Media Planners and Buyers
Overview
Introduction
Media specialists are responsible for placing advertisements that will reach targeted customers and get the best response from the market for the least amount of money. Within the media department, media planners gather information about the sizes and types of audiences that can be reached through each of the various media and about the cost of advertising in each medium. Media buyers, sometimes called advertising sales agents, purchase space in printed publications, time on radio or television stations, a...
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
Because media planners and buyers work for a variety of organizations all across the country and abroad, earnings can vary greatly. Media planners earned salaries that ranged from less than $48,820 to $64,048 or more in December 2019, according to Salary.com. Earnings for media buyers ranged from less than $54,683 to more than $81,800.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, advertisi...
Work Environment
Although media planners and buyers often work a 40-hour week, their hours are not strictly nine to five. Service calls, presentations, and meetings with ad space reps and clients are important parts of the job that usually have a profound effect on work schedules. In addition, media planners and buyers must invest considerable time investigating and reading about trends in programming, buying, ...
Outlook
The employment outlook for media planners and buyers, like the outlook for the advertising industry itself, depends on the general health of the economy. When the economy thrives, companies produce an increasing number of goods and seek to promote them via television, radio, the Internet, newspapers, magazines, and various other media. The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that employment for a...