Media Planning

Media Planning
What is Media Planning?

• Media planning is the process by which marketers determine how, when, and where an
audience is given a selected advertising message.
• Media planners analyze the audiences, channels, and advertisements to determine the
most efficient way to communicate a message to the intended audience.
• Media planning consists of formulating a strategy, evaluating its effectiveness, and
adjusting, while buying is the execution of the strategy.
• In today’s competitive and busy marketing landscape, media planning is essential.
• Marketers need to serve consumers with the right message, at the right time, on the right
channel in order to see engagements.
• Media planning is where marketers determine what these “rights” are.
Definition of Media Planning
Media planning is a process that marketers use to determine the best method of
communicating a message to an audience. Media planning involves analyzing
audiences, channels, platforms, messaging, and advertisements to discover the most
effective marketing methods to promote a particular brand or product. With
thorough media planning, you can reach potential customers on the right channel
with the right message at the right time.
Who Does Media Planning?
• Media planning is most often done by media planners at advertising agencies.
• Media planners must work with media buyers and the client organization to develop a
strategy.
• Media planners are required to have a firm understanding of the organization’s brand and
target audience, various media platforms and developing media trends.
• As noted, the media planner will evaluate brand and audience to determine the correct
combination of messaging and media mix on which to advertise in order to reach
consumers in a positive, impactful way.
How Media Planning is Done?
• A media plan outlines which audience will be targeted, across which channels, at what
time, and with which message.
• An effective media plan will result in a set of advertising opportunities that target a
specific audience and fit in with the organization’s marketing budget.
Points to be considered….
• Who does the ad need to reach?
• What is the marketing budget?
• What are the conversion goals?
• How frequency should the message be shown?
• What is the reach (how many people will see it)?
• How do we define success?
Types of Media Planning
To create an effective media strategy for your brand, you must decide what types of media
(traditional or digital) will be cost-effective and bring in sales.
By weighing the cost and benefits of each platform, your company can decide what
resources and forms of media will fit best into your media plan.
There are three main types of media that are considered when building a media plan:
1. Paid Media
• Paid media refers to advertising that is the result of paid placement from the brand.
• This includes pay-per-click advertising, display ads, and branded content.
• This is the most common way for brands to get exposure and boost sales.
2. Owned Media
• Owned media is content that is owned by your brand, i.e. blog posts and social media
accounts.
• By increasing the use of the company’s owned media, you can increase your customer reach
and increase brand awareness.
3. Earned Media
• Earned media refers to the publicity the brand gets from outlets other than their own
company.
• For example, customer reviews, media coverage, and word-of-mouth are all forms of earned
media.
• This form of media is valuable because it often comes directly from consumers.
• This feedback can also help improve the quality of the product or service you are offering.
Benefits
• Staying more organized through your ad campaign
• Setting and tracking your campaign budget
• Better understanding your audience through the research conducted up front,
which makes targeting and audience segmentation more effective
• Having a firmer grasp on what peers are doing
• Having a benchmark to compare future ad campaigns
Benefits of Media Planning
1. Establish Processes
• Media buying can be a complicated and time-consuming process.
• By getting your plans and processes in place, you can improve efficiency and save
resources across the board.
2. Budget Tracking
• Marketers have to know their budgets and a good media plan accounts for all costs and
estimated ROI.
3. Audience Segmentation & Analysis
• So much of media planning is understanding your audience and what message will
resonate with them.
4. Optimization & Testing
• A good media plan uses the data at hand to determine what has worked, what isn’t
working, and what might work based on existing data.
5. Improved ROI
• It’s called a plan for a reason. Media planning allows you to create an optimized
campaign that delivers ROI.
Process of Media Planning
• Identify your advertising goals
• Conduct market research
• Refine buyer personas
• Select media channels
• Select media planning tools
• Create a media plan: Goals and KPIs, Budget, Timeline, Audience targeting,
Messaging, Scheduling, Media mix
• Implement your media plan and measure results
Types od Media Plan
Continuous Media Plan
• A continuous media plan involves a steady run of ads over a period.
• This is best for products or services that aren't seasonal and need constant
consumer reminders.
• Think: toothpaste or soap.
• The idea is to ensure frequent exposure that keeps your brand top-of-mind all
year.
Flighting Media Plan
• A flighting media plan alternates periods of advertising with periods of no
advertising.
• Consequently, this facilitates high-intensity exposure during crucial periods,
creating urgency and anticipation that leads to more revenue.
• Contrary to continuous media plans, it's perfect for seasonal products or services
with fluctuating demand.
• For example, a company selling holiday decorations might heavily advertise
before the holiday season and stop afterward.
• However, you need to know your brand‘s peak times.
Pulsing Media Plan
• A pulsing media plan combines continuous and flighting plans, maintaining a
steady baseline level of advertising with periods of increased intensity.
• It balances budget efficiency with sustained brand awareness in key markets,
• It's flexible and adaptable to changing market conditions.
Seasonal Media Plan
• A seasonal media plan focuses on specific times of the year when a product or
service is most relevant.
• This type maximizes impact by aligning with peak demand periods, creating
strong associations with specific seasons or events, and being budget-friendly by
targeting high-relevance periods.
• For example, a travel company can use seasonal media plans to promote its
vacation packages.
• It can focus advertising efforts during winter and summer, leveraging seasonal
themes and promotions to make its campaigns more appealing and relevant.
Roadblock Media Plan
• A roadblock media plan places ads on multiple media channels simultaneously to
maximize reach and impact.
• For example, when launching a new product, you can run the same ad on TV,
radio, online, and social media to quickly generate buzz.
• Think of it as synchronizing ads across various platforms — you create a strong,
unified message that captures attention and encourages immediate response.
• However, this approach requires careful planning and coordination to ensure
everything runs smoothly and effectively.
Drip Media Plan
• A drip media plan steadily releases content or ads, just like a slow, constant drip.
• This approach is perfect for educational campaigns or nurturing leads over time.
• For instance, in an email marketing campaign for a B2B software company, a drip
media plan was used.
• Valuable emails were sent over several weeks, each tailored to address specific pain
points and needs.
• This way, every touchpoint added value and brought prospects closer to a purchase
decision.
• The goal was to keep our audience engaged with regular, helpful content.
• Over time, relationships and trust would be built, which ultimately led to conversions.

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