Efficient media planning is essential for any enterprise to succeed in the present day.
Media content material — photos, movies, written content material, and podcasts — retains you top-of-mind along with your target market and helps you stand out from opponents by making certain your model stays seen and fascinating.
That is why I at all times advise shoppers to create and share recent media content material.
Nevertheless, holding observe of, planning, distributing, and analyzing all of your media content material can take effort and time. Efficient media planning helps you handle these duties effectively and preserve a powerful presence.
What’s media planning?
Media planning is the method of figuring out how, when, the place, and why your enterprise shares media content material along with your viewers. The method contains deciding what media might be shared and which channels you’ll use to spice up attain, engagements, conversions, and ROI, amongst different metrics.
Media planning has many transferring components, making it difficult to grasp.
Nevertheless, by following the fitting media planning steps and utilizing media planning templates, you possibly can simplify the method and deal with any challenges that come your method.
What’s a media plan?
A media plan particulars what sort of media you will create and the place and the way you will publish it to finest have interaction and convert your viewers. Some media plans align with bigger firm initiatives and campaigns, following together with pre-approved messaging and content material.
Varieties of Media Plans
Selecting the best sort of media plan relies on your marketing campaign objectives, price range, and the character of your services or products. However earlier than all that, it’s good to perceive the various kinds of media plans.
Steady Media Plan
A steady media plan entails a gentle run of adverts over a interval. That is finest for services or products that are not seasonal and want fixed shopper reminders. Assume: toothpaste or cleaning soap.
The thought is to make sure frequent publicity that retains your model top-of-mind all 12 months.
Flighting Media Plan
A flighting media plan alternates durations of promoting with durations of no promoting. Consequently, this facilitates high-intensity publicity throughout essential durations, creating urgency and anticipation that results in extra income.
Opposite to steady media plans, it is good for seasonal services or products with fluctuating demand. For instance, an organization promoting vacation decorations would possibly closely promote earlier than the vacation season and cease afterward.
Nevertheless, it’s good to know your model‘s peak instances. Use instruments like HubSpot’s marketing analytics software to research gross sales knowledge throughout a number of advertising channels and accordingly modify your flighting durations for optimum outcomes.
Pulsing Media Plan
A pulsing media plan combines steady and flighting plans, sustaining a gentle baseline stage of promoting with durations of elevated depth.
I like this method for 2 causes: (1) it balances price range effectivity with sustained model consciousness in key markets, and (2) it is versatile and adaptable to altering market circumstances.
Seasonal Media Plan
A seasonal media plan focuses on particular instances of the 12 months when a services or products is most related. This sort maximizes affect by aligning with peak demand durations, creating robust associations with particular seasons or occasions, and being budget-friendly by focusing on high-relevance durations.
For instance, a journey firm can use seasonal media plans to advertise its trip packages. It might focus promoting efforts throughout winter and summer season, leveraging seasonal themes and promotions to make its campaigns extra interesting and related.
Roadblock Media Plan
A roadblock media plan locations adverts on a number of media channels concurrently to maximise attain and affect. For instance, when launching a new product, you possibly can run the identical advert on TV, radio, on-line, and social media to rapidly generate buzz.
Consider it as synchronizing adverts throughout numerous platforms — you create a powerful, unified message that captures consideration and encourages quick response. Nevertheless, this method requires cautious planning and coordination to make sure every part runs easily and successfully.
Drip Media Plan
A drip media plan steadily releases content material or adverts, similar to a gradual, fixed drip. This method is ideal for instructional campaigns or nurturing leads over time.
For example, in an e mail advertising marketing campaign for a B2B software program firm, we used a drip media plan. We despatched out priceless emails over a number of weeks, every tailor-made to handle particular ache factors and wishes. This manner, each touchpoint added worth and introduced prospects nearer to a purchase order choice.
The aim was to maintain our viewers engaged with common, useful content material. Over time, we constructed relationships and belief, which in the end led to conversions.
Advantages of Media Planning
Media planning aids with components of content material creation and distribution, together with:
- Attending to know your target market on a deeper stage so you possibly can successfully attain them by your media content material.
- Deciding on which media channels and platforms you’ll share your content material.
- Figuring out the timing and frequency of the media and content material you publish and share
- Maintaining with the newest media traits and know-how.
- Sticking to your price range as you’re employed to create, publish, and share high-quality and fascinating media content material.
