case study on media planning

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Media Planning Case Study

How Dot IT Helped Increase a Global Consulting Company’s ROI

After months of lead generation struggle, our client’s global consulting business was facing huge losses. They wanted to reach their target audience effectively and maximize their return on investment, so they started looking for professional help.

They needed a well-designed and implemented media plan and picked Dot IT’s plan as the best option. Dot IT is a digital marketing agency that specializes in creating custom media plans that help businesses achieve their marketing goals.

In this case study, we’ll show you how Dot IT helped a large business in the consulting industry increase their ROI by 25% using a data-driven media plan, and show you how Dot IT helped a large business in the consulting industry increase their ROI by 25% using a data-driven media plan.

The Problem

The global consulting business was struggling to generate sufficient leads and increase their revenue. Despite spending a significant amount of money on advertising, their ROI was low, and they were not reaching their target audience effectively.

Generating leads is one of the important factors for reaching the targeted audience and clients for any business firm. The main issue is how to generate leads that thrive to your customers and needed clients. The best short-term strategy to generate high-quality leads is online campaigns. Our client had a campaign idea and came to proceed with it, with us reaching his goal.

The Solution

Dot IT designed a custom media plan for them that addressed their pain points and provided a data-driven solution. The first step was to conduct market research and analyze the target audience. This allowed us to identify the channels where the target audience was most active and the types of content that resonated with them.

Next, Dot IT created a multichannel advertising campaign that included social media advertising, search engine marketing, and display advertising. By utilizing these channels, they were able to increase our client’s visibility and reach their target audience effectively.

To measure the success of the campaign, Dot IT implemented analytics and tracking tools to monitor the campaign’s performance. This allowed our team to make real-time adjustments to the campaign and optimize it for better results.

Media Planning

Decision makers on specific business sectors are the main target audience for our client to introduce his specific service, and to reach them we had to:

• Focus with Our Client on:

Keywords research, Reach, Retargeting, Time plan, and Budgeting

• Keyword Research:

Searching for the most relevant and has a high non-competitive volume keywords to track down our client’s targeted audience and also for generating high-quality leads. Our client aims for uniqueness and suitable words that work out with his service.

High-quality leads, and also be able to reach the decision-makers of big business entities.

• Retargeting:

How often their ad is in front of the target audience within a certain time period. Aiming to find a balance between getting maximum ad visibility and becoming too repetitive. Seeing the same message time and time again can help build brand awareness by subconsciously reminding the target audience of their service, but not too much!

We worked on the campaign for (two months). A pilot campaign was made to check the effectiveness of the campaign and the actual campaign started after it directly. We abided by the time frame agreed upon to achieve our client’s goal.

Cost per impression (CPM) and cost per click (CPC), CTR (click-through rate). Paying attention to the budget and the settled amount of cost for each platform to each country, as also to know and gather all known about (CPC) and (CPM).

Campaign Ads Design

Advertising is the name of the game in today’s digital world. Our client needed to find suitable ways to attract and convince their target audience to avail of their services. The team helped in making focused ads to support and help go viral and well-known, with content and visuals.

It was taken into account that the designs are suitable for channels such as Google Ads Display and Search, LinkedIn Ads, and Twitter Ads.

Landing Page Development and Optimization

The Campaign landing page was planned to be well-designed and well-organized. It contains the necessary information for the visitor and also is visually appealing with the right colors and good typography. Having to deal with a good (UI) is way important for interacting with a user as to accomplish their goals.

The user experience (UX) of the Campaign landing page is everything that makes the visitor satisfied while they’re on the page; information, impressions, and emotions. The page has to be focused and dedicated to our client’s target sectors as they go fill the lead form.

Campaign Setup

To ensure the maximum profit for the client’s campaign while keeping the return on investment (ROI) high, we took care of ads keywords research and selection, best advertising networks. Monitoring and improving the cost per impression (CPM) and cost per click (CPC), CTR (click-through rate), and everything else involved to ensure the best ad performance.

