Mediaplanning

Media planning is the process of identifying and selecting the most effective mix of media channels to achieve a brand's advertising objectives within a defined budget. It combines research, strategy, and scheduling to reach a target audience with appropriate frequency and efficiency.

Typically conducted by media planners within advertising agencies, client marketing teams, or media consultancies, the role involves translating a marketing brief into a media plan, determining which channels to use, how often to advertise, and how large a portion of the budget to allocate to each channel. Media planners coordinate with media buyers, account teams, and creative departments. The plan may distinguish between planning and buying activities; planning focuses on strategy and allocation, while buying executes placements and negotiations.

Core steps include defining objectives and audience, analyzing past performance and market data, selecting the media mix, setting reach and frequency goals, assigning budgets to channels, and devising a flighting or continuous schedule. The plan is then implemented, monitored, and adjusted based on performance data.

Key components include audience insight, channel selection, budget allocation, scheduling (continuous vs flighting), and performance metrics such as reach, frequency, GRPs, CPM, CPC, and ROAS. Planners rely on data from audience research, ratings services, and digital analytics, and may use media attribution models to assess effectiveness across channels.

Media plans can be integrated across traditional and digital channels, with emphasis on cross-channel consistency and brand safety. In digital campaigns, programmatic buying and real-time bidding may influence planning decisions, while measurement covers impression delivery, engagement, and conversion outcomes.

Outcome: maximize reach and impact within budget, while maintaining efficiency and alignment with brand goals. Success is judged by KPIs such as reach, frequency, gross rating points, clicks, conversions, cost per action, and overall return on investment.