- Conducting analyses to measure the success of your media planning course of.
Now that we’ve mentioned the advantages of media planning, let’s assessment the steps within the media planning course of so you possibly can start creating a method for your enterprise.
Media Planning Course of
- Conduct market analysis.
- State your media planning goal.
- Create your media plan utilizing a template.
- Implement your media plan.
- Consider your success.
As you’re employed by the steps in media planning, needless to say how your enterprise applies the outcomes and conclusions derived from every step might be distinctive based mostly in your viewers and wishes.
1. Conduct market analysis.
The very first thing I do when creating a media planning course of is conduct market research. This step permits me to tailor the content material and the media plan to my target market and clients.
Begin by creating and learning your buyer personas. You should perceive who your target market and present clients are.
Then, with this data, decide what media will attain, resonate with, and convert your viewers finest. Moreover, choose the platforms and channels you will use to publish and share your content material.
Featured Useful resource: HubSpot’s Market Research Kit + Templates
2. State your media planning goal.
Subsequent, I at all times hold a transparent aim in thoughts.
This helps me navigate the method successfully and guides me in deciding which content material sorts and platforms to give attention to.
Having particular objectives permits me to confidently say “no” to choices that do not align with my marketing campaign’s aims.
Listed below are some examples of media planning aims you will have:
- Strengthen cross-team collaboration (e.g., content material, graphic design, animation, video, weblog, social media) whereas creating and sharing media.
- Improve and streamline the publication and distribution processes for all media.
- Enhance media distribution timeline to make sure our content material is shared effectively so it’s related to our target market.
- Amplify the success of our media content material by permitting for ample time to research its affect and attain our viewers.
For example, let’s say you are planning your social media content material for Fb and Instagram. Your aim could be to streamline the content material creation course of and schedule your posts forward of time.
This manner, you possibly can guarantee your content material is at all times related and fascinating, holding your model high of thoughts.
3. Create your media plan utilizing a template.
Now, it’s time to make your media plan.
I’ve discovered that it is not sufficient to easily plan after which assume everybody else is on the identical web page. You should define your technique by an in depth media plan. Once you do that, you guarantee alignment inside your staff and hold all events accountable.
Some media plans also can function standalone methods that element how manufacturers plan to leverage media — written, video, audio, and so on. — to attach with followers and clients.
Media planning templates are invaluable in staying environment friendly and efficient whereas engaged on all elements of media content material. They assist hold every part organized whereas publishing and sharing it along with your viewers.
Given the number of templates accessible for various sorts and components of the media planning course of, the templates you incorporate might be distinctive to your enterprise. Don’t be afraid to experiment with or mix completely different templates.
When one among HubSpot’s shoppers wanted to create a media plan for Fb and Instagram, our staff applied a social media calendar template for them.
One of these template helped coordinate content material throughout each channels, increase engagement, and enhance productiveness amongst staff members.
It in the end helped our shoppers obtain their aims quicker.
4. Implement your media plan.
Guarantee all events who ought to concentrate on the plan have the mandatory particulars that will help you execute accordingly.
When our staff works on media plans, we at all times share the contact particulars of the media planning coordinator in our firm in order that anybody with questions or feedback is aware of precisely who to achieve out to.
To get a greater understanding, let’s refer again to our instance of steps for a social media plan designed for Fb and Instagram.
After we applied a social media calendar template as a part of our consumer’s media plan, we made positive everybody concerned, whether or not on the artistic staff or the publication staff, had entry to it. This manner, everybody was on the identical web page and will contribute successfully.
5. Consider your success.
Whether or not your media plan revolves round particular person posts on Instagram or a month-long, company-wide marketing campaign, it is essential to measure its success.
Ask your self and your staff questions like, “How did this media plan assist us obtain our particular objectives? If it didn’t, why?” and “How did the media planning templates and instruments we used add worth to our media creation and publication processes? In the event that they didn’t, how can we transfer ahead?”
The way in which you consider your media plan’s success ought to be straight tied to the precise objectives of your enterprise relating to your media content material, the groups who create the media, and the worth you hope to derive from it (e.g., boosting conversions, engagements, income, and so on.).
For example, when reflecting on previous campaigns, our staff usually evaluates whether or not our social media content material plan and calendar template helped the consumer attain their target market and obtain their desired aims.