We created the Campaign ads over the following channels which are: Google Display, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google Search Ads.

• Google Display ADS:

It is the first campaign to be launched because it got a high number of impressions and that had a positive impact on other campaigns through service and brand awareness. A pilot campaign duration was 2 weeks for testing the ad performance. Then we had to increase the bidding, and also the daily budget to increase the quality of the conversions.

• LinkedIn Ad:

Started with a pilot campaign duration 2 weeks, to see the effectiveness of the campaign, the impressions, the quality of leads, and conversion rates. After that, we started the real campaign on the platform, and it is the best channel to reach the target audience “B2B decision makers”. It was for all the countries that were chosen, with differences in budgeting and time plan.

• Twitter Ad:

It had a 2 weeks pilot campaign for testing the effectiveness of the quality of leads, conversion rate, and impressions. It worked for 10 days with all its power. The main aim of the campaign is to reach the business-targeted sector, generating high-quality leads and increasing the quality conversions.

• Google Search Ads:

It had a 2 weeks pilot campaign to measure the effectiveness of the ads on the targeted business sectors and reaching the aimed goal of our client, then the real campaign started to each of the agreed countries. The main aim of the campaign ad is to reach the business-targeted sector, generating high-quality leads and increasing the quality conversions.

Conversion Rate Optimization

Setting up tracking tools was our team mission to specifically calculate the actual average rate of conversions that reached our client’s landing page along with the impressions, CPC, that basically helped in optimizing the rate, increase it and that really was for implementing the best web page design and structure to focus on the particularly main CTA, as we definitely had to identify conversion points, also strengthening the CTA practices to basically ensure the best practice for UI and UX, and at the final step we got to create high conversion content to ensure almost the highest conversion rate optimization, which generally is fairly significant.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Using tools like Google Ads Manager, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Twitter Ads Manager, and Google Analytics for ad measurement that enabled us to have full details about our client’s campaign’s status, clicks, conversion rate, CTR (click-through rate), Avg. CPC (Cost-Per-Click), and total spend.

We made sure to track the leads number to the traffic number to make sure they are the right ratio amount. Tracked the KPIs to make sure that we are on the right track of achieving the client’s goal.

We also worked on tracking:

Traffic metrics include: traffic sources, total site visits, the number of new visitors vs. returning visitors, time on site, mobile traffic, bounce rates, exit rates, and so on.

Total conversions, conversion funnel rates, click-through rates, and cost per conversation, are all conversion metrics.

Revenue metrics such as cost per acquisition, and ROI.

The Results

After implementing the media plan, they saw a significant increase in their website traffic and lead generation. The increased click-through rate (CTR) resulted in an increase in brand recognition, helping our client to stand out in their competitive market.

After just two months, the campaign’s results were evident because the landing page had significantly improved in all the key metrics that were utilized to gauge its development.

It was fantastic to observe that the clicks significantly increased. More customers were finding the page relevant to their needs and clicked through to it, as seen by the rise in impressions, which reached (Total clicks: 42,239 and total impressions: 3,551,515).

We evaluated the average CTR to see how many people really visited our client’s landing page directly or even through the advertising over the platforms our client had his ads on (LinkedIn: 0.35% – Twitter: 0.95% – Google Display Ads: 1.85% – Google Search Ads: 9.03%).

We made sure of the following in order to raise our client’s Average CPM , which was (LinkedIn: €2.26; Twitter: €1.17; Google Display Ads: €1.37; Google Search Ads: €89.15).

We were able to devote the entire campaign budget in order to continue achieving our client’s target, along with the average CPC that was on a daily cost for each country, and to accomplish the campaign advertisement’s goal.

The quantity of high-quality leads generated by our client’s efforts, which goes towards the campaign’s primary objective, grew to be (25). While we estimated and monitored the actual campaign results for our customer, it was crucial that we kept track of the entire process.

