Media Buying at Centerfield

Step onto the plate and learn about what it is like to bat for the Media Buying team at Centerfield.

We believe we have some of the best media buyers in the world, so we sat down with our Director of Media Buying, Andy Laws, for his insights on the job.

Q: How long have you been with Centerfield?

I have been a Centerfielder for 6 years. I joined the media buying team in 2013 when there were only two other people on the team.

Q: What made you decide to go into media buying?

I’ve always been fascinated by online marketing. In high school, I created several websites and message boards and discovered that I could monetize traffic to my site via Google Adsense. In college, I launched a small content writing service and found customers by running Google Ads. After graduating from college, I was specifically looking for SEO or Media Buying roles. After meeting with the team at Centerfield, I was confident it would be a perfect place for me to further develop my skills.

Q: What do you find interesting/challenging/fun about your job?

“As a large online advertiser, [Centerfield] routinely gets access to exclusive beta trials with Google, Bing, and Facebook.”

INTERESTING: As a large online advertiser, we routinely get access to exclusive beta trials with Google, Bing, and Facebook. These platforms often develop new products or features and then trial them with their largest advertisers. Participating in new betas gives us good perspective on changes that are coming to the platforms and also gives us an early lead on testing new products.

CHALLENGING: Many of our campaigns are live 24/7, which means that we are spending money around the clock. Sometimes there are events beyond our control that drive changes in the auction at irregular hours. For instance, sometimes there can be a service outage for a client that we are advertising for which can drive an increase in search volume— and we may need to react. At first, this “always available” to react mentality was challenging but eventually it just became a normal part of the job.

“Centerfield is like an incubator for learning the absolute best practices of marketing online. We are constantly finding new optimization wins and sharing them with the group to drive even more success.” – Andy Laws, Director of Media Buying

FUN: It’s energizing and fun to come to work every day at Centerfield because your co-workers will be really bright and passionate about online advertising. Centerfield is like an incubator for learning the absolute best practices of marketing online. We are constantly finding new optimization wins and sharing them with the group to drive even more success.

Q: What is something that media buyers here do that is different from other companies?

Direct Contributions, Accountability, & Transparency

Centerfield’s media buying team acts as day traders. Each media buyer is responsible and accountable for driving results in their account. Each day, each media buyer distributes an internal gross profit report which details how their account performed yesterday, optimization ideas, results of current tests, and strategy. Our team is very transparent and I believe this helps drive our success.

Q: What does it take, in your opinion, to be a great media buyer?

Be Hungry. Be Willing to Learn. Be Able to Prioritize.

To be a great media buyer, you need to come to work hungry to move the needle forward in your account. A great media buyer will always be on the lookout for ways they can improve performance and be willing to share their ideas, successes, and strategies with others on the team. A great media buyer will come in with the attitude that they don’t know it all and that there is always more to learn. Great media buyers need to be able to quickly discern and prioritize which initiatives will move the needle the most in their accounts.

For any aspiring media buyers, Andy has three pieces of advice:

1. Read as much as you can online about online advertising.

While there is a lot of bad advice out there, this will help you improve your understanding of terminology in the industry. I’ve found that Reddit can be an especially good source for information and tips regarding Google Ads and other platforms.

2. Swing the Bat – Go Ahead & Create A Site or Blog Now

Create a blog or site (can be done free) and test marketing traffic to it. Google routinely has coupon codes available for new advertisers ($100 in free credit for instance). This will give you first-hand involvement in creating and setting up campaigns. Monitor the KPIs, determine which is most important for your blog, etc.

3. Be Skeptical

Many people profess to know a great deal about how to market with Google Ads. Be skeptical. If you have a few friends in the industry, get their individual opinions on how best to optimize and structure campaigns.