what is media planning

Media planning is the process of determining the best way to convey a message to a target audience through the selection of optimal media platforms for a clients brand or product to use. The goal of media planning is to determine the best combination of media to achieve the clients objectives. Media planners analyze the audiences, channels, and advertisements to determine the most efficient way to communicate a message to the intended audience. The media plan is broken down into four stages: market analysis, establishment of media objectives, media strategy development and implementation, and evaluation and follow-up. The major steps in media planning include targeting, environmental scan, understanding the audience, determination of content, and control. The media planner needs to answer questions such as how many of the audience can be reached through the various media, on which media (and ad vehicles) should the ads be placed, how frequently should the ads be placed, and how much money should be spent on each medium. Media planning is most often done by media planners at advertising agencies, who work with media buyers and the client organization to develop a strategy to maximize ROI on media spend. The most common job title in media planning is media planner, and they typically need a bachelors degree in communication, marketing, advertising, or business.