The campaign’s performance and the accomplishment of our client’s main objective are measured by the quantity of high quality leads. One of the most useful and precise indicators we utilized was the conversion rate (LinkedIn Ads 81%, Twitter Ads 58.2%, Google Display Ad 38.71%, Google Search Ad 84.78%), which we used to compare the number of customer responses to the overall number of people who committed to the call to action.

We instantly increased the amount of high-quality leads when we obtained a significant number of leads as a result of the high numbers of impressions, CTRs, and clicks, making our client pleased with the completion of the target.

Additionally, we ensured that the data was of the greatest caliber and applicable to any demands that the targeted sectors would have. This improved the ranking and visibility of the landing page, increasing user exposure and conversion potential.

Why Media Planning is Essential for Business Growth

Effective media planning is essential for businesses that want to grow and achieve their marketing goals. Media planning is a crucial aspect of product promotion that determines the success of any marketing campaign. This case study highlights how we helped a client with their media planning needs and the benefits they derived from it. Here are the key takeaways from the study:

• Media planning helps businesses to reach their target audience with the right message, at the right time, and through the right channels. It enables them to make informed decisions based on data and insights to optimize their marketing campaigns.
• Dot IT used their expertise in media planning to help their client, a leading consulting company, to identify their target audience, determine the most effective channels to reach them, and optimize their ad spend to achieve the desired results.
• By using a data-driven approach, Dot IT was able to increase the client’s website traffic by 300% and boost their conversion rates by 200%. The client also experienced a 70% decrease in their cost per click (CPC) and a 20% increase in their click-through rates (CTR).
• Due to Dot IT’s understanding of the client’s business and target audience, our expertise in media planning, and the ability to optimize ad spend and create compelling ad copies, the campaign was a total success.

Any medium-sized or large business that wants to grow can benefit from Dot IT’s media planning services. By leveraging data and insights, they can optimize their marketing campaigns and achieve better results.

Thus, a well-designed media plan can help businesses to:

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Media Planning: The Ultimate Guide

Discover the importance of media planning and how the process can save you valuable time, boost conversions, and increase engagements.

FREE MEDIA PLANNING TEMPLATE

Track and organize your media planning and media buying with this free paid media template.

Updated: 06/09/22

Published: 06/09/22

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.

What Is Media Planning?

Benefits of Media Planning

Media planning process, how to create a media plan, media planning templates, media planning and buying, what is media planning.

Media planning is the process of determining how, when, where, and why your business shares media content with your audience. The process includes deciding what media will be shared and which channels you’ll use to boost reach, engagements, conversions, ROI, and more.

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.

Free Media Planning Template

• Organize your paid media placements
• Easily calculate total spend
• Analyze performance and revenue

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

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.

• Conduct market research.
• State your media planning objective.
• Create your media plan using a template.
• Implement your media plan.
• Evaluate your success.

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

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.

What is a media plan?

A media plan details what kind of media you will create and where and how you'll publish it to best engage and convert your audience. Some media plans align with larger company initiatives and campaigns, following along with pre-approved messaging and content.

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.

Free Paid Media Template

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.

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

Buyer Persona Templates

Organize your audience segments and make your marketing stronger.

• Learn about personas.
• Conduct persona research.
• Create targetted content.
• Build your own personas.

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.

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]

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 .

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.

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.

Media Planner

A media planner is also known as a brand strategist or a brand planner. They’re responsible for planning advertising strategies and creating campaigns for businesses.

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.

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Media planning is probably the least visible facet of the advertising & marketing mix. Surprising, some may feel, because media represents the largest cost component of the mix. So, here are a few examples of media strategy / rationale, (albeit in an abridged form), only meant to serve as an indicator of the width and depth (quality) of Stratagem Media’s experience-based outputs.

