Media Planning: The Ultimate Guide

Today's digital landscape is a competitive one. For any business to find success today, it must create and share media content (such as images, videos, written content, and podcasts) with its audience.

Publishing new media is how you boost brand awareness, engagements, conversions, and revenue for your business. Not to mention, media content helps you stand out from competitors.

Over time, it can become confusing to keep track of, plan, organize, distribute, and analyze all that media content.

The best way to combat these issues is through media planning.

Media planning has many moving parts, and the process can be difficult to get right.

By working through the media planning steps as well as using media planning templates, you’ll keep any media-related challenges at bay.

Benefits of Media Planning

Media planning aids with parts of content creation and distribution, including:

Getting to know your target audience on a deeper level so you can effectively reach them through your media content Deciding on which media channels and platforms you’ll share your content Determining the timing and frequency of the media and content you publish and share Keeping up with the latest media trends and technology Sticking to your budget as you work to create, publish, and share high-quality and engaging media content Conducting analyses to measure the success of your media planning process

Now that we’ve discussed the benefits of media planning, let’s review the steps in the media planning process so you can begin developing a strategy for your business.

As you work through the steps in media planning, keep in mind that how your business applies the results and conclusions derived from each step will be unique based on your audience and needs.

1. Conduct market research.

The first thing you’ll want to do when developing your media planning process is conduct market research. Market research allows you to tailor the content you create and the media plan you implement to your target audience and customers.

Start by creating and studying your buyer personas as well as developing an understanding of who your target audience and current customers are.

With this information, you can determine what media will reach, resonate with, and convert your audience. In addition, it’ll help you decide about the platforms and channels you will use to publish and share your content.

Featured Resource: HubSpot's Market Research Kit + Templates

Download the Kit

2. State your media planning objective.

When planning a media campaign, keep a goal in mind to help you navigate the process effectively. Moreover, goals can help you know what content types and platforms you can say "no" to.

Here are some examples of media planning objectives you might have:

Strengthen cross-team collaboration (e.g. content, graphic design, animation, video, blog, social media) while creating and sharing media. Enhance and streamline the publication and distribution processes for all media. Improve media distribution timeline to ensure our content is shared efficiently so it’s relevant to our target audience. Amplify the success of our media content by allowing for ample time to analyze its impact and reach our audience.

For instance, let’s say you're looking to create a media plan for your Facebook and Instagram social content. Your objective may be to streamline the content creation process in a timely fashion and then schedule posts on both platforms in advance.

This way, you can ensure your posts are relevant to your audience. Consequently, that will help to boost engagement and stay on top of their minds.

3. Create your media plan using a template.

Now it’s time to make your media plan, but before jumping into templates, let’s go over what exactly a media plan is.

It's not enough to simply do the planning and then assume everyone else is on the right page. You need to outline your strategy in a media plan document. When you do that, you'll be able to ensure alignment on your team and keep all parties accountable.

Other media plans are standalone strategies that detail how organizations plan to leverage media (written, video, audio, etc.) to connect with followers and customers.

Media planning templates ensure you stay efficient and effective while working on all aspects of your media content. They keep your media content organized while publishing and sharing it among your audience members.

Due to the variety of templates available for different types and parts of the media planning process, the templates you incorporate will be unique to your business. Don’t be afraid to experiment with or combine different templates.

For example, if your business is looking to create a media plan for your Facebook and Instagram social media, you might choose to implement a social media calendar template.

This type of template will help you coordinate your content across both channels, boost engagement, and improve productivity among your team members — and therefore, achieve the objective you set in step two.

4. Implement your media plan.

Ensure all parties who should be aware of the plan have the necessary details to help you execute accordingly.

In addition, share the contact details of the media planning coordinator in your company, in case anyone has questions or comments.

To get a better understanding of what it means, let's refer back to our example of steps for your social media plan designed for Facebook and Instagram.

