How To Become A Media Planner And Buyer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a media planner and buyer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

As a media planner and buyer, you're responsible for putting on a great show. While you won't be the entertainment yourself, your job is centered around finding talent that will get your company's message to your target audience.

You'll be in charge of developing an advertising strategy with the marketing department and using various media channels to get your point across. However, while communication and negotiation are important skills to have, research and analysis will be two of your most important areas of expertise. The media planner and buyer position uses audience data, focus group testing, and client feedback to develop their content strategy. You'll also be responsible for finding the best rates and schedules as well as obtaining the proper licensing agreements for the media you use.

While some companies will focus on a bachelor's degree in a business or marketing field, your experience and capability in similar roles will be their primary concern. Many organizations will expect an applicant to have several years in media or marketing, and even a background in media law is a significant advantage. While this position is typically 40 hours a week, deadlines can stretch your workday past eight hours. On average, a media planner and buyer makes about $24 per hour with the chance for bonuses, traveling, and networking opportunities.

ScoreMedia Planner And BuyerUS Average

Salary

4.9

Avg. Salary $63,155

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.9

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.78%

Asian 7.49%

Black or African American 9.11%

Hispanic or Latino 12.48%

Unknown 4.41%

White 65.74%

Gender

female 70.54%

male 29.46%

Age - 49

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 49

Stress level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.9

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.1

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a media planner and buyer

Explore media planner and buyer education requirements

Most common media planner and buyer degrees

Bachelor's

89.4 %

Master's

6.0 %

Associate

3.7 %

Start to develop specific media planner and buyer skills

Skills	Percentages
Campaign Performance	13.91%
Media Planning	11.07%
Target Audience	5.16%
Out-of-Home	5.14%
Media Research	4.39%

Complete relevant media planner and buyer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New media planner and buyers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a media planner and buyer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real media planner and buyer resumes.

Research media planner and buyer duties and responsibilities

Project manage and lead phases of advertising campaigns from planning, to buying through ROI analysis.
Manage approved media budgets for assign markets and negotiating rates in accordance with desire CPP or CPM, reach and frequency.
Manage multiple million dollar budgets, budget analysis and reconciliations.
Experience in buying Online CPM, CPC and CPA DR.

Prepare your media planner and buyer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your media planner and buyer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a media planner and buyer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable media planner and buyer resume templates

Build a professional media planner and buyer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your media planner and buyer resume.