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Media buying is purchasing advertising space at a media venue, such as print ads, TV spots, or website banners. Small businesses should consider low-cost options like local cable or indie web comics to reach their target audience. Major gamers with a large budget can opt for TV ads targeting their demographic.
A media buy is the purchase of advertising space at a media venue. Print ads in newspapers, 30-second spots on prime time television, banner ads on websites – each can be considered a purchase. Your media buy selection should be an opportunity to do some serious introspection about what you’re selling, who you think your target customers are, and where you’re likely to reach them at the least cost.
If you’re a major gamer with a huge advertising budget, your media purchase of choice will be television, of course. The next step is finding the television shows that appeal to the same demographic as your product or product line, having your ad agency develop ads that appeal to that demographic and buy your time. Small businesses shop in the local newspaper or regional magazines, or perhaps their local television stations. Media purchases on websites are usually priced in the thousands of impressions or appearances, with a number of different advertisers rotating in the same space.
For small businesses, there are a number of low-cost media buying opportunities you should consider before spending your entire advertising budget on newspaper ads:
Local Cable: Your local cable company places ads throughout the day on both network and cable programming. When you watch a primetime show and see an ad for the local restaurant, it’s time that is sold locally and only reaches your viewing area. Local cable weather varies greatly based on the time of day, show ratings, and the breadth of distribution you wish to purchase, as some cable companies cover a large area. Thirty seconds on the science fiction channel repeats in the wee hours of the morning could cost upwards of three dollars; noon on the Oprah show, much more.
Indie Web Comics: If you’re targeting a younger audience, consider buying your media on an indie web comic. These comics are updated several times a week, are owned solely by the cartoonist, and often have a very large audience in their 20s and 30s. Some web comics have tens or hundreds of thousands of views per day. Developing banner ads or banner ads that attract readers to a particular comic can be worth hundreds or thousands of hits for your website, and such a media purchase could be priced much less than you’d pay at a more commercial site.
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