What is media buying?

Media buying is the moment a media plan becomes real: you buy the space where your advertising will appear. From a TV spot to a screen on a metro platform. Good media buying isn’t just about the lowest price, but about what you achieve with your budget.

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What does media buying involve?

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Media buying means deciding where you advertise, buying that space and then optimising for results. This happens in four steps:

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• Strategy: you choose the mix of channels that suits your target audience, your goal and your budget.
• Planning: you decide for each channel when and how often you are visible.
• Buying: you agree on price, placement and terms with broadcasters, publishers, platforms and media owners.
• Optimisation and measurement: you track the results and adjust, for example based on reach, CPM or conversions.

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How you buy differs per channel. For TV, radio and out-of-home, you negotiate with people. On online platforms, an auction system usually sets the price.

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What are the 4 types of media?

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The four types of media you usually distinguish are:

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• Audiovisual: television, radio, cinema and online video.
• Print: newspapers, magazines and leaflets.
• Online: search engines, social media, display and apps.
• Out-of-home: billboards, posters and digital out-of-home, such as screens in the metro.

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Media are also often divided by ownership: paid media that you buy, owned media such as your website, and earned media such as posts people share about you. Media buying is about the first group.

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How does media buying work for out-of-home?

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For out-of-home advertising, you buy space from the media owner: the company that manages the screens or posters. CS Digital Media is one such media owner, with more than 500 digital screens in the Amsterdam and Rotterdam metro. There are three ways to buy:

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• Directly from the media owner: you agree on screens, period and frequency. This suits campaigns with a fixed plan or a special execution, such as a giant format with vinyl wrapping.
• Through your media agency: the agency buys on your behalf and includes out-of-home in your overall media plan.
• Programmatic: you buy automatically through a buying platform, just like online display. You set the audience, time and bid, and pay per thousand impressions.

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What you buy is visibility: a share of the airtime on a screen, at specific stations and times. The bigger that share, your share of voice, the more often travellers see you.

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What makes good media buying?

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Good media buying is about reach that matters, not the highest number of impressions. So pay attention to three things:

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• Transparency: know what you are buying and how reach is measured.
• Alignment with your goal: a launch calls for a lot of reach in a short time, a local promotion for a few well-chosen locations.
• Consistency across channels: out-of-home works better in combination with online, for example when people look up your brand after seeing a screen.

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How much does a marketing campaign cost?

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How much a marketing campaign costs depends on your audience, your goal, the channels and the duration. There is no fixed amount. A local campaign on a few screens costs something very different from a national campaign. That’s why you start with three questions:

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• Who do you want to reach?
• What do you want to achieve: brand awareness, website visits or a direct action?
• How much budget do you have, and over what period?

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With those answers, a media owner or media agency can put together a tailored proposal. To compare channels fairly, look at the cost per thousand impressions and at what you get for it.

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Getting started with media buying

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Want to include metro advertising in your media plan? Explore the options for advertising in Amsterdam and advertising in Rotterdam, or get in toch with CSDM. We work directly with advertisers and media agencies, and help you think through your plan, your creative and the right way to buy.