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Two decades ago media included radio, ads, and television, social media didn’t even exist. Let that sink in that there was no digital marketing. Technology has interfered with social media, blogging and PR, etc. such that digital media buys and digital media planning must take all of this into account. 20 years back the businesses would come up with a homogenous message which would only get the attention of those who can see it. Just like using a huge net to catch all the fishes in the sea, they would catch much of the fishes they were looking for and some would still be left. Digital media buying solutions enables target media buying by targeting the exact fish the company needs to target.
What is Digital Media Planning?
Digital media planning forms the first step towards a successful ad campaign. It helps in deciding what the ad campaigns are, how to develop, what should be the target and what is achieved and how to use different media to pass on the intended message across the people. It involves reviewing the current market trends of the business and how these trends are evaluated on the current media. After this basic audience research then comes utilizing the resources required for the campaign for multiple media platforms.
What is Digital Media Buying?
Digital media buying is an essential part of digital marketing and is associated with paid media platforms and time slots that can be used to reach the target audience at the right time. This is a very important step if an ad campaign is used to produce desired results. Media space can include a newspaper, magazines and other print media as well as television ads and primetime TV and radio slots. Other than this it includes Social media, apps, search engines, site banners, streaming platforms, etc. It is very important to have the know-how of live stream video advertising, In-App mobile advertising, and social media advertising.
In order to launch a successful media campaign, it is necessary to come up with ideas for both digital media buying solutions and digital media planning solutions. Many companies ignore the importance of one of them therefore not being able to benefit to the fullest. There is no point in jumping straight to media buying before even conducting proper market research and forming a media plan.
Here are some Steps for your Brand when Planning Media for your Brand:
- Find the Target Audience:
The first thing to look at before beginning is the target audience. A detailed profile should be made on the audience’s age, gender, average income, demographics, etc.
- Identify Consumer Behavior:
Look at the audience as to what type of platforms are they working with, what kinds of the ad will work best on these platforms, and what are your competitors doing on this platform? This will help you in setting your objectives more clearly.
- Set clear Objectives:
Without the above two steps, the objectives are bound to fail. It is very important to define clear objectives and work towards them. This will also help you monitor the success of the campaign.
- Competitors Analysis
Comparing different kinds of ads, target audiences, their behavior will give you a clear picture as to what kinds of ads do you want to run. The form of ads, images, text or video should also be taken into account by keeping your audience in mind.
- Keep a Record
Once the ad is up and running, a proper check should be kept on it to see if the desired amounts of clicks are taking place. Most importantly it should be improvised according to the budget in mind.
- Final Findings
Keep a record of the clicks, impressions, clicks through rate and conversion rates, etc. This record can be used in the future to compare the previous results.
Different Channels of Digital Media Buy:
- Social Media:
This includes Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter, etc. Social media forms the core strategy for the marketing that will help to grow business like others.
- Display Ads:
They are used for brand awareness and they can be in text, graphical banners or video ads. The ads are placed for the audience visiting the website.
- Search Engine Marketing:
These ads aim to increase the brand’s exposure through paid results. They are usually placed on the top of search engine results.
- Mobile Advertisement:
This includes mobile app ads, video ads, etc for the applications which are for the required target audience.
- Video advertising:
These kinds of ads are used for Youtube. They are played before, after or during the video.
After reading this many people will agree to the fact that digital media buying solution is a vital part of a media plan. Both digital media planning and digital media buying are equally important.
