Sep 24, 2019
blog
The Key to Creating a Success-Driven Media Plan
Planning is integral - whether it’s a vacation to St. Barths or the launch of a new product.
In our world, creating a roadmap either makes or breaks a campaign. Planning ahead allows us to spotlight the perfect combination of advertising methods, successful initiatives from the previous year, short-and long-term expectations and, a client favorite, budget optimization. In fact, it goes beyond marketing jibjab. It keeps teams working towards a bigger picture.
How do we achieve this, you ask?
We put all of these ideas together in a magical document we call... THE MEDIA PLAN.
Why media plans are important
Gone are the days of taking a shot in the dark. Because of all of the noise, channel and advertising opportunities in today’s digital world, it’s imperative to understand which mix will work best for your business, industry and goals.
An annual media plan tracks objectives for the year while simultaneously maximizing your marketing opportunities and budgets.
Furthermore, such a plan can help you identify which platforms to prioritize first and the ideal mix that creates integrated consumer touch points to drive leads and sales.
Your media plan will include your preferred advertising methods, your budget and your business goals. Think of it as a campaign snapshot you can access throughout the year, all in one place.
Starting with market research
As you begin to plan your advertising campaign, you should start by conducting market research to gain insight into the market as a whole. It also allows you to learn about industry trends, assess your competition, identify your target audience and find out how and where these audiences engage with ad content.
Market research is one of the most important steps of creating a media plan because without getting a feel for the market, industry trends, competition and target audience, you won't have access to the information you need to create a media plan that leads to a successful campaign.
Creating an impactful annual media plan
After doing key market research, you should take several important steps to create an annual media plan that will produce optimal results:
- Determine your goals for the year.Establish your goals for the year; for example, goals may vary by department, verticals, or campaigns. Once clear goals are established, you can begin your media research to find the best opportunities to reach those goals.
- Choose your media mix.Develop the essential components of your annual media plan. Start by creating a list of marketing components or categories (i.e., branding, events, social media, public relations, etc.) that are important to your business and your target audiences. These may vary depending on your business, industry and marketing budget.
- Define your marketing strategy and tactics. Determine the strategies and tactics you'll use for each vertical. For example, under advertising, your strategy might be to drive traffic to your website through online advertising like Google Ads.
- Allocate a budget to each tactic.Include a space in your annual media plan for your allocated budget. You can use this area to track your allocated funds and actual expenditures throughout the year, making adjustments as necessary.
Your campaigns can be more seamless with a written plan that you follow throughout the year. This gives you insight into what has been working for your business. Based on your annual media plan, you can make changes to your marketing strategy that optimize your results.
You don’t have to create magic alone! We’re here to help you achieve the growth you've been dreaming of. Contact us for more information.