We additionally assess whether or not our media plan boosted engagement on the consumer’s centered social platforms, continuously looking for methods to collaborate and coordinate extra successfully.
Media Planning Technique Elements
There are a number of further issues to think about when crafting your media planning technique.
First, what’s your media planning price range?
Media Planning Finances
For those who’re aiming free of charge media, you possibly can disregard this query. But when a part of your media planning entails media buying, sit down along with your advertising management to grasp what funds it’s a must to work with.
Set this price range earlier than researching platforms and creating content material. You don‘t need to begin formulating a marketing campaign that you may’t afford down the street.
Professional tip: Embrace the prices of curating and distributing media kits in your price range for those who plan on increasing media protection later. For inspiration, try our high media kit examples cherry-picked by Ramona Sukhraj, Principal Advertising Supervisor at HubSpot.
Second, think about the important thing messaging factors you need your media to speak.
Media Planning Messaging
You do not have to pre-write all of your media content material, per se, however I like to recommend establishing the primary themes in the beginning so all media is constant and on theme.
These messaging factors ought to come out of your viewers analysis and can information your content material sorts and platforms, so nail these down first.
Third, you want the media content material for publishing.
Media Scheduling Technique
A strong media scheduling technique enables you to create content material when inspiration strikes and fine-tune your promoting technique once you’re prepared. This protects you time in the long term.
Your scheduling technique will look completely different based mostly on the form of media you’re engaged on.
For instance, timing is every part for social media posts (free or paid adverts). You should schedule your posts based mostly on when your target market is on-line, even when that point is inconvenient for you. Fortunately, there are lots of instruments, akin to HubSpot’s social media management software, that may assist with this.
Then again, consistency is essential for newsletters and weblog posts. You need your viewers to be trying ahead to your media content material, thereby boosting visitors and fostering a neighborhood round your model.
My high ideas in your media scheduling technique embrace:
- Examine your readers and prospects to know after they’re accessible on particular platforms
- Put together your content material in bulk to keep away from any inconveniences, akin to delayed deadlines, which can have an effect on your frequency
- Select the right automation instruments for every platform
- Be constant—consistency is every part!
With these factors in thoughts, let’s stroll by how one can create a media plan of your personal.
Create a Media Plan
1. Goal your purchaser personas.
As a marketer, you don’t need to promote to simply anybody. You need to entice the kind of purchaser who’s within the media you’re creating—in any other case referred to as your buyer personas.
A purchaser persona is a semi-fictional illustration of your superb buyer based mostly on market analysis and actual knowledge about your present clients.
When you understand precisely the kind of purchaser it’s good to goal along with your media plan, you possibly can entice essentially the most priceless clients to your enterprise.
When making purchaser personas, I usually heart them round these essential attributes:
- Demographics: Age, revenue, location, or id
- Background: Job, profession path, and life-style
- Identifiers: Communication preferences and social media platforms
- Targets: Major, secondary, private {and professional}
- Challenges: Their roadblocks stopping them from attaining their objectives
2. Outline your SMART objectives.
When setting objectives in your media plan, use the SMART goals framework (Particular, Measurable, Attainable, Related, Time-Sure). This can assist you to observe progress and obtain larger affect.
Furthermore, establishing these objectives earlier than beginning ensures your media plan has a transparent course for you and your staff. It additionally means you possibly can rejoice your successes after they occur.
Some examples of SMART goal-setting in media planning might seem like:
- Particular: “We need to generate a larger variety of certified leads.”
- Measurable: “We would like our media plan to achieve 2,000 followers throughout Twitter, Metaverse, and Instagram.”
- Attainable: “We beforehand reached 70% in buyer engagement on-line over the previous quarter, so we’re aiming for 75% within the subsequent.”
- Related: “We need to obtain extra optimistic buyer engagement to raised the model’s popularity and achieve extra followers.”
- Time-Sure: “We would like our media plan to achieve 2,000 followers within the subsequent three months throughout Twitter, Metaverse, and Instagram.”
When you’ve decided your objectives, begin exploring assets that may assist you to attain them.
3. Discover the media planning instruments finest suited to you.
I‘ll share some incredible media planning templates for your enterprise later on this submit, however first, let’s discuss software program instruments that may do a few of the heavy lifting for you.
To start out, HubSpot Marketing Hub is ideal for drafting, planning, scheduling, and amassing conversion analytics. However for those who’re in search of extra choices, try our checklist of 15 essential media planning tools so that you can use.