If you implement a social media calendar template as part of your media plan, ensure everyone who will be working on it, be it on the creatives team or the publication team, has access to it.

5. Evaluate your success.

Whether your media plan revolves around individual posts on Instagram or a month-long, company-wide campaign, be sure to measure the success of your plan.

Ask yourself and your team questions like, “How did this media plan help us achieve our specific goals? If it didn’t, why?” and “How did the media planning templates and tools we used add value to our media creation and publication processes? If they didn’t, how do we move forward?”

The way you evaluate your media plan’s success should be directly tied to the specific goals of your business regarding your media content, the teams who create the media, and the value you hope to derive from the media (e.g. boost conversions, engagements, revenue, etc.).

Let’s look back at the example above one last time. Think about whether your social media content plan and the calendar template you implemented have helped you reach your target audience and achieve the objective you set.

In addition, ask yourself whether your media plan helped you boost engagement on the social platforms you focused on. You should also strive to find out how to collaborate and coordinate more effectively to increase team-wide productivity.

Media Planning Strategy Components

There are a few additional things to consider when crafting your media planning strategy.

First, what's your media planning budget?

Media Planning Budget

If you're aiming for free media, you can disregard this question. But if part of your media planning involves media buying, you'll need to sit down with your marketing leadership to understand what funds you have to work with.

Set this budget before you start researching platforms and creating content. You don't want to start formulating a campaign that you can't afford down the road.

Second, consider the key messaging points you want your media to communicate.

Media Planning Messaging

You don't have to pre-write all your media content, per se, but you should establish the main themes at the beginning so all media is consistent and on theme.

These messaging points will come from your audience research and may also influence what content types and platforms you pursue, so be sure to establish these early on.

Media Scheduling Strategy

Media scheduling allows you to generate content when your creative juices are flowing. It also helps you work on your advertising strategy when you’re ready, which saves time in the long run.

Your scheduling strategy will look different based on the kind of media you’re working on.

For example, timing is everything for social media posts (free or paid ads). You need to schedule your posts based on when your target audience is online, even when that time is inconvenient for you. Thankfully, there are many tools, such as HubSpot’s social media management software, that allow you to do this.

On the other hand, consistency is important when it comes to newsletters and blog posts. You want your audience to be looking forward to your media content, which in turn will boost traffic and build a community around your brand.

My top tips for your media scheduling strategy include:

Study your readers and prospects to know when they’re available on specific platforms Prepare your content in bulk to avoid any inconveniences such as delayed deadlines, which will affect your frequency Choose the correct automation tools for each platform Be consistent — consistency is everything!

With these points in mind, let’s walk through how to create a media plan of your own.

How to Create a Media Plan

1. Target your buyer personas.

As a marketer, you don’t want to advertise to just anyone. You want to attract the type of buyer who has interest in the media you’re creating — otherwise known as your buyer personas.

A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers.

When you know exactly the type of buyer you need to target with your media plan, you’ll be able to attract the most valuable customers to your business.

When making your buyer personas, center them around these important attributes:

Demographics: Age, income, location, or identity Background: Job, career path, and lifestyle Identifiers: Communication preferences and social media platforms Goals: Primary, secondary, personal and professional Challenges: Their roadblocks preventing them from achieving their goals

2. Define your SMART goals.

You want to write out SMART goals for your media plan. The SMART acronym (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Bound) is a framework that will enable you to better track and drive greater impact from your proposed plan.

It’s important to determine these goals before jumping into your work so you have a media plan that sets a clear direction for you and your team members, and ensures you're able to celebrate the wins when they occur.

Some examples of SMART goal-setting in media planning could look like:

Specific: “We want to generate a greater number of qualified leads.” Measurable: “We want our media plan to gain 2,000 followers across Twitter, Metaverse, and Instagram.” Attainable: “We previously reached 70% in customer engagement online over the past quarter, so we’re aiming for 75% in the next.” Relevant: “We want to achieve more positive customer engagement to better the brand’s reputation and gain more fans.” Time-Bound: “We want our media plan to gain 2,000 followers in the next three months across Twitter, Metaverse, and Instagram.”