Stratagem Media undertakes customized training / coaching for media organizations, on media practices. Also Stratagem’s open programs run under the banner of the Media RHYTHM series. read more>>>

Stratagem Media works closely with the sales teams of TV channels, to develop brand/ category-specific presentations for missing brands. read more>>>

Stratagem Media also works closely with the sales teams of Newspaper groups, to develop brand/ category-specific presentations for missing brands. read more>>>

Here’s a quick overview of the penetration and options of traditional media in the country, along with a glimpse of the media industry. read more>>>

This has been a labour of love – a trend analysis of print media – from 2005 to 2009. read more>>>

The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Media Planning Strategy

Today's digital landscape is highly competitive. As a result, businesses nowadays can achieve success by generating and distributing media content to their target audiences

By publishing new media, you boost brand visibility, engagement, conversions, and revenue. Media content also helps you stand out from the crowd. Monitoring, planning, organizing, disseminating, and evaluating that vast amount of media content, on the other hand, might get perplexing over time.

With an exhaustively examined media arranging system set up, groups can thoroughly assess campaign success and settle on instructed choices about further developing execution later. This comprehensive guide explains the whole concept of media planning, sheds light on its benefits, and describes all steps required to build a successful media plan.

What is Media Planning?

Media planning is how marketers select where, when, and how frequently they will promote to maximize engagement and ROI. The media strategy may allocate advertising dollars and resources to multiple online and offline channels such as broadcast, print, paid commercials, video ads, and native content.

In today's competitive marketing world, marketers must deliver customers the relevant message at the right time and through the right channel to see engagement. Marketers determine these "rights" through media planning. Regardless of who is in charge of the development, complete awareness of the components of a media plan, marketing channels, and the aspects that contribute to an effective strategy is required.

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Media planning components:.

Before establishing a plan, the media planner must fill in the blanks on specific components. Without first comprehending its components, making a media plan is akin to blindfolded cycling.

The component checklist serves as the plan's foundation and the following factors should be considered:

• Audience: Who is the message aimed at? What makes the message necessary to them? What is the message’s purpose?
• Marketing budget: How much money do you have to spread the word?
• Conversion objectives: What actions do your messages encourage the audience to take? What effect will this have on the strategy?
• Success is defined as: What are the important performance indicators to monitor? How do they contribute to the strategy? How will you assess and report on these indicators? What is the expected ROI?
• Message frequency: How frequently should the message be communicated? While you want your message to reach your audience as much as possible your resource constraints may force a limit on your frequency. 
• Message reach: How many people should the message reach? Is the communication platform scalable? The platform you use to distribute the message determines how the reach is measured. It is critical for media planners to grasp the nature, applications, and uses of every possible form of media.

Forms of Media

Marketing and advertising materials adopt the shape that best conveys the message and motivates the consumer to perform the desired action. Digital media encompasses everything.

Efforts to spread the word via conventional and digital media can be classified as follows:

• Owned media comprises original materials, such as blog posts and explainer videos , that are released directly on platforms owned and maintained by the organization spreading the message. When an owned media asset goes viral, it brings unprecedented brand awareness especially when the brand needs it. However, it is a desirable but unpredictable state that should never be considered the cornerstone of any media strategy.
• Earned media assets, such as news pieces or profiles in a newspaper or online news site, convey the organization's message but are developed by other parties. Typically, this is a function of public relations or media relations.
• Paid media assets are assets related to advertising spending, such as social media advertisements, paid search ads, and paid commercials on television.

No form of media can be considered insignificant. The sort of media employed can make or break a campaign, and it is only one of several criteria that influence the potential effectiveness of a media plan.

Benefits of Media Planning

Parts of content development and distribution that benefit from media planning include: 

• Knowing your target audience on a deeper level helps you effectively reach them through your media content.
• You are free to choose any social media channels and platforms to distribute your work on.
• You control the timing and frequency of publishing and sharing media or other materials. The strategy also assists in creating a well-defined editorial calendar for publishing branded content across different media platforms.
• Keeping up with the newest media and technological trends.
• It is critical to stick to your budget while you work to create, publish, and share high-quality and engaging media content. Media planning helps you do this and you can execute your campaigns without worrying that you may run out of resources.

