The sheer number of media buying tools has grown so quickly to keep up with the changes in the online space as well as in hand-held devices that placing advertising in the media is now a complex activity reserved for trained specialists. Only the professionals have the full range of media buying tools at their disposal to make the best media placement decisions.
Explore Our Many Media Buying Tools
Since each channel has their unique set of terminology to measure how effective they are in delivering the right message to the right consumer, the most basic shared media buying tool is the concept of Reach & Frequency. Reach is the number of people an advertising message reaches. The more people who hear or see the message, the greater the reach and the higher the advertising rate will be. In the industry, reach is often expressed as a “rating.” The reach rating formula is: Number of people reached ÷ by population = reach rating. Frequency is the number of times the targeted audience sees or hears your message, and is usually expressed as an average.
Then by media channel, broadcast television typically relies on media buying tools that are syndicated media research surveys. Surveys like Nielsen are a “representative” sample of viewers who typically allow a box to be connected to their television set and that box automatically sends viewing data back to the collecting company. In radio, individuals are recruited also as a representative sample and asked to either fill out a diary or carry around a portable people meter that records audio signals to determine which program was listened to at what times. For newspapers and magazines, circulation is the typical media buying tool used by a media buying agency which is determined by the Audit Board of Circulation (ABC) is a national organization that verifies circulation figures.
There is a new media buying tool that helps combine the various channels: LogicLab. LogicLab delivers on-demand access to powerful analytics backed up by advertiser and media data to calculate both campaign planning efficiency as well as efficacy of campaign results. Check out a 90-second video at www.logiclabinc.com.
