Strategy of Media Planning - WHAT
IS MEDIA PLANNING ?
to entail sourcing and selecting optimal media platforms for a client's brand or product to use. The job of media planning is to determine the best combination of media to achieve the objectives. In the process of planning, the media planner needs to answer questions such as: How many of the audience can be reached through the various media? On which media should the ads be placed? How frequent should the ads be placed? How much money should be spent in each medium? Choosing which media or type of advertising to use can be challenging for small firms with limited budgets and know-how. Large-market television and newspapers are often too expensive for a company that services only a small area Magazines, unless local, usually cover too much territory to be cost-efficient for a small firm, although some national publications offer regional or city editions. Since the advent of social media, small firms with limited budgets may benefit from using social media advertising as it is cost effective, easy to manage, accurate and offers great ROI. Developing a Media Plan The fundamental purpose of a media plan is to determine the best way to convey a message to the target audience. A media plan sets out a systematic process that synchronizes all contributing elements in order to achieve this specific goal.
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. Similarities can be made to other
marketing concepts such as the consumer decision-making process with
comparisons such as, increasing brand awareness, improving brand image, and the
maximization of customer satisfaction. The first phase of any media plan is the
initial market analysis, which consists of a situation analysis and the
marketing strategy plan. These form the basis of information which the rest of
the media plan is reliant on. Each of these criteria are explained briefly
below: Media Mix - A combination of communication and media channels use that
is utilized to meet marketing objectives, such as social media platforms
and
magazines.
Target Market - A specific group of consumers that
has been identified to aim its marketing and advertising campaigns towards, as
they are the most
likely to purchase the particular
product. Coverage Consideration - To alter the level of exposure of media to
the target market, whilst minimizing the amount of overexposure and saturation
into other demographics. Geographic Coverage – Increased emphasis of exposure
to a certain area where interest may thrive, whilst reducing exposure to areas
they have less
relevance.
Scheduling - The concept of aligning communication
activity to coincide with peak potential consumer exposure times, such as
around a big sports
game on television.
Reach & Frequency - The decision to have a certain
message seen/heard by a large number or expose the same message to a smaller
group more
often Creative Aspects & Mood –
Different mediums for communication should be considered when developing a
campaign. Social media might be more effective to generate emotion than a
billboard poster on a main road. Flexibility - In order to adapt to rapidly
changing marketing environments it is important for strategies to be flexible.
Such as unique opportunities in
the market, media availability or
brand threats.
Budget Considerations – The relationship between the
effectiveness of a media campaign and the cost involved needs to be carefully
managed. There
should be an optimal level of response
from the consumer for the price for the exposure. The final phase in the media
plan is to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan and determine what follow-up
is required. It is important to assess whether each individual marketing and
media objective was met, as if they were successful it will be beneficial to
use a similar model in future plans.
Advertising media includes
· Social
·
Television
· Radio
· Newspapers
· Magazines
· Outdoor billboards.
- Ambient experiential
- Public transportation
- Direct Media
- Digital advertising
- Search engine marketing Specialty advertising
- Other media
Factors to consider when comparing
various advertising media Reach
- expressed as a percentage, reach is the number of individuals to expose the
product to through media scheduled over a period of time. Frequency - using
specific media, how many times, on average, should the individuals in the
target audience be exposed to the advertising message? It takes an average of
three or more exposures to an advertising message before consumers take action.
Cost per thousand - How much will it cost to reach a
thousand prospective customers ? To determine a publication's cost per
thousand, also known as CPM, divide the cost of the advertising by the
publication's circulation, multiplied by its reader's per copy, in thousands.
For example, magazine A's audited circulation is 250,000 with an audited
readers per copy, or RPC of 3.5. A full-page ad in the magazine costs $45,000.
Therefore, CPM $45,000 / x 1000. So, Magazine A's CPM $12.85. Using CPM for
evaluating media makes it an, "apples to apples" comparison. Cost per
point - how much will it cost to buy one rating point of your target audience,
a method used in comparing broadcast media. One rating point equals 1 percent
of the target audience. Divide the cost of the schedule being considered by the
number of rating points it delivers.
Impact - does the medium in question offer
full opportunities for appealing to the appropriate senses, such as sight and
hearing, in its graphic design and production quality?
Selectivity - to what degree can the message be restricted to those
people who are known to be the most logical prospects? Reach and frequency are
important aspects of an advertising plan and are used to analyze alternative
advertising schedules to determine which produce
the best results relative to the media
plan's objectives.
Generally speaking, you will use reach
when you are looking to increase your consumer base by getting more people
buying your product and you will privilege frequency when you need to narrow
down your communication to a more specific audience but need to increase the
number of times they could be exposed to your message in order to generate a
change in behavior. Calculate reach and frequency and then compare the two on
the basis of how many people will be reached with each schedule and the number
of times the ad will connect with the average person. Let's say the ad appeared
in each of four television programs, and each program has a 20 rating,
resulting in a total of 80 gross rating points. It is possible that some
viewers will see more than one announcement—some viewers of program A might
also see program B, C, or D, or any combination of them. For example, in a
population of 100 TV homes, a total of 40 are exposed to one or more TV
programs. The reach of the four programs combined is
therefore 40 percent.
