Media Management - Media Buying Process

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We have a plan. It is ready to be executed. There is just one last step left, what is it? Buying the media space. If you don’t have media space, where will you place your ad and advertise the product?

That brings us to the topic of the day, Media Buying Process.

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The buying brief: The buying brief basically consists of all the elements of the media strategy and all the decision that were taken. (For the steps in the process of a media strategy/media plan, check previous post)

Environmental Analysis: this stage is nothing but understanding all the media and analyzing its current scenario in context of the concerned brand.

The Science of Buying: This implies that the buyer has to be completely aware of the pricing and market scenario before negotiating. He has to completely aware of the market trends, the price quoted and the price at which it is sold.

Benchmarking rates:  This is done especially to review if a deal is good or bad. By benchmarking the deals, value- ads and rates of the past one can evaluate if they have a good deal or a bad one.

Plan presentation and client feedback: A lot depends on how you have presented your plan. It’s crucial that the idea behind choosing a particular vehicle, channel etc. Sharing the view of the plan in detail helps. Also the feedback that is received is very important, as that will help you re-evaluate your plan and help you make additions or subtractions to it. Feedback may also suggest that you tweak your plan a little in order to make it more effective. It can also give you a perspective.

Deal management: For the buyer it is important that all the deals are managed and handled carefully. A well-managed deal will result in a well-executed plan and a happy client. It is important to keep a track of the status of the deal.

The Post- Buys: Before buying there is one very important step of the media buying process and that is analyzing the past buys. Here the purchases of the past are evaluated and points are made, as too what were the plus points and negative points. On the basis of these the mistakes of the past can be avoided.

Photo credit: Google images

All these factors come to play with media buying. There are so many steps involved before the actual purchase is made. All these steps are essential in order to take a good decision. 

Next time around, I will be back with another concept, till then tada! :D

Reference: Media Buying and Selling –Arpita Menon