Media planning Process (Mass Media BAMMC/BMM)

Module-III

Media planning Process

1. Situation analysis and Marketing strategy plan
2. Media Briefing
3. Media objectives and target audience analysis
4. Media selection and strategy
5. Media budgeting
6. Media Buying
7. Evaluation

I. Situation analysis and Marketing strategy plan

A. Analyzing the Situation

Situation analysis is the first step in media planning. It gives you an accurate picture of where your business or brand stands right now. This study looks at both internal and external factors to help you figure out your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT).

Some important parts of situation analysis are:

1. Product Situation: Take a look at your present services or goods and see how well they meet customer needs.
2. Situation of the Competition: Look at your main rivals’ strengths, flaws, and where they stand in the market.
3. Distribution: Think about how your goods and services get to customers, including the platforms and logistics you use.
4. Environmental Factors: Think about both internal and external factors, such as business culture, leadership, and economic trends and rules.
5. SWOT analysis: To help you decide what to do next, make a list of your results’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

A thorough situation analysis uses both secondary research (like industry reports and rival data) and primary research (like customer surveys and focus groups) to come up with insights that can be used to guide the rest of the media plan.

B. Marketing strategy Plan

Once you have a good idea of what is going on, the next step is to make a marketing strategy plan that will guide your media planning.

Important parts of a marketing strategy plan:

1. Define Objectives: Set clear, measurable goals, like raising knowledge of your brand, boosting sales, or gathering leads.
2. Target Audience: Figure out which groups of people you want to reach and learn more about them, such as their demographics, behaviors, and media interests.
3. Competitive Analysis: To make your plan stand out from others, use what you learned from the situation analysis.
4. Budgeting: Decide how to spend your money and make a fluid budget that fits your goals and lets you keep improving it.
5. Channel and Media Mix: Choose the best media channels (TV, digital, print, etc.) based on where your audience is most likely to be busy and receptive.
6. Timing: Plan when and how ads will run to get the most out of them, taking seasonality and consumer behavior into account.

2. Media Briefing

Media briefing is an important first step in media planning because it makes sure that everyone involved is on the same page about goals, tactics, and expectations. It makes sure that everyone involved—clients, agencies, creative teams, and media buyers—understands the campaign’s goals and needs in a clear and consistent way.

Purpose of a media briefing

1. Clears Objectives: This part of the briefing makes it clear what the campaign’s goals are, so that all choices are made with those goals in mind.
2. Aligns Teams: This makes sure that everyone, inside and outside the company, is working toward the same goals and knows what their job is.
3. Guides Strategy: Gives the background and specifics needed to come up with good media and creative strategies.
4. Reduces Miscommunication: Lowers the chance that messages will be mixed up or people will not understand each other during the campaign.

Important Parts of a Media Planning Brief

A full media planning brief usually has the following:

1. Background information: information about the company, the product, and the market.
2. Campaign objectives: clear goals that can be measured for the campaign.
3. Target Audience: A full description of the people you want to reach, including their age, gender, income, and media habits.
4. Budget: The amount of money set aside for media spots.
5. Key Dates: When the campaign starts, how long it lasts, and when important goals are reached.
6. Marketing Challenges: Any problems or roadblocks that need to be fixed.
7. Past Media Activity: Examples of efforts or media outreach that have already happened.

III. Media Goals and Analysis of Target Audience

Goals for the Media

The goals of a media plan are spelled out in the media objectives, which are also the basis for all the choices that follow in the planning process. These goals are usually related to bigger marketing goals and are all about getting the right word to the right people at the right time and place.

Some important parts of media goals are:

1. Reach: Reach is the amount or percentage of people in the target audience who saw the message at least once during a certain time frame.
2. Frequency: It tells you how often the message is likely to be seen by your target group during the campaign.
3. Circulation: The number of printed copies that are sent out into the world.
4. Cost efficiency: Cost-effectiveness is measured by things like cost per thousand views (CPM) or cost per person (CPP), which makes sure the campaign stays within its budget.
5. Penetration: The share of the campaign’s target group that was reached.
6. Continuity: The campaign’s schedule, including whether the message is sent all at once, in waves, or in flights.

Setting clear media goals helps with choosing channels, allocating budgets, and evaluating campaigns, making sure that efforts are used efficiently and effectively.

Analysis of the target audience

By doing a target audience analysis, you can find and learn more about the exact group of people that the campaign is trying to reach.

Important steps in analyzing a target audience:

1. Demographic analysis: It looks at things like age, gender, income, schooling, job, and so on.
2. Geographic analysis: place, area, city or country, etc.
3. Psychographic analysis: Lifestyle, ideals, interests, and attitudes are all part of psychographic analysis.
4. Behavioral analysis: how people use media, what they buy, how loyal they are to a company, etc.

Some ways to analyze a group are:

1. Doing market study (like polls, focus groups, and social listening)
2. Analysis of current customer info and reports on media use
3. To find out where and how rivals reach people who are like you, you can do a competitive analysis.

IV. Media selection and strategy

The choice of media and approach are very important parts of media planning because they determine how, where, and when your ads will reach the people, you want to reach for the best effect and efficiency.

How to Choose and Use Media: Key Steps

1. Making goals that are clear

• Set clear, measurable goals for the campaign, like raising brand recognition, getting more leads, or boosting sales. 

• These goals should guide all decisions about which channels to use, when to use them, and how much money to spend.

2. Figuring out who the target audience is

• Find out as much as you can about your target audience’s actions, attitudes, and media consumption habits.

• This makes sure that the media sources you choose are the ones that are most likely to reach and connect with your target audience.

