A media buyer is a member of the advertising department or in an advertising agency. He is the person who buys advertising time and media space on the different forms of media. The forms of media would be television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines and all other forms of media. One of the media buyer’s main tasks, as the name suggests is to buy media. Besides determining what media to purchase, the media buyer’s responsibility is to also determine the message that will be disseminated on the selected media. There are two different types of media buyers: direct response media buyers and general marketing media buyers. The difference between the two is; direct media buyers negotiate best rates from the media owners and general media buyer put into action media plans.A media buyer requires great skills. His repertoire of skills needs to include negotiation skills, excellent money management skills, good communication skills and ability to work well under pressure.
Media buying and media planning are often mistaken to be the same thing. One of the reasons for this is that the two roles are quite often combined in to one. However, there is a slight difference between the two. A media planner is responsible for the media plan. The media plan details the media selected for running the advertisements, goals for advertising, the targeted audience, the media strategy (which specifies how the goals will be achieved) and the budget and timeline. Media planning precedes media buying. The media buyer’s role is to put in to action or implement the media plan. The media buyer needs to be able to compare media costs and the effectiveness of the different media offers. It is also the media buyers role to monitor the success or otherwise of the implemented media plan.Media buyers and media planners quite often work together. Sometimes, in some agencies the role of media planning and media buying are rolled into one.