Industry terms can be confusing at first to non-marketing specialists. Understanding the terminology that will be used during the creation, implementation, and evaluation of your media planning and buying services will help you ensure your media plan is running the way it should be.

• Inventory: This is a term that is often used interchangeably with ad placement. It can also describe the amount of ad space that a publisher has available for sale.
• Request for Proposal (RFP): This is a document that is submitted by our team at Focused Image during the bidding process, expressing interest in purchasing particular ad inventories.
• Cost per Thousand (CPM): Cost per thousand is the cost of an ad per 1,000 people who see it. For example, if ad space is selling at $5 CPM then you will be paying $5 for every 1,000 people that see your ad.
• Guaranteed Inventory: This is a strategy that allows media planners and buyers to secure ad placement in bulk at a fixed CPM. In some situations, this makes sense: for example, if a business wants to know that a set number of people will see their ad then this could be the best way to go.
• Non-Guaranteed Inventory: This is sometimes also referred to as real-time bidding and is sort of like an auction where advertisers will bid against one another to secure better ad placement. During this process, people that have guaranteed inventory have priority over the advertisers that are placing bids. This method is typically good for advertisers that have smaller budgets or can monitor ad placement for performance in real time.
• Media Mix: Media mix refers to all of the media channels used to achieve specific marketing objectives. For example, if you use social media, radio ads, and TV commercials to promote your marketing campaign, that is your media mix.
• Targeting: Targeting is the identification of the audience that should be on the receiving end of a marketing message. This is determined during the internal and external research portion of media planning.
• Target Market or Target Audience: These terms refer to the audience that has been chosen. It can either be specific or broad depending on what you are advertising.
• Scheduling: Scheduling refers to the specifications that a media planner and media buyer put around a marketing campaign. It indicates what time and day certain ads will be served throughout various media forms. Correct scheduling is vital when it comes to media planning and buying.
• Real-Time Bidding (RTB): This form of bidding allows for vendors to sell ad impressions – also known as views – through an ad exchange platform. On this platform, each impression is sold as it becomes available in real time. Advertisers are able to adjust their bids based on the marketing conditions that become available.
• Automatic Bidding or Programmatic Marketing: With this type of bidding, the process of digitally buying and selling ad space is completely automated. It is based on algorithms in which digital platforms replace standard negotiations.
• Manual Bidding: This process is the act of manually changing the bid on a certain set of ads based on keyword performance, cost, engagement, and a few other factors.

We believe that communication is key with each and every client, which is why we involve you in each and every step of your media planning and buying process. We take the reins while working to keep you informed on ad space that is purchased, the CPM, and all other factors involved.