3. Looking at the media choices

• Make a list of possible media outlets, including both old-fashioned (like TV, radio, and print) and new-fashioned (like social media, online ads, and email).

• Judge each choice by how well it reaches the right people, how much it costs (cost per thousand, or CPM), how well it covers different areas and groups of people, and how well it targets your audience and engages their senses.

4. Making plans for the media mix and channel strategy

• Choose the best mix of media sources (media mix) to get the most reach and frequency for the money you have.

• Connect channels so that the message stays the same on all platforms.

5. Allocating the Budget: 

• Divide the budget among the chosen channels, making sure that reach, regularity, and cost-effectiveness are all taken into account.

• To get the most out of your money, test with a smaller budget before going for the full rollout

6. Timing and Scheduling: 

• Plan when and how often ads will run based on how people act, the time of year, and the campaign’s goals.

• To have the most effect, use scheduling strategies like flighting (intense bursts), continuity (steady presence), or pulsing (combination).

Key Factors Affecting Media Choice

1. Type of Product: Trade journals may work for industrial or technical products, but mass media like TV or internet may be better for consumer goods.
2. Customer Profile: The best media channels are chosen based on the customer’s age, gender, income, schooling, and way of life.
3. Geographic Coverage: Depending on where the product is sold, local, regional, or national media outlets may be used.
4. Cost and Reach of the Media: Choose the media that give you the most publicity for your money.
5. Media Flexibility and Measurability: Choose outlets that let you make changes and offer strong analytics for ongoing optimization.

V. Media Budgeting

Media Budgeting in the Planning Process

In order to accomplish campaign objectives and optimize return on investment (ROI), media budgeting is a critical phase of the media planning process, ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently across channels. This phase entails ongoing optimization and strategic planning.

Key Steps in Media Budgeting 

1. Ensure that the budget is in accordance with the organization’s objectives

Begin by comprehending the marketing objectives of the organization and the anticipated results of the campaign. These objectives should be accommodated by the media budget, which should also be adaptable to evolving priorities.

2. Examine Historical Performance and Market Trends

Revisit previous campaign budgets and performance data to determine which strategies were successful and which were unsuccessful. In order to make well-informed budgetary decisions, it is important to consider current market conditions and competitor activity.

3. Prioritize and Identify Media Channels

Determine the most effective media channels for reaching your target audience by evaluating all prospective options, including digital, print, radio, social media, and television. Prioritize channels that have historically generated substantial returns on investment by leveraging data-driven insights.

4. Establish Measurable and Achievable Objectives

To facilitate budget allocation, establish precise, quantifiable objectives (e.g., frequency, conversions, and reach). These objectives enable the monitoring and modification of expenditures in accordance with performance.

5. Distribute Budget Among Channels

Distribute the budget in accordance with the efficacy of the channels, the objectives of the campaign, and the stages of the customer journey. Take into account the 70-20-10 rule:

• 70% to channels that have been demonstrated effective
• 20% to promising emerging channels
• 10% will be allocated to experimental initiatives.

6. Develop a contingency and flexibility plan.

Reserve a portion of the budget to capitalize on unexpected opportunities or to enhance the performance of high-performing channels. Consistently evaluate and modify allocations in accordance with real-time campaign data.

7. Maintain and Document the Budget

Utilize investment management systems or media planning spreadsheets to monitor expenditures, record allocations, and reconcile planned and actual expenditures. This guarantees accountability and transparency throughout the campaign. This keeps the campaign transparent and accountable.

VI. Media Buying

Media buying is the process of putting the media plan into action by buying ad space and time on the right platforms to reach the right people quickly and easily. It turns long-term planning into campaign execution in the real world.

Key Steps in the Media Buying Process

1. Review the Media Plan: First, look over the finalized media plan very carefully, paying special attention to the campaign goals, target group, budget, and key performance indicators (KPIs).
2. Make a list of goals: Make a list of possible media outlets, platforms, or vendors whose goals and viewers fit with your campaign’s.
3. Request for Proposals (RFPs): Send RFPs to certain media outlets to get bids and talk about terms, prices, and placement choices.
4. Look at and choose media options: Consider proposals based on their potential reach, cost, fit with your target group, and expected return on investment (ROI). Pick the mix that helps you reach your goals the most.
5. Talk about and secure placements: Talk to sellers about prices, terms, and extras like bonus spots or premium placements. Finish up deals and send out insertion orders (IOs) to confirm reservations.
6. Using Creative Assets for Profit: Deliver and format ad creatives according to the requirements of each site, making sure they are ready to go.
7. Campaign Launch and Monitoring: Start the campaign and keep a close eye on real-time performance measures like impressions, clicks, conversions, and so on. As needed, make changes to get the best results.
8. Keeping track of and reporting: Compare the actual budget to the planned budget, fix any differences, and talk about “make goods” if ads don’t give what they’re supposed to. Give detailed reports on success and ideas for planning for the future.

VII. Evaluation

The last and most important step in media planning is evaluation. Systematically measuring and studying how well the media plan worked to see if the campaign met its goals and to learn what to do differently in the future.

1. Evaluation as Part of the Planning Process: The last and most important step in media planning is evaluation. Systematically measuring and studying how well the media plan worked to see if the campaign met its goals and to learn what to do differently in the future.
2. Purpose of Evaluation: Check to See If Media Goals Were Met: Find out if media goals like reach, frequency, interest, or conversions were met.
3. Measure Strategy Effectiveness: Look at how well the strategies and media outlets you chose worked to get the results you wanted.

Inspire Future Plans: Use the results to improve future media plans, make the best use of resources, and make the effort more effective overall.