Why Creating a Media Plan Matters

In today’s digital marketing world there are a lot of moving parts, from creative content to managing a paid advertising campaign, making it tough to keep track of a cohesive strategy. Alas, have no fear, there is a solution… media planning!

First and foremost, what is media planning? Media planning is a process in which you plan your marketing efforts. It’s a process in which marketers serve the right message, at the right time, on the right channel (1). In other words, it is a detailed roadmap of strategy and resource allocation for marketers to deploy against. PIN, for example, has a detailed spreadsheet that includes everything from contracted services to budget to an extensive Gantt chart. 

How to Create a Media Plan

A well-rounded media plan will include advertising opportunities that target a desired audience and adhere to the organization’s marketing budget. When creating a media plan, marketers will often factor in the following considerations:

• Who does the ad need to reach?
• What is the marketing budget?
• Establishing objectives 
• Conducting market research
• Conversion goals
• Frequency of the message
• Reach of the message
• How to define success

So, why does having a media plan matter? It matters because creating a plan is only as valuable as its ability to be put into motion (2). There are always fires to put out, pain points that need to be addressed, and overzealous multitasking collisions. Having a media plan that includes strategy, time of execution, and which team will be in charge, helps prevent a business from squandering the chance to use an optimal media opportunity.