Media planning is the process of establishing the exact media vehicles to be used for marketing communication. A media plan sets out a systematic process that incorporates all elements in order to achieve a specific goal.
In the process of planning, the media planner needs to answer questions such as:
How many of the audience can be reached through the various media?
On which media should the ads be placed?
How frequent should the ads be placed?
How much money should be spent in each medium?
These 6 crucial points need to be met for the campaign to be successful:
Initial market analysis, which consists of a situation analysis and the marketing strategy plan. The purpose of a situation analysis is to understand the marketing problem, in relation to competitors.
Establishment of brand objectives, this phase will result in explicit media objectives; such as creating a positive brand image through stimulating creativity.
Media strategy development and implementation, this phase is directly influenced by the actions from previously determined objectives.
Media Mix is a combination of communication and media channels use that is utilized to meet communication objectives, such as social media platforms and magazines.
Target Market is a specific group of consumers that has been identified to aim it’s marketing and advertising campaigns towards, as they are the most likely to purchase the particular product.
Creative aspects is the nuance and quality that goes into your communication ideas as it relates to whatever platform they are going to be placed on.
After everything is said and done, it is time to see how successful your media plan was, thus, post campaign analysis should be able to answer the following questions.
Did we meet the media objectives?
How successful was our strategy?
What are the shortcomings?
How can we improve on these shortcomings?