Researchers have charted the reach
achieved with different media schedules. These tabulations are put into
formulas from which the level of delivery for any given schedule can be
estimated. A reach curve is the technical term describing how reach changes with
increasing use of a medium. Now assume the same schedule of one commercial in
each of four TV programs to determine reach versus frequency. In our example,
17 homes viewed only one program, 11 homes viewed two programs, seven viewed
three programs, and five homes viewed all four programs. If we add the number
of programs each home viewed, the 40 homes in total viewed the equivalent of 80
programs and therefore were exposed to the equivalent of 80 commercials. By
dividing 80 by 40, we establish that any one home was exposed to an average of
two commercials. To increase reach, include additional media in the plan or
expand the timing of the message. For example, if purchasing "drive
time" on the radio, some
daytime
and evening spots will increase the audience. To increase frequency, add spots
or insertions to the schedule. For example, if running three insertions in a
local magazine, increase that to six insertions so that the audience would be
exposed to the ad more often. Gross rating points are used to estimate
broadcast reach and frequency from tabulations and formulas. Once the scheduled
delivery has been determined from reach curves, obtain the average frequency by
dividing the GRPs by the reach. For example, 200 GRPs divided by an 80 percent
reach equals a 2.5 average frequency. Reach and Frequency In media planning,
reach is one of the most important factors, as the whole media planning is all
about reach. The Purpose of the reach is exposure of brand. The higher the
reach; the higher the brand exposure . And of course, higher exposure means
high chances of new customers. When it comes to media planning most of the
businesses decide well in advanced what their target market would be. They
Choose their target market on the assumption that they already know who their
customers would be . Even though, choosing a target market for reach in media
planning could be a very successful
way to get to the potential customers
of the brand, but this method leaves out potential customers outside of the
target market: Customers the brand
thought were not important to reach
to. Smart businesses also reach outside of their targeted market in order to
know other segments that could be
targeted. Therefore, starting with a
broader reach and then choosing target markets would be a much-informed
decision; derived from actual data rather than just assumption. A broader reach
is also beneficial for general brand awareness, otherwise many people outside
of the targeted market never
even get to hear about the brand.
In media planning, frequency is also a
very important factor to consider. Most small businesses say "We just want
to see what happens", which just
wastes their money leading to
disappointment on media planning. In Advertisement, once is just not enough.
The biggest problem in media planning is; advertisers assume that someone would
see their advertisement, would walk in their store and just buy something!!That
is definitely not how it happens. There are five different steps for buying
cycle a consumer goes through before actually purchasing something. These are
awareness, interest, need, comparison and purchase . Frequency is important as
it pushes a consumer towards the actual step of purchasing something. The
understanding of how exactly a consumer goes through the buying cycle is very
essential to grasp the importance of frequency in media planning. Initially,
the idea of reach is there to increase the awareness and exposure, but people
forget. 80% of people forget the advertisement they see within 24 hours or even
sooner.
So, frequency is also important for awareness - decreasing the chances for
forgetfulness. Secondly, frequency builds familiarity, familiarity builds trust
and trust builds interest. In need, it is absolute that the consumer is aware
of the company and have somewhat trust/ interest. And again, frequency plays
essential role is remembrance, trust and interest. Higher frequency also helps
to beat the competition. And finally, the consumer is on the final step of
buying cycle the purchase, with the help of frequent advertisement. Without the
good amount of frequency, a consumer would be very unlikely to get to the
purchasing step. Thus, frequency is important because consistence advertisement
reinforces top of mind brand awareness, brand favorability and brand loyalty
among the current and potential consumers. Patience and effective frequency
plays a great role in a business's long term
success.
TOOLS USED IN MEDIA
PLANNING ONLINE ADVERTISING]
·
Research
Tools - Alexa, Nielsen Online, Quantcast, SimilarWeb, Thalamus, SRDS, and
Compete
·
Online
Advertising Competitive Intelligence Tools - MOAT, Adbeat, Whatrunswhere,
Keywordspy
·
Demand-side
Platforms - Doubleclick Bid Manager, Tun, AppNexus, Adobe Media Optimizer
·
Offline
Advertising Research Tools - Nielsen Media Research for TV Audience Measurement
GRPs, Nielsen Audio for Radio Measurement, SRDS by
·
Kantar
Media for Print Advertising Ratecards
REFERENCES
Belch, G. E., & Belch, M. A. .
Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing communications perspective.
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
The importance of frequency. Zip code
magazines. Retrieved from
The importance of frequency when
advertisement. Inspired Senior Living. Retrieved from
Ossi, A. why is reach important.
Retrieved form
Comments
Post a Comment