Definition
In the agency world, media planning decides the mix and media buying executes it: negotiating prices, placing orders, confirming delivery. In performance marketing the two merge into one person, the media buyer, who picks traffic sources, sets bids, builds landing pages and reads conversion data daily. The term "affiliate media buyer" describes someone who buys traffic from ad networks and sends it to offers paid per conversion, keeping the difference.
The media buying process
- Define the goal: a target cost per acquisition, a return on ad spend or a volume at a cost cap.
- Choose channels and formats: pop for cold volume, push or native for pre-sold clicks, video or banners for brand presence.
- Set up tracking: a tracker or the network's postback, with the click ID passed to the landing page.
- Launch a test at the minimum bid with broad targeting and a daily budget.
- Read the data by source ID, cut sources that do not convert, raise bids on sources that do.
- Scale with whitelists, higher bids and more GEOs, and refresh creatives before fatigue sets in.
Media buying models
| Model | How inventory is bought | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Direct | Insertion order with a publisher, fixed price | Brand placements, sponsorships |
| Ad network | Self-serve account, bids per GEO and format | Performance campaigns, affiliates |
| Programmatic | DSP bidding on exchanges per impression | Scale across many publishers |
| Managed | Network or agency runs the account to a target | Advertisers without an in-house buyer |
What a media buyer actually does
Most of the day is spent in reports: which GEO, device, source and creative produced conversions at what cost, and what to change. The rest is building landing pages and creatives, negotiating payouts with offer owners, and keeping trackers and postbacks working. Good buyers treat each source ID as its own small campaign, because that is the level at which pop, push and native traffic differs.
Related terms
| Term | Relation | Where defined |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic source | The unit buyers optimize | Term page |
| CPA | The usual goal metric | Term page |
| ROAS | Revenue-based goal | Term page |
| Affiliate marketing | Where many buyers work | Term page |
FAQ
What is the difference between media planning and media buying?
Planning decides the channels, budget split and timing; buying executes the plan, negotiates prices and optimizes delivery. In performance marketing one person usually does both.
Do I need an agency to buy media?
No. Ad networks and DSPs offer self-serve accounts; an agency or a managed account helps when you lack the time to read the data daily.
How much budget does a media buying test need?
Enough to judge each source, not the campaign as a whole. For pop and push that usually means a few hundred clicks per source before a decision.