Media Planning: Setting Your Brand Up for Success

Marketing, Retail Media

Making sense of it all

We get it. It’s confusing out there. Spend any amount of time at a marketing conference, on LinkedIn or just chatting with anyone in the marketing or advertising industry and you’ll get ten different answers for every question you ask about how you should execute marketing campaigns. Some will argue till the cows come home for broad reach over all, some counter with microtargeting, audience targeting, timing strategies, single channel, omnichannel…

And here’s the thing – none of them are wrong, you just need to know which is right for you, your brand and your objectives – which can be the confusing part.

Taking a holistic view

Theres no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to marketing. For those of you looking for a silver bullet, bad news time: there isn’t one.

The correct solution will depend on a variety of factors including your brand awareness, campaign objectives, available assets, messaging, product type and buyer type.

How does your consumer purchase this category? How long and involved is the purchase cycle or decision making process? Is this a mass or a niche product? How many buyers are in market at any one time?

Whilst this can feel overwhelming, it’s actually freeing and with a little knowledge and time you can actually achieve far more than you thought, and far more than if you took a snap decision and chucked all your eggs in one strategic basket!

Pick a path

Here’s the good news. You don’t have to pick one or the other. Media planning is fluid and flexible and you can pick the parts from a strategy that work for you and your situation. In fact, this is what we recommend, taking the best bits from all and using them to your advantage to drive sales, engagement or awareness depending on what your business need is.

You may have heard of the marketing funnel. This can seem daunting – but it’s pretty simple. A consumer is dropped into the funnel at the top when they become aware of your brand or product.

They move down the funnel as they become more aware, understand the product and consider if they want to purchase.

Finally, they hit the bottom of the funnel when they’re ready to buy and choose you.

Media choices work at multiple levels of the funnel and can operate at various points depending on how you execute within them.

Take some reach, layer some targeted activity over the top. Use some broadcast channels and some digital ones. Fill the top of the funnel whilst converting the bottom. With a bit of thought, you can have your cake and eat it too.

Our advice

The easiest thing to do here is to hit the ‘Get in touch’ button on this site and schedule some time with one of our marketing experts to help craft a campaign for you.

But for those that like to DIY or have some ideas before engaging, this is our blueprint for success:

Utilise reach as much as you can

If you ask a room full of people if they’re in the market to buy your product right then and there, chances are, the number will be pretty small. But if you ask them if they may be in the market in the next 12, 24 or 36 months – the number will be higher and the audience more valuable. Talking to them now is useful as you want to be in the consideration set when they are looking to purchase. Reach is never wastage, it’s just future proofing.

Layer targeting over your reach

Targeting those who are more likely to be in market with a smaller portion of your budget will ensure that this works the hardest that it can. These are the people likely to take action now, converting online or instore and utilising strong targeting,1st party data audiences and other strategies can pay off big time. Your reach work will help fill the pipe for your conversion, so they really work in harmony with each other.

This is why using offsite traffic drivers like social media, programmatic, dOOH etc. maximise your onsite effectiveness when utilising banners or sponsored products. It’s why TV, or Radio, or Print, can help drive your instore sales. Keeping the upper funnel full drives the lower funnel conversion rates.

Choose the right message

Creative execution is the majority driver of effectiveness in advertising. Making sure you’re saying the right thing in the right channel is key. Having a brand message in a traditionally lower funnel execution will be much less effective than a price or promotional one. Utilising a mass reach channel with a highly specific and targeted message to a small group of buyers is a waste of money and effectiveness. You can have multiple messaging to different groups, future and current buyers. We’re here to help you craft that message properly. Just ask!

Jumping in

So, whilst marketing and media planning can seem hard, expensive and confusing, it’s actually not. With a little bit of thought, an understanding of your brand and audience, and some help along the way you can make informed and effective decisions that will drive sales, awareness and engagement.

Drop us a line and let’s start that process today.