Digital media buying and planning is crucial for any business that is consumer-centric and needs to lure in customers for earning revenue. Indulging in this process can help the brand to create its visibility among the target audience and create a moving impact on them by using different media outlets. Both digital media planning and buying go hand in hand for running a successful ad campaign. The usual error that a lot of businesses commit is that they only pay attention to the budget and completely ignore the media plan. Well, even if you have a good budget and the capacity to buy as many media spaces as you can, the ad campaign will not prove to be effective if you do not have a good media plan in place. Similarly, you can run a successful ad campaign within a limited budget if you have devised a good media plan.
Steps to follow for successful media planning and buying
To begin with, you must have a fair and square idea about what exactly media planning and buying is. Digital media buying refers to the task of purchasing advertisement spaces in multiple digital platforms, applications and websites. Although the term digital media buying sounds impressive and profitable, doing it on your own may seem to be challenging. Hence, below we have laid out the steps that are the nitty-gritty of successful media buying.
Recognise the target audience
Whether offline or online media buying, the foremost step of media planning and buying is to recognise the target audience. You must have a clear idea about the specific section of the market that you want to reach. Certain important factors are considered by media buying companies to identify the target audience. These include, level of income, age, gender and the media outlets that one prefers. Media buyers usually develop an avatar blended with all these factors and utilise this avatar to determine the channels or platforms on which their target audience spends most of their time.
Research the market thoroughly
It is important to carry out a thorough research about your target market. Knowing certain important aspects, such as the geographical area they reside in, the platform that is used by them the most, how much time they spend on those platforms and the likes. Evaluating the behaviour of your potential audience will enable you to plan a media buying strategy that can help you accomplish your set goals related to the ad campaign.
Grasp the ecosystem of your audience
An innovative way to indulge in the right type of media buying, including social media buying is by comprehending the ecosystem of your target audience, which transcends audience identification and market research. In this step, you need to gather thorough knowledge about what your audience will like to have. For instance, suppose you own a business of automobiles. Knowing where the audience resides and the kind of audience that uses cars (younger or older generation) will not be much effective if you do not find out what they are looking for, such as new car accessories, newer models, and so on. When you track down the specific interest area of your target audience, you are likely to encounter certain brands that you never imagined to turn out to be your competitors.
Check out the unique things used by the competitors
Closely look at the aspects utilised by your competitors for effective digital media planning and buying. These include the following.
Innovative ad types and designs
Speculate the banner designs, landing pages and use of certain specific colours that can attract customers and are distinct in nature. Look at the nature of the design, whether it is intricate or simple, the ad type used and the size of those ads. It is also important to closely evaluate whether the ad adheres to the look of the brand or the look and style of the publishing website.
Message or offer
Look at the CTA (Call to action) used by the competitors. Look at the offers (if any) provided by them, such as any special rebates, package deals, specific insights and how they define their ads, whether they explain it using a catchphrase or by elaborating the offer.
Placements or websites
Look at the kind of publishing websites that can help you reach your target audience, whether they are from the same or different vertical. Check if the burgeoning publishing websites place ads of your direct competitors. Look at where the ad is placed on the website. Also, check for the channels that have been used to place the ads, such as social media ads, website ads etc. It will be better to find out if there are any mediators who help in placing these ads or whether it is done directly.
Once you gain a thorough understanding of your competitors, how they are placing their ads and the tactics they are using, it will become easier for you to develop your own ad campaign.
Develop a powerful media buying campaign
There are several factors that contribute to the success of digital media planning and buying and you should pay equal attention to each one of them. These factors include the following.
Offering
You have to be specific when you mention your offerings in both your ads and the landing page. For instance, it could be a free trial of the services you offer or reward points that could be earned to get one of your services for free. The offering should also be specified in terms of the content, wordings, creativity, design and so on.
Geo-Targeting
You have to be careful while targeting locations where you want your ad to be seen. Look at your competitor, see where they have specifically focused and found success. You can emulate a similar strategy and target the same locations. Having said that, check for those locations that have never been targeted before but have your potential target audience and hence have the prospect of success.
Also, Read: DIGITAL MEDIA PLANNING: THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE
Get in touch with the appropriate partners
The ultimate step of the media planning and buying campaign is getting in touch with the correct partners. There are two options you can choose from. You can work with the publishing websites directly or rely on an expert like BrandVisage. The latter is a better option as they have a thorough understanding of the market and can help you to have the success you need by placing the ad in the best places at the right price.
The nature of digital and social media buying and planning keeps changing from time to time. There is no absolute formula that can be followed for each of your ad campaigns. You have to devise new strategies for different kinds of ad campaigns and evaluate the success rate by looking at your target audience, their ecosystem and most importantly, at your competitors. You have to keep abreast with the new and changing trends and tweak your strategies accordingly. None of this comes easy and requires devotion of time and effort. You can either choose to have an in house team for handling your digital media buying and planning process or simply rely on eminent media buying agencies. If you want to opt for the later, get in touch with leading media buying companies like Brand Visage, who are doyens in this particular field.