Once you’ve determined your goals, you can begin looking at resources to assist you in reaching them.

3. Find the media planning tools best suited for you.

We will talk in further detail later in this post about some amazing media planning templates your business can use, but there are software tools that can do some of the heavy lifting for you.

To draft, plan, schedule, and collect conversion analytics, your business could benefit from HubSpot Marketing Hub.

Or if you still want to explore more options, we have a list of 12 essential media planning tools for you to use.

4. Analyze historical data.

You have to know where you began before you can start going forward. Look back at your previous media planning strategy and analyze its impact and reach.

For example, if your business was already on Instagram, check your business page insights to see just how far you got on your old posting schedule and content. Look at the posts that got the most engagement, the time period you had the most traffic, and what content helped to turn prospects into customers.

Make note of the effective elements of your previous strategy and let that drive some of your brainstorming for your new media plan.

5. Choose your media mix.

It’s important that you are up to snuff on the most popular marketing channels, along with your buyer personas preferred ones.

According to the HubSpot’s State of Marketing Report, 1,000 global marketing professionals believe that the top marketing channels are:

Social Media Websites/Blogs Email Marketing Video Marketing

You want an omni-channel media plan to reach your target audience where they are, and by researching your buyer personas most frequented channels, and exploring new channels, you can decide upon the right mix for you.

6. Put your media plan into action.

As you conduct your media plan, track your insights and see how you’re doing in comparison to your SMART goals.

Also, understand that you can adjust your plan as necessary over time. Marketing is a rather volatile industry, and knowing when to change your approach is key.

Now that you know what it takes to create a plan, let’s review some resources available to simplify the media planning process.

Media Planning Templates

There are a plethora of media planning templates available online that you can purchase or download for free. The great part about using media planning templates is that you can customize and tailor them to your business’s specific needs and goals.

Depending on the media software your business uses, such as HubSpot’s (free) CRM, Marketing Hub, or Sprout Social, there may be customizable planning templates included (similar to this menu of options from HubSpot).

You may also elect to create templates on your own with the help of Google Sheets.

Either way, how you choose to implement and use media planning templates will be unique to your business and needs — so don’t be afraid to modify your templates over time as your goals evolve or audience grows.

Free Media Planning Template [Download Now]

Download this Template

Types of Media Planning Templates

To help get you started, here’s a list of common types of media creation and planning templates. (Click the links to be directed to an associated template resource.)

You might use one or several media templates based on your needs. Remember, there’s no right or wrong answer to which template you should use — it’s about preference and what works best for your business.

Use a media planning template to organize your paid media efforts and expenses in one visual location. Use a social media strategy template to align your media content with your audience in a way that provides value for your business. Use a social media calendar template to customize a timeline for when you’ll share your social media posts in a simple, organized, manageable, and effective format. Use an editorial calendar template to plan and optimize all of the marketing content you’ll publish and share, including blogs, social media posts, and campaigns. Use a blog post template to simply fill-in-the-blanks and begin writing engaging, relevant, and well-optimized blog content for your audience (all while avoiding writer’s block!). Use an ebook design template to take the guesswork out of how to make your ebook professional, eye-catching, and beautiful, all while saving yourself valuable time. Use an infographic template in PowerPoint or Illustrator to quickly customize the way you present data, share insights, and promote offers in a way that looks and feels professional. Use an analytics and reporting template for Excel, PowerPoint, and Google Drive to make the processes of pulling, organizing, and sharing data simple no matter which metrics you track. Use a budget template to manage and review your spending and budget with Excel or Google Sheets. Use an advertising template to help you plan and manage advertising campaigns in a way that’s sure to convert audience members into leads and customers.