4. Analyze historic knowledge.
You need to know the place you started earlier than you can begin transferring ahead. I at all times look again at my earlier media planning methods to research their affect and attain.
For instance, in case your model is already on Fb, I’d check the business page insights to see how far we acquired with the outdated posting schedule and content material. I’d additionally have a look at the posts that acquired essentially the most engagement, the time durations with the very best visitors, and the content material that helped flip prospects into clients.
By noting the efficient parts of your earlier technique, you possibly can let that drive a few of your brainstorming in your new media plan. Consider it as constructing on previous successes.
5. Select your media combine.
In terms of selecting your media combine, it is essential to remain knowledgeable about the most well-liked advertising channels, in addition to those most popular by your purchaser personas.
In response to HubSpot’s State of Marketing Report, over 1,400 international advertising professionals consider the advertising channels with the very best ROI are:
- Web sites/Blogs
- Social Media
- E mail Advertising
- Content material Advertising
In my expertise, an omnichannel media plan works nice to achieve your target market wherever they’re. By researching which channels your purchaser personas frequent essentially the most and being open to exploring new ones, you possibly can resolve on the right combination in your model.
6. Put your media plan into motion.
When working in your media plan, keep watch over your insights and see how they stack up in opposition to your SMART objectives. Keep in mind, you possibly can at all times modify your plan as wanted. Advertising is a dynamic subject, and with the ability to pivot is essential.
Now that you just‘re conversant in making a plan, let’s have a look at some assets to make the media planning course of simpler.
Media Planning Templates
There are many media planning templates accessible on-line, each for buy and free of charge. What I really like about utilizing these templates is how customizable they’re; you possibly can tailor them to suit your enterprise’s particular wants and objectives.
Relying on the media software program your enterprise makes use of, akin to HubSpot’s (free) CRM, Marketing Hub, or Sprout Social, there could already be customizable planning templates included. I’ve usually used HubSpot’s templates, which supply an awesome menu of options to select from.
After all, it’s also possible to create your personal templates utilizing Google Sheets. I’ve accomplished this myself, and it’s an effective way to make sure your planning course of matches completely along with your distinctive workflow.
No matter methodology you select, do not forget that your media planning templates ought to evolve as your objectives and viewers develop. Don’t hesitate to regulate them over time to remain in sync with your enterprise’s altering wants.
Free Media Planning Template [Download Now]
Varieties of Media Planning Templates
Here is an inventory of widespread media creation and planning templates to get you began. (Click on the hyperlinks to entry every template.)
Select the templates that fit your wants. Keep in mind, there‘s no proper or incorrect selection—it’s all about what works finest for your enterprise.
- Use a media planning template to prepare your paid media efforts and bills in a single visible location.
- Use a social media strategy template to align your media content material along with your viewers in a method that gives worth for your enterprise.
- Use a social media calendar template to customise a timeline for once you’ll share your social media posts in a easy, organized, manageable, and efficient format.
- Use an editorial calendar template to plan and optimize all of the advertising content material you’ll publish and share, together with blogs, social media posts, and campaigns.
- Use a blog post template to easily fill within the blanks and start writing participating, related, and well-optimized weblog content material in your viewers (all whereas avoiding author’s block!).
- Use an ebook design template to take the guesswork out of how one can make your e book skilled, eye-catching, and exquisite, all whereas saving your self priceless time.
- Use an infographic template in PowerPoint or Illustrator to rapidly customise the best way you current knowledge, share insights, and promote gives in a method that appears and feels skilled.
- Use an analytics and reporting template for Excel, PowerPoint, and Google Drive to make the processes of pulling, organizing, and sharing knowledge easy irrespective of which metrics you observe.
- Use a budget template to handle and assessment your spending and price range with Excel or Google Sheets.
- Use an advertising template that will help you plan and handle promoting campaigns in a method that’s positive to transform viewers members into leads and clients.
Media Plan Examples
Though we’ve mentioned media planning and even shared a number of media planning templates, doing it virtually should pose a problem. Due to this fact, I’ve created media plan examples and linked the templates I used for extra readability.
Social Media Plan
In terms of social media, focus your efforts on the platform the place your clients are energetic. For those who’re nonetheless figuring that out, it’s effective to experiment with a number of platforms to see what works finest.
