Online Media Buying

A good definition for media buying would be the tactical planning, negotiation and purchasing of advertising space in media venues such as, print media, television, radio, and Internet. Media buying is an important aspect of the entire advertising management function. Media buying experts work very closely with their clients to develop campaign goals and objectives, a workable strategy, perform media research, negotiate placements and pricing, create a plan resulting in launching an advertising campaign that is continually analyzed and adjusted to receive profitable results.

New groundbreaking Internet advertising options are constantly being launched such as, geographically and behaviorally targeted advertising. Unlike traditional media buying campaigns, online ad campaigns may offer more challenges because of limited standards and various inconsistencies. This article will briefly explain what steps are involved with online media buying and give a description of some of the media venues that are generally used to produce a successful online advertising campaign.

The online media buying process mirrors buying media for a traditional ad campaign. The media experts work directly with the client to define goals and objectives, build an online media strategy, perform media research, create and implement a plan, and continually track, analyze and optimize the online ad campaign. Online media placement is usually implemented through direct media buys, or through an ad exchange or online ad networks. The following are potential venues for online media buying and placement:

Rich Media Ads- are basically display ads that appear in a fixed or top-page floating position that uses Flash ads, streaming audio/video, or shoshkeles, which are a type of a floating browser, often using music or sound.

Banner Ads – also appear in a fixed or top-page floating position. They are the most popular type of online display advertising. They come in various sizes, can be animated or static, and can be geographically, contextually, behaviorally and demographically targeted.

Text Ad Links-are responsible for driving qualified traffic to web sites, often through inbound links with keyword rich text. They usually are located in the “Sponsored Links” or “Advertising Section” area of websites. The purchasing procedure for text ad links is usually directly from the publisher at a fixed monthly rate.

Online Ad Networks- typically work directly with an Advertiser, Ad agencies or a Media buying service. Online Ad networks have access to quality media environments. They also offer performance-based pricing, typically for left over inventory and an alternative to CPM (cost-per-thousand) pricing.

Direct Ad Placement- media buying professionals or online marketers that run their own online advertising campaign generally buy direct ad placements on a site-by-site basis. Websites that meet budget and objective requirements are chosen for the ad campaign. The in-house marketer, ad agency or media buying professional work directly with the web publishers to execute their ad campaigns.

The above online media venues are just a snapshot of the all the options to conduct a successful online advertising campaign. Once the campaign is up and running the most important factor is to be able to monitor, track, analyze and to adjust components of the campaign. A media buying service or professional can certainly do all these functions for you.