Media Planner and Buyer

USA

$48K/yr – $63K/yrIntern/New Grad2+ years expFull time

Posted 2 weeks ago

Job Summary

Own end-to-end media planning from brief to budget allocation, audience targeting, and channel choice, then present plans, support execution, and optimize performance while expanding responsibility across campaigns.

  • Develop and explain media plans connecting audience, channels, budget, and KPIs
  • Conduct research on audiences, platforms, and market context to inform decisions
  • Collaborate with Account Managers and support campaign execution and optimization

Job Description

Responsibilities

  • Build media plans for client campaigns, translating the brief into a channel strategy and budget framework, with guidance from senior planners
  • Support audience strategy by researching targeting approaches, data sources, and segmentation options based on client goals and budget
  • Recommend media mix across paid channels, learning to balance reach, frequency, cost efficiency, and client objectives
  • Create media plans, flowcharts, budgets, and decks that connect audience to channel to budget to KPI in a clear narrative
  • Handle planning math with growing independence, including budget allocation, forecasting, pacing, and reconciliation
  • Conduct research that informs planning decisions, including competitive landscape, audience data, platform capabilities, and market context, and turn it into clear recommendations
  • Partner with Account Managers in client conversations, presenting parts of the plan and building toward explaining the “why” behind channel decisions on your own
  • Support campaign execution and optimization, including insertion orders, trafficking, and reporting, so you see how your plans perform in market
  • Contribute to RFP responses as opportunities come up
  • Stay sharp on the media landscape, including new platforms, shifting audience behavior, and pricing trends, and bring what you learn into planning decisions

Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, or a related field, or equivalent experience preferred
  • Minimum two years in media planning, media buying, ad operations, or digital marketing; internship or agency coordinator experience counts
  • Comfort with budgets and spreadsheets, and a willingness to get confident with planning math: allocation, forecasting, pacing, and reconciliation
  • Exposure to digital media platforms such as search, social, or DSPs (DV360, The Trade Desk); hands-on experience is a plus, and we’ll teach the rest
  • Familiarity with media planning tools (Bionic, Strata, ComScore) or audience data providers (LiveRamp, GWI) is a plus, not a requirement
  • Experience building or contributing to a plan, deck, or recommendation, and the curiosity to explain the thinking behind it
  • Strong organizational and analytical instincts, and the ability to juggle multiple campaigns on tight timelines without losing the details
  • Clear written and verbal communication, and the ability to make complex ideas simple to explain and digest
  • Good judgment under ambiguity, and the habit of asking good questions
  • Experience in political, advocacy, higher ed, or utilities verticals is a plus

Preferred

  • hands-on experience is a plus, and we’ll teach the rest
  • Experience in political, advocacy, higher ed, or utilities verticals is a plus
  • Familiarity with media planning tools (Bionic, Strata, ComScore) or audience data providers (LiveRamp, GWI) is a plus, not a requirement
  • Exposure to digital media platforms such as search, social, or DSPs (DV360, The Trade Desk); hands-on experience is a plus, and we’ll teach the rest
  • The experience you’ll bring: internship or agency coordinator experience counts
  • Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, or a related field, or equivalent experience preferred
  • Minimum two years in media planning, media buying, ad operations, or digital marketing; internship or agency coordinator experience counts
  • Comfort with budgets and spreadsheets, and a willingness to get confident with planning math: allocation, forecasting, pacing, and reconciliation
  • Clear written and verbal communication, and the ability to make complex ideas simple to explain and digest
  • Good judgment under ambiguity, and the habit of asking good questions
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Advance Local

Advance Local Media is one of the largest media groups in the United States, which operates the leading news and information companies in more than 20 cities, reaching 52+ million people monthly with our quality, real-time journalism and community engagement. As home to some of the nation’s top local media groups, software and data platforms, and marketing agencies, Advance Local strives to make a positive and lasting impact in the communities we serve. A company grounded with rich history and driven by creative innovation, Advance Local’s mission is to strengthen and empower the communities we serve. Our media groups include Advance Ohio, Alabama Media Group, Advance Media New York, MassLive Media, MLive Media Group, NJ Advance Media, PA Media Group, and Staten Island Media Group.We believe in our brands, our values, and each other and are united by our shared goals, culture of creative innovation and commitment to our communities we’ve been serving for more than a century. We're part of Advance, a private, family-owned business that owns, operates and invests in companies spanning media, entertainment, technology, communications, education and other promising growth sectors. Their mission is to build the value of the company over the long-term by fostering growth and innovation across their diversified portfolio. Advance’s portfolio of exceptional companies includes Condé Nast, Advance Local, Stage Entertainment, The IRONMAN Group, American City Business Journals, Leaders Group, Turnitin, and POP. Advance is also among the largest shareholders in Charter Communications, Warner Bros. Discovery and Reddit.For more details, please visit AdvanceLocal.com.

Founded in 1922
New York, New York, USA
525 employees (185 in marketing)

Salaries

Posted range

$48K/yr – $63K/yr

Taken straight from the job posting.

Media Planning median pay in the United States

$91K/yr

Most pay falls between $73K and $125K. Based on 1,273 salaries.

See all Advance Local salaries
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Media Planner and Buyer

Advance Local · USA