5 Ways to Tell if You’re Ready to Hire a Media Buyer

Advertising on television or radio used to be simple – there were only a handful of channels and programs to decide from and you could put a plan together in no time. Today, there are endless options when it comes to advertising media – television, radio, cable, satellite, outdoor, print and digital – to advertise your business. With all of these choices, how do you know if your message is even reaching the right people? It might be time to turn to an expert advertising agency that specializes in media buying.

A media buyer negotiates and purchases audience-targeted time and space to convey your marketing message. So, how do you know if you should hire a media buyer or try to buy the media schedules yourself? Ask yourself the following questions:

How much time do you have to spend on thorough market research? Deciphering the difference between audience demographics, the available media outlets, and trends, then putting together the ideal media mix for your product or service can take a great deal of time and energy.
How much experience do you have planning and purchasing schedules – Do you have current relationships with the media in your market that will result in negotiating power? Media outlets recognize the experience a buyer brings to the table and tend to be more flexible with pricing and placements if you know the right questions to ask.
Do you understand media terminology? Do you know what break position or day-parts you should be considering? How about points, HUT/PUT, GRPS and CPP? Should you choose Advanced Audience, Contextual or Extended Reach targeting? Do you know where to place that conversion pixel? A media buyer does.
Do you really know where your ads will run? Did you create a targeted media plan, or rely on someone to sell you a package with “guaranteed good times!” Do you have time to comb through invoices at the end of the month to make sure the spots ran correctly, the traffic allocation is correct and the rotation is exactly what you ordered? How about monitoring make good proposals, invoice adjustments and added value?
Once you decide to advertise, do you have time to field all of the calls, requests for meetings, and review the latest and greatest media promotions from all of the other media outlets in town? Hearing or seeing your new ad is like putting fresh blood in the water – all of the sharks will come to investigate.

Did you notice a trend in the previous questions? It all comes down to time and expertise – this is what hiring a media buyer will give you. If you found yourself answering no to any of the questions above, it is time to hire a media buyer. You can rely on an expert to plan, negotiate and place your media so that every dollar is maximized for ROI on a monthly basis. Time is a valuable asset to your business and a media buyer can give that to you. If you could use a little more time in your day, maybe it’s time to talk.