Now that we've covered the advantages of media planning, let's go over the processes in the media planning process so you can start designing your company's strategy.

Right Mindset to Create a Media Plan

Once you know that you need a media plan, you should get your team in the right mindset. A well thought out media strategy requires that your team knows why you need it and has a good idea of what entails from this point onwards.

Here are a few points you can discuss with your team to get them in the right mindset before they set out on their journey to create a well thought out media strategy. These are the activities they should expect to perform as part of the overall process of creating a media strategy that will serve its purpose.

Conduct market research

The first step in building your media strategy is to do market research. Market research allows you to personalize your content and media plan for your target demographic and clients.

Begin by strengthening knowledge of your target audience and present consumers, and researching buyer personas (if you haven't previously).

You may use this information to assess which channel will reach, resonate with, and convert your target audience. It will also help you decide the platform and channels to distribute your content.

State your media planning objective

While creating your media plan, have a goal (or a few) to help you navigate the process efficiently. Furthermore, goals can help you determine which types of content and platforms you can say "no" to.

Here are some examples of media planning goals you could have:

• When developing and sharing media, improve cross-team collaboration (for example, content, graphic design, animated video , blog, social media).
• Improve and streamline all media publication and dissemination procedures.
• Improve the schedule for media distribution to guarantee that our material is circulated efficiently and that it is relevant to our target audience.
• Increase the success of our media content by enabling enough time to examine its impact and reach our target audience.
• Increase brand awareness to recruit new talent and retain existing ones.

Assume you want to establish a media plan for your Facebook and Instagram social content. Your goal could be to expedite the content generation process in a timely manner and then schedule postings on both channels ahead of time. 

In this manner, you can ensure that your postings are relevant to your audience, increasing interaction and keeping you at the top of their minds.

Using a template, create your media plan

It is not enough to merely plan and then assume that everyone else is on the same page. In a media plan paper, you must outline your strategy. Then, you'll be able to establish team alignment and hold everyone accountable.

Templates for media planning help you be efficient and productive while working on all the elements. They manage your media content while publishing and sharing it with your audience members.

For example, if your company wants to build a media plan for its Facebook and Instagram accounts, you could use a social media calendar. 

Implement your media plan

Ensure that all parties who should be aware of the strategy have the essential information to assist you in carrying it out. In addition, provide the contact information for your company's media-planning point person if anyone has any questions or complaints.

To better grasp what I mean, consider our previous step's example of your social media strategy for Facebook and Instagram. For example, if you use a social media calendar template as part of your media strategy, make sure everyone working on it or providing content for both platforms has access to it.

Evaluate your success

Whether your media strategy relies on individual Instagram posts or a month-long company-wide campaign, make sure to track the success of your efforts.

Did this media strategy help us achieve our specific objectives? As well as "Did the media planning templates and tools we use provide value to our media development and publication processes?" Inquire about yourself and your team.

How you evaluate the effectiveness of your media plan should be closely related to your company's specific goals for media and content, the teams that develop the media, and the value you want to extract from the media (e.g., boosting conversions, engagements, revenue, etc.).

6 Steps to building a comprehensive media planning strategy

Investigating media planning tactics can assist marketers in properly selecting the appropriate media outlets for distributing messages to a relevant audience. The following summarizes some of the major aspects that must be addressed while developing a media plan.

Selecting Relevant Media Channels

When it comes to sharing material, media strategists have alternatives regarding the channel or channels. First, users receive content via channels, digital or traditional outlets. Television, radio, and print advertisements are examples of traditional media outlets.

Digital channels include social media, websites, email, and other online platforms. Your chosen channel should be what your target audience is likely to use. For example, channels appeal to users depending on their age, gender, socioeconomic status, and other demographic factors.

