this
will make it easy for media buyers to choose the most effective media channels
and the right ad space for the maximum impact.
Competitors' Analysis
When buying ad space, media buyers should pay attention to
their competitors' strategies and moves, too. If their competitors have placed
ads on billboards throughout the city, then they need to come up with such a
strategy that makes their ads stand out.
Since every brand is competing with its rivals, it is
important that media buyers are alert and know their competitors' moves,
because at the end of the day, the competitors are doing the same thing to
them. This information is vital for the success of a brand's ad campaign
because when the brand beats their competitors in terms of placements, the
audience will automatically notice their campaign first, and be more likely to
have the advert on their minds.
Negotiations with Sellers
Another part of a media buyer's job is to negotiate with
media sellers. They need to possess a great convincing power to get the best
rates for their desired advertising space. Due to the increasing trend of
advertising, there are numerous brands wanting to advertise and reach out to
their target audience. Therefore, when it comes to ad space, there are many
businesses willing to pay a good amount for getting a particular ad space in
their desired media channel.
This means that media sellers are not short of opportunities
to earn, which is the reason media buyers need to be very smart and creative in
negotiating with these sellers. They need to convince the sellers that their
offer is the best and that it will bring more viewers towards their channel.
Analysis of Consumer Data
Media buyers also need to conduct thorough consumer research
to collect relevant data. Consumer data should be collected to find out about
target audience trends and behaviours. Information such as this is vital to
choosing the right kind of media and channels for the success of advertising
campaigns.
Customer trends and behaviours are constantly changing, however,
so a media planner or buyer must keep this in mind. There are times when a
particular target audience views a channel more often, but then shifts to
another. In order to learn about these behaviours, media buyers should get in
touch with media channel owners and researchers. This way, they can design a
plan that is most suitable for their audience; one that reaches them in the
most effective way.
Analysis of the Campaign
Media planners and buyers are also responsible for analysing
their advertising campaign and media buying and planning choices. This research
can be conducted after the campaign has been played. Media planners and buyers
can get in touch with advertising space sellers from different media channels
to find out about the effectiveness of their campaign.
This research will provide information about the number of
people who saw the ads and the number of people who bought the product. This
type of data allows media planners and buyers to improve their future ad
placement strategies. Media planners are responsible for looking after several
jobs. They are not only the ones buying ad space, but they also have to look
after everything related to media channels and placement.
FACT
In 2017, television advertising revenue was 5.11 billion
British pounds throughout the United Kingdom. Revenues are predicted reach 5.38
billion British pounds by 2019.
Source: statista.com
10.3 How to Buy Space for Showcasing your Adverts?
Media buyers have to buy such ad spaces that
catch the most attention.
The reason for choosing such channels is that businesses
need to expand their reach in order to attract more customers towards their
products and services. Media planners need to put their ads in front of the
most number of people. However, achieving this requires a lot of research and
analysis, which has to be performed by the media buyer and planner.
Media buyers have to ensure that they are buying ad spaces
that are most suitable for their ad campaign. However, due to extreme
competition in the market, it is possible for ad spaces to be sold out.
Therefore, media buyers need to buy their desired ad spaces in advance. It is
best to buy the spaces in the off-season. This will allow them to book the
perfect spots, places, and channels without facing any disappointments. Buying
ad space early is also more cost-effective than buying in the peak season when
every brand is desperate for a good space.
Take Advantage of Last-Minute Deals
Media publishers often sell discounted ad space packages at
the last minute. These packages and deals are great for getting a good ad space
with little money. Therefore, media buyers should always be alert and when such
last-minute deals pop up, they must make use of them.
Although it is always better to purchase ad space in
advance, in cases like these, media buyers should not miss a chance at sealing
a cost-effective deal. In order to make use of deals like this, media buyers
have to be in contact with media publishers.
Look for Testimonials
Before buying an advertising space, media buyers should look
for different options and read the testimonials, just like when people buy
other products. Testimonials provide information about the publisher and allow
buyers to make a perfect decision. Therefore, media buyers should conduct
proper research before choosing a media channel or publisher. It is also
important to talk to previous clients of publishers to ensure that they are
good business partners.
Negotiate for a Low Bulk Price
When we go to the supermarket to buy something in bulk, we
always get it at a discounted price. Similarly, when media buyers are
purchasing multiple ad spaces from one publisher, then they should ask for a
bulk discount. This is a good way to cut advertising costs that can become
quite expensive, and you will have advertising space available when you want
it.
