How to Become an Advertising Broker
- 1). Determine your niche. Decide what types of media placements you want to secure for your clients. If you're not familiar with buying television advertisements, you may consider narrowing your services to print and online mediums. Narrow your focus even further to include specific target markets and industries.
- 2). Introduce yourself to key media sales persons who sell advertising placements that fall within you niche. Connect with popular local and national bloggers, sales agents for newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations. Send them a formal letter to introduce yourself and your advertising broker business.
- 3). Meet with media sales persons and get information about the types of advertising opportunities their respective companies offer. Ask about bulk rate advertising pricing and procedures for purchasing ad space. Based on the bulk rates, determine how many placements you can afford to purchase. Consider how much you can charge your clients, so that you still see a viable profit. Entrepreneur Magazine estimates that on average, independent advertising brokers can save clients 25 percent in advertising expenses and still make a profit.
- 4). Develop a way to measure the effectiveness of the media placements you purchase and sell to your clients. This information can help you advise clients on future placements. Measurable results show clients if the money they spent helped them reach and attract new clients or accomplish the advertising objectives they put in place.
- 5). Develop a list of services you plan to provide to your clients. As a media buyer, you can do more than just purchase space in bulk and provide it at a discount; you can also consult with businesses and suggest the best medium to advertise and the best media to use.
- 6). Create a website and marketing collateral to promote your advertising broker business services. Marketing collateral such as business cards, brochures and sales sheets are instrumental in informing potential clients about your services. The website and brochure should include a list of services you provide, your experience with media buying, as well as a short list of clients who you've helped secure effective placements that are measurable.
- 7). Send sales letters to businesses that represent the niche you want to target. Let them know that you'd like to save them money and help them target potential clients effectively by assisting with their media buying activities. Add a call-to-action that asks them to call you for more information or to schedule a consultation. Follow up at least a week after the letters are sent to schedule in-person meetings to learn more about each business.