Media Buying Course

Lesson 1 • Media Channels and Formats

Surveys digital and traditional media channels and their ad formats. Connects channel characteristics to advertiser goals and audience reach.

Lesson 2 • The Campaign Lifecycle

Outlines the end-to-end process from brief to post-campaign analysis. Gives students a structural framework they will populate with skills in later chapters.

Lesson 3 • Core Metrics and KPIs

Introduces the measurement language of media buying, including impressions, clicks, and conversions. Provides the analytical baseline for evaluating campaign performance.

Lesson 1 • Privacy and Data Compliance

Covers consent frameworks, cookie deprecation, and privacy-safe targeting alternatives. Prepares students to buy media responsibly within evolving regulatory environments.

Lesson 2 • Building Audience Personas

Guides students through creating data-backed buyer personas for media planning. Connects persona attributes directly to channel and format selection.

Lesson 3 • Audience Segmentation Strategies

Teaches demographic, psychographic, behavioural, and contextual segmentation approaches. Enables students to build precise audience definitions aligned with campaign goals.

Lesson 1 • Channel Mix and Reach Planning

Teaches how to select and weight channels to maximise reach against a target audience. Introduces reach-and-frequency modelling as a planning tool.

Lesson 2 • Writing the Media Plan Document

Guides students through structuring and presenting a professional media plan. Covers the components, formatting standards, and stakeholder communication expectations.

Lesson 3 • Competitive and Market Analysis

Introduces tools and methods for assessing competitor media activity and market share of voice. Informs strategic positioning within the media plan.

Lesson 4 • Budget Allocation and Flighting

Covers methods for distributing budget across channels, time periods, and audience segments. Students learn to balance efficiency with strategic weighting.

Lesson 1 • Brand Safety and Inventory Quality

Addresses the risks of automated buying and the tools used to protect brand reputation. Students learn to configure safety controls and evaluate inventory quality.

Lesson 2 • How Programmatic Buying Works

Explains the real-time bidding process, auction mechanics, and the technology stack involved. Demystifies automation so students can make informed buying decisions.

Lesson 3 • Demand-Side Platform Operations

Provides hands-on orientation to DSP interfaces, campaign setup, and inventory targeting. Builds the operational fluency needed for day-to-day programmatic management.

Lesson 1 • Paid Social Campaign Setup

Guides students through campaign objectives, audience targeting, and ad formats on social platforms. Connects social-specific targeting capabilities to broader audience strategy.

Lesson 2 • Search Bidding and Budget Management

Covers manual and automated bidding strategies for search campaigns. Students learn to balance cost efficiency with impression share and conversion volume.

Lesson 3 • Cross-Platform Search and Social Integration

Explores how search and social campaigns complement each other in a full-funnel strategy. Students design integrated plans that leverage both channels simultaneously.

Lesson 4 • Paid Search Campaign Structure

Teaches account, campaign, ad group, and keyword hierarchy for search advertising. Establishes the structural logic that drives relevance and quality scores.

Lesson 1 • Tag Management and Tracking Setup

Covers conversion tracking, pixel implementation, and tag management system usage. Ensures accurate data collection that supports optimisation and reporting.

Lesson 2 • Creative Specifications and Compliance

Details technical requirements for display, video, and rich media ad formats. Prevents launch delays caused by non-compliant creative assets.

Lesson 3 • Campaign Launch and Live Monitoring

Guides students through pre-launch checks, go-live procedures, and early performance monitoring. Builds the discipline to catch delivery issues before they impact results.

Lesson 1 • Reading and Interpreting Campaign Data

Teaches students to extract meaningful insights from raw campaign reports. Builds the analytical habit of connecting data patterns to actionable decisions.

Lesson 2 • Reporting and Stakeholder Communication

Guides students in building clear, insight-driven performance reports for clients and internal teams. Connects analytical findings to strategic recommendations.

Lesson 3 • A/B and Multivariate Testing

Introduces structured testing methodologies for creatives, audiences, and bidding strategies. Ensures optimisation decisions are statistically valid rather than anecdotal.

Lesson 4 • Attribution Models and Conversion Paths

Explains how different attribution models assign credit across touchpoints. Students select appropriate models based on campaign goals and channel mix.

Lesson 1 • Building a Media Buying Playbook

Guides students in documenting repeatable processes, templates, and decision frameworks. Produces a personal reference tool that accelerates future campaign execution.

Lesson 2 • Media Mix Modelling and Incrementality

Introduces econometric and experimental methods for measuring true media contribution. Enables students to justify budget decisions with rigorous measurement evidence.

Lesson 3 • Client and Vendor Relationship Management

Covers negotiation, partnership management, and strategic communication with clients and media vendors. Builds the professional skills needed to lead accounts effectively.

Lesson 4 • Large-Scale Budget Management

Covers pacing, forecasting, and reallocation strategies for high-volume media budgets. Prepares students to manage financial accountability across complex campaigns.