Here is a pattern social media plan impressed by HubSpot’s Social Media Content Template to help you explore multiple platforms.
Running a blog Media Plan
Monitoring how usually you publish weblog content material is essential for monitoring your progress. A running a blog media plan might help you handle your writers effectively, lowering the necessity for fixed e mail follow-ups about their weblog submit progress.
Right here is a straightforward instance of a running a blog media plan you can download from HubSpot.
PR Media Plan
Making a PR media plan could be a bit extra intensive because it entails coordinating with different organizations. You will want to decide on the fitting type of commercial, collect the mandatory assets, and establish key contacts.
On this pattern template, I’m solely sharing the “attain out” and “content material planning” phases. Nevertheless, the whole template from HubSpot has every part you want, together with useful resource planning. As a bonus, for those who’re a newbie, you possibly can even take the free course on PR Media. Try the whole HubSpot PR Plan template.
|
Exercise |
Description |
Begin Date |
Finish Date |
|
Visitor posts |
Selling our new exercise pants |
3 March, 2025 |
3 June, 2025 |
|
Press releases in recognized publications |
Selling our model normally |
10 July, 2025 |
20 December, 2025 |
|
Newsletters |
Ship out month-to-month newsletters each month |
3 March, 2025 |
29 December, 2025 |
We‘ve coated media planning intimately, however there’s one other essential side to think about: media shopping for.
Let’s get into it.
Media Planning vs. Media Shopping for
Digital media planning and media shopping for are carefully associated and work hand-in-hand. Relying on your enterprise measurement and price range, the identical staff members would possibly deal with each planning and shopping for.
So, what makes these processes distinctive?
Media planning entails deciding which media content material to create, publish, and share along with your clients and target market. This media content material is all-encompassing and doesn’t at all times embrace paid adverts and content material.
Media shopping for, however, is a definite course of centered on buying promoting area and time on numerous platforms. That is the place the primary distinction between media planning and media shopping for lies.
What’s media shopping for?
Media shopping for is all about paid media. This implies your enterprise buys campaigns or advert area on numerous channels, pays to share focused campaigns and adverts, or negotiates with media distributors.
Whereas sharing media and reaching your viewers free of charge is feasible, efficient media planning can nonetheless occur with out media shopping for. Nevertheless, media shopping for at all times requires media planning.
Consider it like this: all squares are rectangles, however not all rectangles are squares. Media planning units the tone and course for the media shopping for that follows.
As soon as you’ve got bought advert area or negotiated content material distribution, you want a method—or a media plan—for delivering that media to your viewers and clients.
Media Planner
A media planner is often known as a model strategist or a model planner. They’re answerable for planning promoting methods and creating campaigns for companies.
For those who don’t have an in-house media planner, you’ll want to think about hiring one that will help you with the campaigns. However what precisely does a media planner do? And the way a lot will it price?
Beneath are the solutions.
What does a media planner do?
A media planner takes over your entire media planning technique, evaluates it, and advises you on the best way ahead.
Listed below are some roles {that a} media planner will deal with in your organization:
- Maximizing the affect on all ads you pay by networking with media shopping for companies
- Arising with artistic methods to achieve out to your goal audiences for higher engagement and conversion charges
- Figuring out the perfect platforms for your enterprise to make sure you’re spending your advert cash the place you’re more likely to get returns
How a lot do media planners make?
In response to Comparably, the common Media Planner within the US makes $69,374. When working with a media planner, count on to pay them between $30,000-$150,000.
For those who want an knowledgeable planner with a few years of expertise, you then’ll have to plan for about $155,000.
Nevertheless, you possibly can at all times lower your expenses by hiring a contract media planner. They could cost a bit extra per hour, however you solely pay them when you might have a undertaking.
Start Your Media Planning Course of
Media planning is an integral a part of your enterprise’s potential to create, publish, and share media content material efficiently.
I like to recommend using the pulsing media plan the place you possibly can. It provides you the consistency of steady promoting with the depth of flighting, making certain a gentle presence whereas permitting for strategic bursts of exercise.
What has at all times shocked me is how dynamic media planning could be. No two campaigns are the identical and require their very own distinctive technique, however that‘s a part of the problem and pleasure. So long as you understand when and the place to have interaction your viewers, you’re on the fitting path.
Editor’s word: This submit was initially printed in February 2020 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.