Determining the relevant timeline

What factors influence the timeline of a media campaign? It is determined by the product or service, message goals, target audience, and event calendar. A project plan is required to determine what assets are required to support the campaign to develop the media campaign timetable.

It can be beneficial to begin at the end when determining resource requirements. For example, when is the best time to publish (or when should you publish)? With that in mind, the planner can begin mapping out the work that needs to be done. Every part of the strategy must be given adequate time to mature.

Coordinating the Channel Mix

A media plan will rarely comprise just one station. Instead, most campaigns will include at least two—and possibly several more—to guarantee that the material is served to as many people as possible.

However, businesses must ensure that the message is consistent across all mediums. Then, when used appropriately, they can be complementary.

This is especially true for social media channels. Therefore, it would be best to have the right content strategy to target the right audience on social media platforms.

Leveraging Audience Targeting

Identifying who to share a message with and how to locate them is known as audience targeting. Most marketers start the audience targeting process by creating buyer personas, which are fictionalized versions of the individuals they want to attract. Once a company has developed its target personas, marketers can more effectively select the appropriate marketing channel to reach the specified demographic.

Audience insights such as age, gender, job, purchasing patterns, interests, financial status, geographic area, and personal or professional aspirations create personas. This data can be acquired using a template containing original research into a current client base or gathered using Google Analytics.

Determining which media channels the persona's real individuals use is a key part of persona building. Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter provide audience segmentation tools that divide their users' demographic information into targetable segments.

Setting Reach and Frequency Goals

Another important aspect of a media strategy is reach, which is strongly related to frequency. As previously stated, reach is a measurement of the number of people who see, read, or listen to the material. The frequency, also known as the number of impressions, is the number of times the audience is expected to see or hear the item. Therefore, marketers must determine what they hope to achieve in terms of reach and frequency when evaluating media plan possibilities.

The amount of money invested in magnifying the message frequently determines reach and frequency. However, because such situations are rare, a media strategy must account for the amount of money required to get the content in front of the right number of people.

Choosing a Voice

The tone employed to convey the message is the "voice" of a piece of information. In written literature, word choice and sentence length influence it. The use of color and shapes in visual media produces "voice." People respond to real messaging, so the voice of a piece of content is vital. Consumers are astute. They recognize attempts to sell them something. Messages that appear or sound inauthentic or irrelevant elicit a visceral response.

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Steps to Develop a successful Media Plan

A solid media strategy guarantees that the material has the highest chance of performing its design function. The marketing team is adrift without a well-thought media strategy. Success, if it happens, is a result of chance rather than careful planning.

After examining the best media planning tactics, marketers must build the finest plan for their organization. The processes for building a media plan are outlined below, beginning with market research.

Conduct Market Research

Before establishing a goal, developing an editorial calendar, or creating a piece of content, the marketing team must first learn a few things about the people who will consume or purchase their product or service. This needs market research, the first step in designing a media plan.

Buyer persona characteristics such as age and other demographics are revealed via market research. It provides information on purchasing behavior as well as personal preferences. In addition, it tells content creators what voice to use, which platforms their potential customers visit, and what type of material will be popular with people.

In a word, market research is the strategy's cornerstone. It should be completed completely and updated on a regular basis based on test results.

Clarify the objective

It is nearly impossible to build an effective marketing asset (ad, blog article, video, static picture, etc.) without first determining why the item is required. The goal must shape every component of the content. What objectives a piece of content assist the marketing team in achieving?

• Brand awareness and loyalty. Inform or demonstrate what the company and its people are all about to a user.
• Thought leadership. Demonstrate or explain why the organization and its employees are experts in their subject to a user.
• Data accessibility. Allow users to access data or history that they can utilize in their professional or personal lives.
• Lead generation. Generate a pool of potential customers by demonstrating how a product or service might be beneficial.
• Lead conversion. Allow a potential consumer to actively seek more information or establish an ongoing relationship with the organization.

Content creators can structure their work with purpose and direction if they have a goal or goals in mind ahead of time. As a result, it expedites the creative process and reduces the amount of time required for revisions. In addition, time spent deciding the ending early on saves time later.

