Let’s assume that you know an online media planner will be worth his weight in gold when it comes to planning and placing ads for your business. Let’s assume further that you want to see results and an ROI from your campaign.

The online media planner knows the search engines, directories, and industry-specific sites to see which sites cater to your target audience. The planner knows the keywords that match your ad campaign.

After it has been determined where you would like to purchase banner ad space, a list of the keywords (for portal sites), categories (for directories), or places on individual Web pages (other types of sites) where you would like your banner ads to appear. Many large companies purchase keywords and categories for long periods of time, and what you would like to have for your banner ad campaign might not be available.

Planners choose if a large portal site suits your needs or if a site specific to your industry is a more cost-effective choice. Portal sites have more visitors, but industry-specific sites can have lower rates for purchasing banner ad space -- and may better reach your target audience.

Most web sites have very detailed ad submission guidelines. It is the planner’s role to advise on the correct format and placement on pages and to forge relationships with ad sales reps—relationships that will help clients maximize the effectiveness of their online expenditure.

An online media planning agency will advise you on what rates and terms sites offer. Do they charge by CPM (cost per thousand impressions) or CTR (cost per click-through)? Can you get a better rate if you purchase banner ad space on search results pages (which may get you closer to your target audience)? Can you buy banner ad space in bulk? Can you get a discounted rate for a campaign that runs the ad at specific times? Can you work out a better rate for purchasing a percentage of available impressions on a page, instead of purchasing all the available impressions on a page?

When all is agreed upon the online media planner will enter into a contract on his client’s behalf offering them the best deal and the utmost protection He will also arrange for ad campaign statistics to be delivered to you will full interpretation of the effectiveness of the campaign in real time.

Online media planners are on the cutting edge of Internet advertising and they know how to most effectively find your niche audience. Put one to work for you and concentrate on running your business and handling the increased volume of new customers.