Advertising media buyer to advertising media planner
An advertising media buyer already meets 55% of what the advertising media planner role asks for. The move turns on 5 required skills not yet in the profile.
47/ 100
1 How much of what an advertising media planner is expected to do is already part of an advertising media buyer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the advertising media planner role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
An advertising media planner role treats 9 of its required skills as things an advertising media buyer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- advertising techniques
- copyright legislation
- create media plan
- create media schedule
- digital media
- media planning
What stands in the way is 5 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 21 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An advertising media planner role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an advertising media buyer background worth leading with.
- already held buy advertising space communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held create media schedule management skills
- already held monitor media industry research figures information skills
- already held create media plan management skills
- already held media planning arts and humanities
- already held meet expectations of target audience information skills
All 21 carried skills, including the 9 the advertising media planner role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 21 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn cope with challenging demands required
- still to learn work with advertising professionals required
- still to learn cooperate with colleagues required
- optional, not held approve advertising campaign optional
- optional, not held conduct public presentations optional
- optional, not held develop inclusive communication material optional
- optional, not held persuade clients with alternatives optional
- still to learn market research required
- optional, not held pay-per-click optional
- optional, not held below-the-line technique optional
- optional, not held search engine optimisation optional
- optional, not held social media management optional
- optional, not held social media marketing techniques optional
- still to learn meet deadlines required
- optional, not held develop media strategy optional
- optional, not held perform project management optional
- optional, not held analyse business model optional
- optional, not held apply statistical analysis techniques optional
- optional, not held data visualisation software optional
- optional, not held statistics optional
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries an advertising media planner role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 cope with challenging demands practise this
- 02 work with advertising professionals practise this
- 03 cooperate with colleagues practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 21 skills that carry over
- already held advertising techniques knowledge
- already held copyright legislation knowledge
- already held create media plan skill
- already held create media schedule skill
- already held digital media knowledge
- already held media planning knowledge
- already held meet expectations of target audience skill
- already held perform media outlets research skill
- already held types of media knowledge
- already held buy advertising space skill
- already held coordinate advertising campaigns skill
- already held demography knowledge
- already held draw conclusions from market research results skill
- already held evaluate advertising campaign skill
- already held identify customer's needs skill
- already held interactive media knowledge
- already held manage budgets skill
- already held manage contracts skill
- already held monitor media industry research figures skill
- already held present arguments persuasively skill
- already held study sales levels of products skill
The 1 learning area not shown above
- optional, not held creatively use digital technologies optional
16 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held pay-per-click optional
- optional, not held below-the-line technique optional
- optional, not held search engine optimisation optional
- optional, not held analyse business model optional
- optional, not held apply statistical analysis techniques optional
- optional, not held approve advertising campaign optional
- optional, not held conduct public presentations optional
- optional, not held creatively use digital technologies optional
- optional, not held data visualisation software optional
- optional, not held develop inclusive communication material optional
- optional, not held develop media strategy optional
- optional, not held perform project management optional
- optional, not held persuade clients with alternatives optional
- optional, not held social media management optional
- optional, not held social media marketing techniques optional
- optional, not held statistics optional
11 held skills the advertising media planner role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role analyse consumer buying trends skill
- not needed by the target role develop online community plan skill
- not needed by the target role develop professional network skill
- not needed by the target role document interviews skill
- not needed by the target role manage online communications skill
- not needed by the target role marketing principles knowledge
- not needed by the target role media studies knowledge
- not needed by the target role negotiate buying conditions skill
- not needed by the target role negotiate terms with suppliers skill
- not needed by the target role polling techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role use analytics for commercial purposes skill
8 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn market research required
- optional, not held pay-per-click optional
- optional, not held below-the-line technique optional
- optional, not held search engine optimisation optional
- optional, not held data visualisation software optional
- optional, not held social media management optional
- optional, not held social media marketing techniques optional
- optional, not held statistics optional
Common questions about this move
Can an advertising media buyer become an advertising media planner?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. An advertising media buyer already covers 55% of what an advertising media planner is expected to do: 21 skills carry over, 9 of which the advertising media planner role treats as required.
What skills does an advertising media buyer need to become an advertising media planner?
5 required skills are missing, plus 16 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is cope with challenging demands.
How hard is the move from advertising media buyer to advertising media planner?
Its learning distance is 47 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.