Optimize Your Ad Campaigns with a Freelance Media Buying Expert

In fact, studies show that paid ads can improve brand awareness by around 80%. 

However, to get the best results from your paid ads, you need a comprehensive strategy, one based on a deep understanding of how certain “media placements” will help you achieve your goals. Unless you’re an expert in media buying already, it’s easy to make mistakes.

Fortunately, a media buying freelancer can help, offering insights, guidance, and even help with configuring your paid media placements. Here’s everything you need to know about hiring a media buying consultant to support your team. 

What is a Media Buying Strategy, and Why is it Important?

The term “media buying” refers to the process of finding and purchasing ad space on a range of platforms and channels for marketing campaigns. Media buying strategies can involve both traditional placements (like radio or television ad placements) and digital placements, like ads on Google. 

Media buying is part of a comprehensive paid advertising strategy. Whether you’re trying to reach customers watching their favorite TV show or scrolling through a website, a comprehensive strategy ensures you get the best exposure for the lowest spend. 

As a form of outbound marketing, media buying is only effective when companies know not just how to create effective ads but which platforms to place them on. Companies use different media buying strategies for specific goals. 

For instance, if your aim was to raise awareness of a new product among younger consumers, you might buy a video ad placement on YouTube and ensure your ads only show when customers search for specific terms. If you wanted to attract conversions, you might place your ads on platforms like Google Shopping to connect with customers with a high level of purchasing intent.

Used correctly, a strong media buying strategy can pay significant dividends. Studies show that paid advertisements can generate a 200% ROI, and around 65% of online customers click on paid ads when searching for specific products. 

Additionally, when presented with display ads, customers are 155% more likely to search for brand-specific terms, potentially improving your company’s reach. 

What is a Media Buying Consultant?

While 65% of small to mid-sized businesses use paid ad campaigns, only a handful of brands have a comprehensive media buying strategy. Developing an optimized paid media strategy requires companies and marketers to have specific skills and expertise. 

For instance, companies need to know how to differentiate between direct media buying opportunities and programmatic media buying. They need to be able to research their target audience and understand which channels offer the most potential. Plus, they have to build comprehensive budgeting and bidding strategies to ensure they generate the best ROI.

A media buying consultant or expert is a professional who helps organizations navigate the complexities of the paid advertising landscape. They’re familiar with all of the top online and offline channels, from Google and Facebook to radio advertising platforms. 

Plus, media buying consultants can assist companies with developing more comprehensive and strategic plans for paid advertising success. They know how to configure different platforms to create campaigns that address business goals and can reduce advertising costs over time.

What Does a Media Buying Expert Do?

The responsibilities of a media buying freelancer or expert can vary depending on a range of factors. Some experts work as part of digital marketing agencies, who assist with various forms of outbound advertising, lead generation, and ecommerce growth campaigns. 

Others focus entirely on the media buying landscape, helping companies to calibrate programmatic buying software, broker deals with ad publishers and create compelling content. 

Some of the key tasks of a media buying expert can include:

1. Market Research

Extensive research is necessary before creating any paid advertising campaign. Companies need to understand what kinds of customers they’re trying to reach and the channels they usually encounter during their purchasing journey. They also need a clear view of their competitors, the trends in the paid advertising space, and the ad formats available on different channels. 

Media buying freelancers can conduct research into all of these areas, helping companies to develop a more strategic, data-driven strategy for promotional success. 

2. Media Planning

Media planning and media buying often go hand-in-hand. Before companies launch a media buying strategy, they can work with consultants to develop a comprehensive campaign plan. This plan will cover important concepts, like your specific advertising goals, KPIs, and budget. 

Media buying consultants can also assist with implementing systems for monitoring your campaign results to ensure you’re getting the most ROI from your promotional efforts.

3. Ad Placement

Based on the research they collect and their comprehensive knowledge of the industry, media buying consultants can provide business leaders with a list of channels or environments best suited to their goals. They’ll share reports and insights to help you understand which networks are beneficial to your business and can even provide guidance on creating ad content. 

Some media buying consultants can even show you how you can use your paid advertisements as part of a cross-channel promotional strategy, boosting your presence both online and offline.

4. Platform Configuration

After your company chooses the right positions for its ad placements, your consultant can work with you to optimize your placement. They can guide you through the process of creating different kinds of Facebook Ads or walk you through the bidding strategy for Google ads. 

Media buying freelancers will implement your campaign strategy with all of the right details, unifying your budget, target audience data, and creative assets. 

5. Reporting and Optimization

When implementing your paid advertising strategies, media buying consultants will ensure analytical and reporting tools are in place to help you capture and learn from crucial metrics. They’ll gather consistent data on how your ads are performing and make suggestions on how you can reduce advertising spend or increase ROI. 

Many freelancers can proactively monitor and adjust media buying campaigns on your behalf, making changes based on the data they collect. 

The Benefits of Working with a Media Buying Consultant

Though organic advertising and inbound marketing methods are growing in popularity, there’s still a significant demand for media buying expertise. The global media buying services market is expected to reach a value of $125.9 billion by the end of 2032 alone.

The reason for this is that media buying consultants and experts can enhance your marketing strategies. They can save you money on ad campaigns while ensuring every advertising effort is optimized to deliver the right results.

When you work with a media buying freelancer, you benefit from the following:

1. A Strategic Approach to Paid Advertising

Today’s companies, large and small, can’t afford to waste money on a paid advertising strategy that doesn’t deliver results. To ensure your campaigns drive brand awareness, increase engagement, or give you access to more leads and opportunities, you need a comprehensive strategy. 

A media-buying freelancer can use their deep industry knowledge and expertise to help you craft the perfect plan for success. They’ll guide you through everything from choosing the right platforms for ads to selecting the best campaign structure. They can even help to align your marketing teams and employees to ensure you’re sending a consistent message to your audience.

2. Improved ROI 

According to Gartner, companies spend around 12% of their annual revenue on marketing. Media buying consultants can ensure every penny you spend is worthwhile. They can use insights and analytics to help you determine which ad placements you should remove from your strategy and which you should double down on to increase results. 

This not only boosts your chances of a higher ROI from your campaigns, but it also means you can potentially reduce your advertising budget over time. Freelancers can even help optimize your bidding strategy to ensure you’re not accidentally spending too much on certain placements.

3. Access to Expertise

One of the biggest benefits of working with a media buying consultant is the ability to access incredible expertise and industry knowledge. Media buying can be a complicated process, with many different channels and strategies to choose from. 

A media buying consultant will use their comprehensive knowledge of your industry, target audience, and the paid advertising environment to help you make more strategic decisions. These experts constantly stay up to date on the latest algorithm changes and trends, so you don’t have to.

4. Meaningful Insights and Analytics

Media buying consultants help businesses take a data-driven approach to advertising by creating reports and sharing valuable statistics. They’ll use state-of-the-art performance monitoring tools and third-party services to give you a comprehensive view of the results of every campaign. 

These experts can help translate raw data into actionable insights you can use to improve the effectiveness of your digital marketing efforts. Plus, the data these professionals collect can also help you to better understand your audience and their buying behaviors.

5. Time Savings

Investing in the support of a media buying consultant doesn’t just save you money. It can also save your company crucial time. Building a comprehensive media buying plan, implementing bidding strategies, and configuring platforms all take a lot of time.

Working with a consultant or freelancer means you can delegate these complex tasks to an expert while you and your team members focus on other things, like developing new products or delivering exceptional customer service. 

Why Choose a Media Buying Freelancer? 

Today’s digital marketing experts come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. If you need help with your media buying strategy, there are a few options you can explore. Some larger companies may invest in hiring an in-house employee to work with them on a consistent basis. 

Other businesses choose to work with agencies that can offer a wide range of different marketing services in a bundle. Unfortunately, both of these methods can be complex and expensive for smaller companies. Working with a media buying freelancer gives you more freedom and flexibility while potentially reducing your operational expenses. 

