Ronda Wilson
Senior Media Buyer/Planner at Ronda Wilson
Website Address: www.linkedin.com/in/ronda-b-wilson
Each week on “Media Champions,” our host Mary Jo Van Horn speaks to experts within the vast media community. This week, Mary Jo spoke with Ronda Wilson, a freelance media buyer.
Why don’t we start out with you telling us a bit about you and what you do?
Ok. I am a 25 year veteran of media buying and planning. I’m still in Dallas, started out as a media assistant at a mid-sized firm and kind of moved my way around town ended up being a media director, supervisor, planner, traffic manager, everything is needed kind of person at a small agency. And now I’m out freelancing and doing my own thing.
Tell us, what does a media buyer do?
A media buyer takes the plan that a media planner has put together and breaks it apart and evaluates all the media outlets, negotiates prices, finds the best place to allocate spots or units or whatever the messaging is going to be, and partners with the appropriate place to deliver that message, and then they hold them accountable make sure everything is delivered, reconciling, and all the other good stuff.
What tools do media buyers use?
We use a lot of calculators. We use software platforms — BluHorn is one, you can use Strata, Media Ocean, they’re media buying platforms. Excel is a good one. And then there’s research tools like Kantar, SQWAD, Marshall Media that helps you get some qualitative and quantitative information.
What is the importance of media planning?
Media planning is really important. It makes sure that you are taking those clients’ objectives and goals and finding the right target audience for them and then determining the appropriate channels or media vehicles to use to reach them. And then they allocate the media mix as far as if there’s any day parting involved and especially the budgeting. So they give the media planner the outline or the map to execute the plan with.
How do demographics affect a media plan?
Demographics. Well if you’re talking about — I’ll use television or radio for example. Every age cell that’s used in media, like 18-24 or 25-54, they all have very different viewing and listening patterns. And so, depending on how large or small your demo is, so if you’re doing households that’s a more attainable goal versus if you narrow it down to a smaller narrow target market that costs more to reach those people than if you’re doing a blanket broad messaging.
What’s your go to strategy for handling the stress of being a media buyer and planner?
A lot of deep breaths, cursing under your breath (no, I’m just kidding.) It’s a lot of talk with your counterparts. You take walks, and you have brain farts like this cause you tend to zone out when you’re under stress. But you talk to your dog a lot.
BluHorn Media Planning and Buying Software Is an affordable, easy-to-use tool that advertising agencies, media buyers/planners, and digital media directors and strategists use to plan media, buy media, analyze media, report media, and reconcile programmatic, digital and traditional media buys. BluHorn integrates with Nielson, Comscore, BluHorn Programmatic , and QuickBooks; saving you time and money. While other tools on the market like MediaForce, GaleForce Digital, Advantage, Strata, and FreeWheel may require contracts, BluHorn remains a cost-effective solution with no contract requirements. Contact us BluHorn Media Buying software todayat BluHorn.com.