Media Purchasing Checklist

Steps a media planning and buying team runs to take a campaign from brief through buy execution, trafficking, and post-buy reconciliation. Designed for agency planners and buyers working across paid social, programmatic, search, CTV, and linear.

6 sections 30 steps
1

Brief & Campaign Objectives

  1. Intake the client media brief
  2. Define KPIs and north-star metric
  3. Confirm flight dates and in-market window
  4. Lock the working media budget
  5. Confirm regulated-category review needs
2

Audience & Channel Planning

  1. Build the audience segmentation
  2. Select the channel mix
  3. Run reach and frequency modeling
  4. Specify ad formats and creative dimensions
  5. Confirm the buy type
3

RFPs & Negotiation

  1. Issue RFPs to publishers and partners
  2. Benchmark CPMs against SMI and prior flights
  3. Negotiate value-adds and added-value units
  4. Secure makegood and cancellation terms
  5. Approve the final plan with the client
4

Trafficking & Launch

  1. Execute IOs and digital insertion orders
  2. Set up the buys in Prisma or Mediaocean
  3. Traffic creative tags through CM360
  4. Apply brand-safety and inclusion lists
  5. Pre-flight QA the live tags
5

In-Flight Optimization

  1. Confirm pacing in week one
  2. Review delivery against KPIs
  3. Flag underperforming line items
  4. Shift budget to top-performing partners
  5. Audit IVT and viewability through IAS
6

Post-Buy Reconciliation & Wrap

  1. Pull final delivery against ordered units
  2. Reconcile billed spend to actual delivery
  3. Determine if makegoods are required
  4. Negotiate makegood units with the publisher
  5. Deliver the post-buy report to the client

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Sections 6
Steps 30
Category Advertising
Price Free to start
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