What is Media Buying Automation?
Posted by Jessie Johnson on Wed, Jan 12, 2011 @ 08:06 AM
Media buying automation means using technology to streamline media planning and buying processes and get better visibility into advertising spend. Automation cuts costs and reduces the time it takes to plan and place advertising by eliminating redundant, manual, administrative, and cumbersome processes.
The concept of media buying automation is quickly catching on for online advertising. A Centro study found that 50% of respondents spent their time in spreadsheets and email, while media buying automation increased productivity by 31-65% (as cited in a MediaPost article that aptly compared this time/cost savings to the manufacturing supply chain as a historical example of automation and increased efficiency).
For media buying to be truly automated, it should also enable the process for placing local advertising in offline media channels as well, such as radio, TV, outdoor, and print.
Automating the planning and buying process across media channels makes it just as easy to buy traditional advertising as it is to buy online advertising.
Advertising technology delivered via the internet allows for a more simplified and streamlined media buying process for traditional advertising, rather than disparate on-premise systems, spreadsheets, and emails to manage the buy.
This kind of technology helps media buyers eliminate repetitive tasks, automate the RFP process, analyze and report on cross-channel buys, and communicate and collaborate more efficiently with media sellers. It brings transparency and efficiency and a more streamlined media buying process through an online purchasing paradigm for all media channels.
To provide this level of efficiency and insight, media buying automation tools rely on the real-time web to deliver an environment for collaboration, ease of use, and up-to-date information. Media buyers benefit from access to
- Better marketplace insight through benchmarking data and activity feeds,
- The ability to collect, analyze, and act on information quickly and easily through an automated RFP process, and
- Better visibility into budget allocation by media channel throughout the planning and buying process with reporting tools that update automatically during electronic schedule negotiation.
As a business process, media planning and buying takes up a lot of (otherwise billable) hours that could be better spent elsewhere. Streamlining the workflow, reducing administrative tasks, and providing better visibility into advertising spend through reporting and reconciliation tools increases efficiency and productivity. And in business, time saved is money earned.
Learn more about media buying automation and how it can help your business or agency save time planning and placing local advertising across online and offline media channels: