Job Responsibilities
Media buyers purchase space in various media vehicles as part of
an advertising plan for clients. Your goal is to spend your
clients money as wisely as possible, so I spend probably 15 hours
a week (in a 40 hour week) researching various media vehicles,
market trends, and various advertising opportunities. I spend
about 15 hours a week on schedules and insertion orders and
making sure everything is in on time, as it should be, in the way
it should be (file formats-most ads are now being turned in
digitally, so there's always computer glitches to think about!),
and where it should be. I call my account repressentatives
("reps") for follow up and spend time proofing ads and artwork
before they're sent out. I spend about 5 hours dealing with
solicitations from new media reps(anything we haven't done
before), either in phone or in person, to determine if what they
offer is right for us. The other 5 hours is spent on filing,
special projects for my boss, coding invoices, and misc. tasks.
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Job Requirements
You don't need a bachelor's degree to be a media buyer, but it
helps. There are various "media buying academys" and programs,
either on the web or through associations, that teach media
buying, but you'll probably learn most everything on the job.
Getting my BA made me more detail-oriented, organized,
analytical, and taught me time management, which are all highly
prized skills for this position.
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Uppers
Freebies! Reps are always ready to take you to a free lunch or give you free
tickets to a game or show. At Christmas I always get cards and presents-they
never miss an opportunity to thank you for giving them your money. I get probably
50 magazines a month and I have access to all the latest info in the ad world,
which I find exciting. There's a lot of number crunching and negotaitaion in this
position and I love that. I also love that I'm always busy and always
multi-tasking-it's nearly impossible to be bored!
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Downers
Schedules and insertion orders are very administrative, so that
gets a little old after awhile. Being in-house, I have one client
and really I'm working for them. In an agency, there are multiple
clients and your interests don't lie solely with the client, so I
know there can be a decent degree of stress in this business.
There's also a alot of last minute changes and tight deadlines
for nearly every media type, so sometimes you have to play race
the clock.
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Lifestyle
Typically, it's a 40 hour a week job. Sometimes you'll work maybe 45, but the
well-run agency or in-house staff has no reason to work a media buyer more than
that. I've worked in 2 companies in this capacity and dress has always been
business, business casual. Jeans on Fridays. There are men and women doing this
job, a multitude of races as well-and the same applies for your reps. I have
traveled once for my current company and several times for my previous company,
but they're always been due to a gathering that was important to the company, not
advertising, though I'm sure agencies would do this type of thing more often.
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Compensation
I worked for a small firm first and my starting salary was
$22,000. After a year, I received a raise to $24,500. We did
receive Christmas bonuses of $100. No stock options and there is
a 401K, but no match. Medical Insurance is an HMO with high out
of pocket costs and co-payments, no dental or vision offered.
This, however, is not the norm-it was a small firm. The second
company I worked for started me at $30,000, Christmas bonuses of
$100, surprise bonuses (for no apparent reason other than thanks)
of $100 evey few months. 401K with 50% match and dental, vision,
and several medical plan options available. Also, because they're
a homebuilder, I received a percentage off homes.
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Advice to Jobseekers
Get experience. Really, that's all you need. Either in-house or
at an agency. I started as a marketing coordinator for a law firm
where I was doing a variety of things. Over time, it got more
specilaized and though I never took the title "Media Buyer" when
I saw an ad in the classifieds for one while looking for a new
job, I knew I could do it, so look for experience buying any time
of space where you can. Have and be very vocal about you
organizational, analytical, and communication skills, as well as
being detail oriented. You want them to know you won't let a
thing fall through the cracks because no one likes to spend money
on advertising and they want to know every single cent is being
used to it's fullest. Also, learn to be aggressive, but not rude.
Negotiating rates for space, especially broadcast, is a true art,
and you have to know how to get what you want while making the
rep feel like a friend. I think the job outlook for this position
is good, given that advertising only seems to dominate our
culture more year after year after year. If you can handle being
a part of it, you should have a title for life.
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