Choosing to work with a freelancer means you benefit from:

• Cost efficiency: Working with a freelancer in any aspect of marketing is often less expensive than hiring an agency or in-house team. You can agree on your project budget before you begin, and if there are no contracts involved, you can stop your campaign at any time.
• Expertise: Freelancer platforms make it easy to find professionals who have the specific media buying expertise you need. You can choose to work with experts with years of experience in your industry or professionals with a deep knowledge of certain platforms. 
• Flexibility: Media buying freelancers offer a flexible service tailored to your specific needs. You can outline your project scope and timelines in advance, and rest assured your expert will keep you in the loop every step of the way. 
• Scalability: Companies that hire marketing experts on a freelance basis can scale their strategy up and down whenever they like. They can cancel contracts when they need to reduce their marketing budget or add more professionals to their outsourced team.
• Measurable results: Media buying freelancers build their entire careers around customer satisfaction. They know they need to deliver measurable results to protect their professional brands. This often means they’re committed to providing quality, perhaps even more so than employees who are guaranteed a monthly salary. 

Hiring a Media Buying Consultant: The Key Steps

The good news is that the freelance economy is making it easier than ever for companies to find the media-buying expertise they need. The bad news is that not every freelancer platform is populated by the same high-quality promotional experts. 

When you decide to hire a media-buying freelancer, there are a few key steps you should take to make sure you get the best solution for your needs. 

Step 1: Know your Objectives

Before you start looking for a media buying consultant, it’s important to have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish with your paid advertising strategy. Do you want to increase awareness and brand recognition or collect more leads? What kind of KPIs and metrics will you be monitoring?

A clear set of goals and a deep knowledge of your campaign strategy will ensure you can choose a media-buying expert with the right skills and experience for your business. 

Step 2: Outline Specific Needs

As well as considering your goals, it’s worth thinking about the key parts of the media buying process you might need the most assistance with. Are you looking to combine online and offline advertising, or do you want to focus specifically on digital marketing?

Do you need help configuring your media platforms to boost your chances of success? Do you want the support of someone who can help you to create content for your paid ads? Different media buying freelancers will offer different services, so define what you need in advance.

Step 3: Know your Budget

Knowing your budget is crucial when choosing a media-buying expert. You need to understand not just how much you’re willing to spend on ad placements but also how much you want to pay for the services and support of your consultant. 

A platform like Growth Collective will provide you with an insight into how much you can expect to pay for different professionals with different skill levels based on your project scope. This can help you to make a more informed decision based on your available budget.

Step 4: Look for Evidence of Expertise

The best media-buying consultants will be able to demonstrate evidence of their expertise. They may be able to share case studies and reviews from previous customers or discuss their experience working with programmatic buying channels with your team. 

Notably, the best media buying consultant for your business might also have experience working with companies in your industry. Industry-focused professionals can sometimes deliver better insights into what kind of channels work best with your target audience.

Step 5: Set Expectations

Finally, before you start working with your media-buying freelancer, it’s important to set clear expectations. Let them know what kind of metrics and KPIs they’ll be monitoring and how often you’ll expect them to communicate with you and your team. 

A reliable freelance platform, such as Growth Collective, will help you to ensure you’re getting the best results from your relationship with your freelancer. If your expectations aren’t met, these platforms will also give you the freedom to switch to a new professional. 

A reliable freelance platform like Growth Collective will ensure you can always connect with your freelancer or a member of staff if you have any issues with your new hire. They’ll also give you the freedom to switch to a different freelancer if you’re unhappy with anything. 

Should You Hire a Media Buying Freelancer?

Media buying is still an important part of any comprehensive marketing strategy in today’s world. However, knowing how to purchase and use placements effectively is often more difficult than it seems. Countless companies struggle to get the best ROI from their media buying efforts.

Working with a media buying freelancer will ensure you can access the guidance and support you need to optimize your campaigns. With an expert from Growth Collective, you can reduce your advertising spend and improve your marketing results at the same time.

Contact Growth Collective today and discover the benefits of working with a media buying consultant hand-picked for your business.