It is the responsibility of the media planner, who might work within an advertising agency or a multimedia marketing materials firm, to come up with the right media planning strategy to fit a company's marketing and sales needs for a specified project or product. A media planner works closely with the people within the media creation and distribution industry and the sales and marketing industry so that together with them he can come up with the right plan and strategy to make more people aware of the company or check out buying a new brand or product that the company is offering.
Now, the media planner will have to understand how to consider certain things in order to be able to create a winning, effective advertising and marketing strategy.
Television, radio, magazines, newspapers, billboards, and needless to say the Internet and Bluetooth are all media outlets that the media buyer can consider using to deliver the company's message. There might also be a consideration of collateral materials like postcard mailers or brochures. Keeping these in mind, the media planner will first ask himself what is the right mixture of media that should be used for this particular campaign? This requires a thorough knowledge of each media, and researching how effective they are and have been in the past at reaching and inspiring prospects and getting repeat business for the company. Some media work better for advertising a certain industry or product than other media. For instance, car advertisements are highly effective when put on television or put up as Internet videos. They also tend to do pretty well in magazines. They are not so effective when put on the radio, in newspapers, or on billboards.
There will be many factors to be considered by the media buyer on the frequency of a given advertisement to be run or a marketing piece to be displayed or sent out. Research shows that companies need to get their name out at least six times for a person to start thinking about buying. So, the chosen media must be picked to keep a company constantly exposed to the target market. But, given the different campaigns, products, and target audience, there will have to be consideration given to how frequently, and at what times of day or night, the media message is re-broadcast or re-sent. For instance, should money be spent heavily on broadcasting a radio commercial about sexual health frequently throughout the day, or should the money be spent instead to create a TV commercial that only gets shown during prime time hours at night? Is the product seasonal? Is it a product with a lot of "zing" or is it something many people find dull on the surface like insurance?
The media planner will also want to ask himself if the company is trying use the media to gain direct access to customers or build a brand image. If it is a direct response campaign, the chosen media will need to be designed to get people to contact the company for more information, meet with a representative, act now on a current special sale, or make a purchasing decision now "while supplies last." On the other hand, if the intent is to create brand image and awareness, the media chosen could be more passive like a TV commercial or Internet banner advertisement.
Which gender, if only or predominately one, is being targeted?
What age group is being targeted? (This might be more than one.)
What is the financial earning range of the target audience?
What is the job, industry, business that the members of the target audience most likely work in?
Are there any particular ethnic or racial groups being targeted?
What size family or household is being targeted?
What is the typical marital status of the members of the target group?
The media planner will also need to have an awareness of persona creation. Persona creation can be more effective than demographic targeting for certain campaigns or products. With this, in addition to knowing demographic information, those involved in putting together the marketing must know:
- What are the desires and needs of the target group?
- What are their lifestyles?
- In what relevant circumstances or environment do they work or live?
Media planners in the United States earn an average of $62,000 a year.
