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The differences between media buyers and buyers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a media buyer, becoming a buyer takes usually requires More than 10 years. Additionally, a media buyer has an average salary of $74,390, which is higher than the $54,049 average annual salary of a buyer.
The top three skills for a media buyer include digital marketing, campaign performance and media buying. The most important skills for a buyer are purchase orders, customer service, and logistics.
| Media Buyer | Buyer | |
| Yearly salary | $74,390 | $54,049 |
| Hourly rate | $35.76 | $25.99 |
| Growth rate | 8% | - |
| Number of jobs | 20,884 | 23,589 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 87% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 48 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | - |
Media Buyers are marketing professionals who manage the company's advertisements. They create the company's media plan to determine the advertising needs of the company. They negotiate with external providers to get the best advertisement placement values. To do this, Media Buyers are expected to conduct thorough research on the different advertising companies, networks, media, size of placement, and length of advertisement. Their research must consider the target market and determine the best media to reach their target market. Media Buyers should have good negotiation skills and must be able to maintain good working relationships with providers.
A buyer's duties include product sourcing and comparing resources for the best product range that would suit the specific needs of the business. Buyers must have excellent communication and negotiation skills to evaluate items that most likely benefit the customer and improve the sales of daily operations with cost-efficient products. They also conduct extensive research for market and price trends while considering the highest quality standards. Buyers should also possess strong analytical skills to create purchase orders and statistical analysis.
Media buyers and buyers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Media Buyer | Buyer | |
| Average salary | $74,390 | $54,049 |
| Salary range | Between $56,000 And $98,000 | Between $37,000 And $76,000 |
| Highest paying City | Burlington, VT | Englewood, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Vermont | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Bloomberg | NVIDIA |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a media buyer and a buyer in terms of educational background:
| Media Buyer | Buyer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 87% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Communication | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | California State University - Bakersfield |
Here are the differences between media buyers' and buyers' demographics:
| Media Buyer | Buyer | |
| Average age | 48 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 30.1% Female, 69.9% | Male, 43.9% Female, 56.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 7.7% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.1% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% Asian, 6.7% White, 75.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 15% |