Analyse the Layout
It is important to see whether the publisher offers a good
ad layout or not. Since the ad that a media buyer places will be placed on a
media channel, it is important to analyse and examine how it appears. Media
buyers must see how advertisements look on a media channel that they are
interested in, and they should see whether the ads are presented in the most
attractive way or not. Things like this matter because a media buyer is
spending a lot of money on ad placements, and it is their right to know that their
money is going to the right place.
It is also important for media planners to analyse
competitors' ads on the media channel that they are choosing. If the
competitors are choosing a particular channel month after month, then it simply
means that the channel is successful in delivering results. Information such as
this will help media buyers to make the best decision for their ad campaign.
Compare Reach to Frequency
When it comes to buying ad space, frequency is something
that most media buyers should consider. Frequency is the number of times the
audience sees the advertisement, however, if one person sees your ad ten times,
it will only be a single person who might or might not buy from you.
Reach on the other hand is more effective and should be given
the highest consideration. Reach is the number of people who see the
advertisement. If an ad is being played 2 times a day, but it reaches 5000
people, then it will automatically be more effective than the advert that is
seen 5 times by 2 people. This is exactly what media buyers need to pay
attention to.
Reach is more important than frequency, therefore, when it
comes to choosing between the two, media buyers should always go with reach
rather than frequency. No matter how many times someone sees an ad, they will
still be counted as one person.
Buy Multiple Channels
To reach more people, media buyers should purchase ad space
on multiple platforms and channels. When one brand buys ad space on multiple
channels, it is possible to create a great impact on the audience. Let's say a
media buyer buys ad space on multiple television channels at time slots a few
seconds apart from one another. When a person switches the channel, they will
see the same ad on every channel that they stop at. This is a great way for a
brand to become recognisable if a company can afford it.
Similarly, buying space on different media platforms
including television, radio, billboards, internet, and newspapers, media buyers
can impress a greater number of audiences.
Buy a Top or Tail Space
When media buyers are buying space on television, they can
make their ads instantly more impactful and effective by buying top and tail
space. Top space ads are those that play immediately after the break starts.
Tail ads are those that are the last ones before a show resumes. These two time
slots on television are extremely effective because they are the ones that are
mostly seen by people waiting for their show to come back from the break.
Consider the Cheap Slots on Television
When targeting television media with a low budget, media
buyers should consider buying cheap slots. Television media is expensive, which means that not every
business can get the top and tail slots or slots between popular shows. This
does not mean that buying cheap slots is a waste of money. On the contrary, it
can work quite well as when people switch between different channels, they can
catch these adverts, even when placed on cheaper slots. This means that buying
cheaper slots does not mean that your ads will not reach the target audience.
Buy Ad Space in Off Season
Advertisements will reach the audience any time of the year.
Therefore, it is not necessary for media buyers to always opt for peak seasons
to advertise. In peak seasons, such as holidays, every brand wants their
products and services to be advertised and promoted. Such seasons make it hard
for media buyers to purchase their desired space due to increased traffic of
advertisers. Furthermore, when these spaces are in high demand, their price
also increases.
Media buyers should keep in mind that their objective must
be to reach out to their target audience. If they get their desired ad space,
they should opt for ad spaces in the off season. Ad spaces in off seasons are
quite affordable and there is plenty of space to choose from.
Use Flight Strategy
Flighting is a great ad placement technique that is quite
lucrative for businesses. When advertisers play their ads continually in great
quantities at the start of the month, and then advertise twice in the middle
and end, this technique is known as flighting.
The reason that flighting is effective is that it makes a
brand visible to the audience when it is time for them to buy monthly
groceries. This technique also acts as a reminder later in the month. So, if
media buyers want their ads to be successful, they should place them in greater
quantities on different media channels at the start of the month. Once they are
successful in making an impression, they can place their ads twice later in the
month.
Module Summary
When buying space for adverts, media buyers have to look
into several factors including target market, demographics, reach, and
frequency. After they have conducted proper research, they can buy good ad
spaces in different media keeping in mind their advertising goals and budget.
When media buyers buy ad spaces after extensive research, they are better able
to achieve their goals and make an impact on the audience.
Buying the right advertising space can make or break your
advertising campaign, and you do not want to put all of that time and money into
your adverts if you cannot display them correctly. By making sure you are using
a professional media buyer or planner, you can be sure that your advertising
campaign will be a success.
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