Identify the Target Audience

Audience targeting is the process of segmenting consumers based on their interests and demographic data. 

The primary goal of segmentation is to ensure that the right people receive the message. Of course, the "right people" are individuals who are most likely to use the offered goods or services. Here are some suggestions for effective audience targeting:

• Analytics. Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms analyze consumer data such as geographic location, websites visited, and personal and professional interests. Use these resources to learn more about clients already working with the organization.
• Organize focus groups and surveys. Invite current users and consumers to fact-finding meetings, or use surveys to ask why people use products when and how they do.
• A/B testing. Test how the public reacts to various information to understand what works and what does not. An A/B test examines two versions of the same content, such as an advertisement with the same words but different images. The version that outperforms the others can be used.

Set the budget

When developing a media strategy, every potential cost must be considered. For example, a campaign may necessitate display advertising, social media ad placement, sponsored social media posts, paid search engine ad placement, influencer marketing fees, and other expenses.

The media buyer's job is to estimate the costs of all of these items. The media planner then uses the information to determine the most cost-effective development and distribution of content.

Hidden or unplanned costs can undermine a marketing strategy. Include an "emergency" fund to cover additional fees, commissions, testing, and unforeseen expenses.

Final Thoughts

Organizations can make better data-driven decisions about enhancing marketing ROI and boosting conversions with a thorough media planning strategy. 

It may look like a daunting task at the beginning, but the journey itself is nothing but rewarding. You will identify aspects of your business that you did not consider earlier.

Many brands find that a well-thought media strategy formalizes a lot of things they wanted to do but did not have a framework to get started on those.

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Ten years later, another rebrand was necessary. We helped Cable ONE established itself as a well-trusted company, but the competitive landscape had changed. The strategy was to position superiority over such brand behemoths as Qwest (now CenturyLink) AT&T and DirectTV.

The “Common Sense” campaign was developed and launched in late 2012 as an expression of market research that indicated that both Cable ONE customers, as well as prospects, wanted straightforward communications when it comes to video, high-speed internet and phone services. This effort has since unified all marketing communications, providing a uniform platform from which executions are developed.

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4 digital media planning tips to ace your marketing strategy (with examples)

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It’s an exciting and unpredictable time to be in digital media planning – especially in the agency world.

New media properties seem to pop up daily, social media trends are constantly evolving, and competition for ad space is hotter than ever.

Even so, it’s in this mayhem that independent agencies thrive. So long as they’re agile enough to adapt.

Brands now look to agencies with fresh approaches to creating a digital media plan to help flex with the times and reach target audiences impactfully and efficiently.

But what exactly is digital media planning?

It’s a process that involves developing a digital marketing plan that supports online media ad campaigns. Its purpose is to optimize a company’s message and create brand awareness across multiple channels – from social media and search to display and mobile.

Here, we give you all the tips and tricks for unlocking your client’s target audience using insights mined from survey data, so you can feed it into your media plans, and get a clear steer on ad placement.

4 digital media planning tips to ace your marketing strategy

1. Look beyond demographics and behaviors 2. Size up the market with actual numbers 3. Dive head-first into the cookieless future 4. Take it up a notch with harmonized data 

1. Look beyond demographics and behaviors

Every agency approaches market research and digital media buying differently, but the end goal stays the same:

Get to know your client’s target audience on the deepest level possible.

Clients may think they have a solid idea of their market, but they love being shown new opportunities – especially when you’ve got the data to back it up.

Here’s how the team at WeAreSocial kicks off their market research:

“We try to answer a few specific questions around four areas: the consumer, the brand, the category, and the wider culture”, says Jamie Robinson, Global Research and Insight Director.

The devil’s in the details though, so once you’ve got an idea of where they hang out, you’ll need to know more to ace the media planning process. Much more.

