The process of placing and buying digital ad placement—it’s a lucrative job opportunity! Media advertisements are everywhere, and they don’t land where they do organically. Even so, it’s easy to think—what is digital media buying? Digital media buying is the process of ensuring that a media platform is laced with ads that cater to the platform’s specific audience—as well as bringing major value to the client paying for that ad.
As online advertising is only ever on the rise, digital media buyer jobs are growing exponentially as well. It’s a great time to jump into this field! However, there are specific education and experience expectations. In this article, we’ll look at some of the common themes going into being a successful digital media buyer.
If you’re thinking about becoming a digital media buyer, then you need to know what you’re getting yourself into! In the following sections, we’ll discuss the details of the digital media buyer job description, delve into the digital media buying process, and even discuss the average digital media buyer salary.
If you’ve ever seen an advertisement anywhere on any internet-connected webpage or digital product, then chances are you’ve seen the work of a digital media buyer. Advertisements in digital products are an increasingly common and effective way to reach target demographics as more and more people spend more of their lives online!
Digital media buyers seek to optimize that eye-on-screen time by researching the digital habits of target demographics and buying up ad space that is most relevant to brands seeking to influence that target demographic. In order to do so, digital media buyers become experts on all media platforms as well as the statistics that characterize specific target demographics.
Then, digital media buyers will work with advertisers during the process of real-time bidding to get great spots on high-traffic websites. As the name ‘real-time bidding’ implies, this happens every single time that a site user clicks on or refreshes a publisher’s website! That means that there are literally thousands of opportunities (if not far more) to grab somebody’s attention via a well-placed digital advertisement. It’s the job of the digital media buyer to ensure that their client’s ad is seen by many.
In order to optimize the viewing potential of a client’s campaign, the digital media buyer will usually spend a lot of time becoming intimately familiar with the advertiser, the prospective publisher, the demand side platform, the advertisement exchange, and the supply side platform—in other words, the main cast of characters involved with real-time publishing an effectively placed ad.
To get this done, the activities that digital media buyers often complete are grouped into four different categories:
Ultimately, digital media buyers do a whole host of things that may not be listed above; however, the main points of success for a typical digital media buying day are mostly encompassed in the above list.
The usual day in the life of a digital media buyer can change completely day to day based on the needs of the client and the other members of the digital media team—which is a good thing, as it keeps people on their toes. However, there are several ingredients that commonly make up the day-to-day life of a successful digital media buyer, including:
The actual hourly processes undergone by successful digital media buyers can vary wildly from day to day, which many digital media buyers report finding very satisfying.
We’ve talked about what a digital media buyer does on a day-to-day basis. If this sounds good to you, you may be wondering, next—what is it that people who are looking for a digital media buyer expect when they’re looking through resumes? As you may expect, every company and firm has a specific list of things that they’re looking for, depending on the nature of the clients and audiences that they’re trying to cater their services towards. However, there are a few general tenets that do stick out as qualifications for the most successful digital media buyer.
Job requirements for a digital media buyer usually include employers seeking a bachelor’s degree in advertising, sales, or marketing; or a bachelor’s specializing in knowledge of general media platforms. Further education in any of these areas, such as a master’s or doctoral degree (or any certificates which you may have received) would be looked upon as a bonus. Some firms mention that having a business education is considered a plus as well!
However, if a candidate does not have this formal education but does have several years of relevant experience, he or she could definitely be considered a strong candidate as well. This sense of initiative is something that most firms would value in a digital media buyer!
While there are many hoped-for skills that will certainly grace the successful candidate, typically clients and digital firms are looking for the following when they are searching for a digital media buyer:
These four attributes together make up what most people are looking for when they set out to hire a successful digital media buyer for their advertising team!
Now is a great time to become a digital media buyer. Because there are more and more websites and other media platforms such as games and videos popping up every single day, the opportunities to jump in and be a great digital media buyer are expanding by the day. Because the job opportunities are on the rise, too, know that if you become a digital media buyer and remain competitive and good at your job, you’ll likely be able to hang on to this job for a very long time.
The salary accrued by a digital media buyer can range significantly based on the size of the firm that you work for, your experience and education, and the number of clients you’re able to please. However, as a basic rule of thumb, a 2019 report places the median salary for a digital media buyer at 66,000 per annum, including a benefits package (which may vary from company to company). This does, however, come in the middle of a relatively stark range, which at its lower end is around 54,000 per year and at its highest peaks around 81,000 per year.
Now that we’ve gone through all of the basic expectations and requirements pertaining to the job of digital media buyer, you can brush up your resume and apply! Make sure that you carefully consider what you’re bringing to the table first, though, so that you can apply only to the places at which you will be the most competitive.
Use the Job Listings page here on Digital Media Jobs to find a great job near you that could be a perfect fit! Good luck!