Media Plan Examples

Although we’ve discussed media planning and even shared a few media planning templates, doing it practically may still pose a challenge. Therefore, I’ve created media plan examples and linked the templates I used for more clarity.

Social Media Plan

When it comes to social media, it’s important to focus your efforts on the platform where your customers are active. However, if you’re in the discovery stage, it’s okay to experiment with a couple of platforms and see which ones work.

Here is an example of a social media plan inspired by the HubSpot Social Media Content Template that will help you explore multiple platforms.

Blogging Media Plan

Keeping tabs on how often you publish your blog content is very important as it helps track your progress. A blogging media plan also helps manage your writers without sending several emails asking about the progress of the blog posts.

Here is a simple example of a blogging media plan you can download from HubSpot.

PR Media Plan

A PR media plan is different and a little intensive because you have to include other organizations. You also have to decide on the form of advertisement that will work for your business, the resources you’ll need, and the people whom you’ll contact.

In this sample template, I’ll only share the reach out and content planning phase. However, the complete template from HubSpot has everything you need, including resource planning. As a bonus, if you’re a beginner, you can even take the free course on PR Media. Check out the complete HubSpot PR Plan template.

Activity	Description	Start Date	End Date
Guest posts	Promoting our new workout pants	3rd March 2022	3rd June 2022
Press releases in known publications	Promoting our brand in general	10th July 2022	20th December 2022
Newsletters	Send out monthly newsletters every month	3rd March 2022	29th December 2022

We’ve spent a lot of time discussing the ins and outs of media planning, but there’s another side that can help marketers on the job — media buying. Let’s get into it.

Media Planning and Buying

Digital media planning and media buying are closely related and work in tandem with one another. Depending on the size of your business and your budget, your team members who plan your media may also handle the media buying process.

So, what makes these processes unique?

Well, media planning is the process where you decide which media content is created, published, and shared among your customers and target audience. The media referred to here is all-encompassing, meaning it doesn’t always include paid ads and paid content.

This is where media planning and media buying differ.

What is media buying?

Media buying is related to paid media — whether that means your business is buying campaigns or ad space on various channels, paying to share targeted campaigns and ads, or negotiating with media vendors.

In a world where your business can share media and successfully reach your audience for free, media planning can happen without media buying.

However, media buying requires media planning. (It's like, "a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square" lesson that baffled us all in elementary school.)

Media planning sets the tone and direction for the buying that needs to occur. Once ad space is purchased or content distribution plans have been negotiated, there needs to be a strategy (or media plan) for getting that media to your audience and customers.

If you don’t have an in-house media planner, you’ll need to consider hiring one to help you with the campaigns. But what does a media planner do? And how much will you need to part with to pay one? Below are the answers.

What Does a Media Planner Do?

A media planner takes over your whole media planning strategy, evaluates it, and advises you on the way forward.

Here are some roles that a media planner will handle in your company.

Maximizing the impact on all advertisements you pay by networking with media buying agencies Coming up with creative ways to reach out to your target audiences for better engagement and conversion rates Identifying the best platforms for your business to ensure you’re spending your ad money where you’re likely to get returns

How Much Do Media Planners Make?

When working with a media planner, expect to pay them between $30,000-$150,000. According to Comparably, the median salary of media planners in the US is $54,500.

If you need an expert planner with many years of experience, then you’ll need to plan for $155,000.

However, you can always save money by paying a freelance media planner. Their hourly charges may be a bit higher, but you’ll only need to pay them when you have a project.

Begin Your Media Planning Process

Media planning is an integral part of your business’s ability to successfully create, publish, and share media content. It’s how you streamline cross-team communication and collaboration around your media, as well as ensure it’s shared with your audience in a timely fashion. So, work through the media planning process steps above and choose which templates you’ll use to begin reaching and converting more audience members.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in February 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Originally published Jun 9, 2022 7:00:00 AM, updated June 09 2022