A media buyer should be called a media negotiator, because that’s what they do.

Our job as a Media Buyer is to negotiate the price of media, discounts and additional bonuses on behalf of the client. Simply put, our job is to reach the largest possible audience on the lowest possible budget. Media Buying involves strong negotiation skills, strong relationships with media representatives and requires we stay current.

Some call it the art of the deal, for us Media Buying is about stretching the client’s budget.

Not all Media buyers are created equal. The good ones will ruffle feathers from time to time. But it goes beyond that, here are some traits all good media buyers have in common:

• A good media buyer always asks the media rep for more than they are offering;
• Good media buyer’s are the best negotiators and deal makers;
• All media buyers make mistakes. However, the good one’s work through the mistake with the media reps and are not afraid to ask for help;
• A good media buyer, especially a digital media buyer, spends time reading about industry trends and acts accordingly;
• An excellent media buyer sets up campaigns so they have proper measurements and additional optimization strategies(like conversion tracking, retargeting ad sets and UTM codes).

A media buyer takes care of your brand and makes sure your message gets delivered.

In Winnipeg, a smaller market, there is usually not enough business for many ad agencies to employ a full-time media buyer on staff. This is why many talented local media buyers are freelancers. Living in a small market, many local professionals believe they can do media buying themselves. Some believe there isn’t much to it, but there is. When media buying and planning is done properly, you will not see a single TV ad only playing on a single local station with low frequency. This is because we as a media buyers know that paying attention to ad reach and ad frequency is the mantra of good media buying.