In today’s digital marketing landscape, success depends on meeting your audience where they are and delivering messages that resonate. That often means deciding between traditional and programmatic media buying, or increasingly, combining both to maximize impact. If you're a marketer trying to navigate these options and determine what works best for your goals, this guide will help you break it down.

What is media buying?

Media buying is purchasing advertising space on platforms like websites, mobile apps, TV, radio, and outdoor displays. The goal is to get your message in front of your target audience at the best possible time and price. There are two primary approaches: traditional and programmatic media buying.

What is traditional media buying? 

In traditional media buying, everything is manual. You work with media planners, publishers, and sales reps to negotiate rates, sign contracts, and schedule campaigns. TV, radio, print, and outdoor advertising are traditionally bought this way.

The benefits of traditional media buying

Traditional media buying relies on strong relationships, as media buyers work directly with publishers and networks to negotiate placements. Building one-to-one relationships can lead to custom deals or added-value opportunities. 

It also gives buyers more control over where and when their ads appear. This familiar and well-established approach still feels reliable and trusted for many brands, especially those in legacy industries.

The challenges in traditional media buying

Traditional media buying can be slow and labor-intensive, often requiring extensive back-and-forth communication, contracts, and manual tracking. Its targeting capabilities are also limited, typically focusing on broad demographics rather than more precise, behavior-based data. Once a campaign is live, making adjustments is difficult and time-consuming, with little opportunity for real-time optimization.

What is programmatic media buying?

Programmatic ad buying automates the entire media buying process using software. It allows advertisers to buy digital ad space across websites, apps, video, and even TV, without needing to negotiate each placement manually.

It uses data, artificial intelligence (AI), and real-time bidding (RTB) to target the right audience. Advertisers use a programmatic buying platform, often called a demand-side platform (DSP), to run and optimize campaigns.

The benefits of programmatic media buying

Programmatic advertising offers unmatched speed and scale, allowing campaigns to launch in minutes and reach millions across the web. It leverages advanced targeting, using behavioral data, demographics, and real-time context to connect with the right customers. With real-time optimization, advertisers can make data-driven adjustments mid-campaign to boost performance and ROI. 

Automated buying also reduces the need for manual tasks, increasing efficiency. Plus, with cross-channel reach, you can run ads across CTV, display, mobile, audio, native, and more, all from a single digital media buying platform.

The challenges in programmatic media buying

Programmatic advertising has a learning curve, requiring a foundational understanding of digital ad tech. Transparency can also be a concern, as some lower-quality platforms may provide limited visibility into where ads appear. Additionally, like all digital environments, there are risks of ad fraud. However, reputable programmatic platforms invest significantly in brand safety measures to protect advertisers and ensure campaigns run in trusted environments.

How programmatic and traditional media buying are converging

What’s exciting is how programmatic buying is now revolutionizing channels that were once considered offline. These formats are being brought into the digital fold, making them smarter, faster, and more measurable:

• Connected TV (CTV): Reach cord-cutters and streaming audiences with addressable ads shown alongside premium video content. Programmatic CTV enables precise targeting and performance tracking, similar to display and video ads on the open internet.
• Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH): Run dynamic, data-driven campaigns on public screens, billboards, airport kiosks, and transit signage. With programmatic DOOH, you can adjust messaging based on location, time of day, weather, or audience behavior, bringing flexibility and efficiency to outdoor advertising.
• Audio streaming: Tap into highly engaged listeners on podcasts, music streaming platforms, and radio apps. Programmatic audio advertising lets you target by genre, mood, listener behavior, or even context, making it a powerful channel for brand storytelling and conversion.

This shift highlights that programmatic is no longer just a digital tactic; it’s becoming the backbone of modern media planning and buying. As more traditionally offline channels become digitized, advertisers gain the ability to run cohesive, omnichannel campaigns with unified data, targeting, and measurement, all from a single platform.

When to use traditional media buying: 

• You're running an extensive brand campaign and want to secure premium placements.
• You need guaranteed spots during events like sports broadcasts or primetime TV.

When to use programmatic buying:

• You want to optimize for performance metrics like return on investment (ROI), lower cost per acquisition (CPA), or increase return on ad spend (ROAS).
• You need to scale quickly and efficiently across devices.
• You want to use data and AI to personalize messages.

Seven questions to ask when choosing a media buying platform

When you're choosing between the best media buying platforms, ask the following questions to make sure you're investing in the right solution for your goals and team:

1. What are your campaign goals?

Are you focused on driving awareness, increasing engagement, generating leads, or boosting conversions? Different platforms excel in different areas; some offer better scale and automation, while others provide more creative flexibility or niche audience targeting.

2. How important is ease of use?

A user-friendly interface with transparent reporting and self-serve capabilities can make a big difference if your team has limited technical expertise or resources. Look for platforms that offer intuitive campaign setup, real-time optimization, and hands-on support.

3. What kind of targeting and data do you need?

Advanced platforms give you access to first-party data, real-time behavior signals, contextual targeting, and lookalike modeling. Make sure the platform supports the level of audience precision you need, especially if you’re moving beyond basic demographic targeting.

4. Does it support omnichannel buying?

To create consistent brand experiences, you’ll want a platform that allows you to run campaigns across display, video, mobile, CTV, audio, and more, all in one place. The best media buying platforms make it easy to unify strategy and performance across channels.

5. What’s the level of transparency and reporting?

You need to know where your ads are running and how they perform. Choose a platform that offers real-time reporting, brand safety controls, and clear insights into what’s working, so you can optimize faster and spend smarter.

6. How well does it integrate with your ad tech stack?

A good media buying platform should integrate easily with your existing tools, such as analytics platforms, CRMs, and data management platforms (DMPs). Seamless integration leads to better workflow, clearer attribution, and improved results.

7. What kind of support and service is offered?

Especially for midmarket teams, responsive account support, onboarding help, and campaign management services can be key to success. Evaluate whether the platform provides the level of partnership you need to get the most out of your spend.

These questions will help you look beyond surface-level features and identify the platform that aligns best with your needs, whether you're scaling up, testing new channels, or looking for better ROI through automation and AI-driven optimization.

Quantcast is a leading programmatic advertising platform for businesses ready to grow. Our platform uses real-time audience data and AI to help you find new customers and maximize your return on ad spend.

Which media buying strategy wins?

The best media buying strategy comes down to your specific goals, audience, and available resources. If you're focused on efficiency, data-driven decisions, and real-time performance, programmatic advertising offers modern marketers the scale and intelligence to succeed. 

With platforms like Quantcast, brands of all sizes can tap into AI-powered advertising to reach the right people, in the right moment, across every channel. It’s a more innovative, faster, and more effective way to grow, delivering better results with less stress.

Start growing with AI-powered digital advertising. Quantcast’s programmatic buying platform gives you real-time insights, more intelligent targeting, and better campaign performance across every device and channel.

Try Quantcast for 30 days free, with no contract.

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