Don’t be afraid to ask “why?”. Not just why an audience enjoys a particular media platform, or why they find certain types of content or digital advertising annoying, but the bigger picture.

Look into their lifestyles, attitudes, perceptions, and even aspirations to see what really drives their actions across the various digital channels they use. Here’s a sample of the questions you should be asking when media planning:

• Personality types: How would they describe themselves?
• Lifestyle indicators: How do they describe their lifestyle?
• Self-perceptions: Which attributes do they say they have?
• Desires: What do they want for themselves in life?
• Values and opinions: Where do they place their energy and trust?

For Arya Alfieri, Creative Strategist at Kiwi , getting this level of understanding is essentially what drives the success of any marketing plan.

“The data gives us the tools we need to map our consumers’ lives. We can build a real idea of our consumer, and then seek to understand the emotions behind the behavior, self-interests, and purchasing actions.”

Every independent agency is trying to find its ‘edge’ – something that sets it apart from the competition – and what differentiates good digital media plans from great ones is whether or not they have a holistic overview of their target audience.

2. Size up the market with actual numbers

Let’s get to the crux of why market sizing is important and work backward.

The big benefit for any media planner is seeing how many of a client’s target audiences exist in a particular market.

A large part of a media planner’s job is getting accurate estimates for the number of actual humans who will see their advertising campaign – and translating that into predicted revenue. Time to big up ROI.

When you’re relying solely on the audience figures presented to you by an independent media outlet, you’re placing a lot of trust in them. Yes, it might sound like the kind of media your client’s target audience engages with, but, you can’t be totally sure they’re measuring the right metrics, the right audiences, or even using an accurate source.

When you supplement their data with your own independent market analysis, you’re not just quantifying your client’s audience as a whole, you’re able to apply that same audience across multiple media types to find the best options.

And, if you’ve built out your client’s audience in as much detail as you can, you can filter by any age group, gender, and lifestyle to get an accurate media planning figure for that segment .

It’s the kind of flexibility that opens the door for a hyper-targeted ad campaign and improved brand awareness.

3. Dive head-first into the cookieless future

In the cookie-free world we’re entering, the trail of digital breadcrumbs that consumers used to leave is vanishing fast. And it makes sense, consumers wanted it:

Agencies are now challenged with finding workarounds that give them the same level of oversight that cookies provided.

Sounds like bad news for media buyers and planners, but actually, it’s a win-win if you’re willing to invest in robust data to enhance your digital marketing strategy. Here’s why.

Better privacy legislation suits surveys. That’s because they’re fully opt-in, giving you access to the attitudes, behaviors, fears, hopes, preferences, and plans of consumers – all while maintaining the privacy and anonymity of respondents.

With access to the right kind of data collected the right kind of way, agencies can tread the line where their clients can’t measure the impact of their media strategy, make digital advertising more relevant, and, ultimately, maximize the return on their advertising spend.

However, there’s more to keep in mind. As our senior trends manager, Tom Morris, points out : “How you think consumers feel about privacy, and how they really feel about it, are two different things.”

Even though over 40% of consumers worry about their online privacy, only around 1 in 5 say they regularly decline cookies on a website. 

4. Take it up a notch with harmonized data

The way we consume content and our relationships with brands have shifted an awful lot recently – so our customer journeys , and the touchpoints that inform them, have become more fragmented.

Studying each media touchpoint in isolation is too restrictive – instead, it’s safer to view the digital space as an ecosystem, with your audience at the center.

Let’s take sports viewership as an example.

Almost half of the people watching sports games will also be engaging with other media types at the same time.

Watching the game is just part of the whole experience, sparking new messaging and engagement opportunities.

Media planners need to approach media management more holistically.

With a harmonized data set , data on every media channel, medium, and audience is collected and processed using the same methodology. That means it’s all comparable, bringing the grey areas between channels into focus and opening up a new world of cross-channel analysis.

Creative & media agency case study: YW Istanbul

For the Turkey-based creative & media agency YW Istanbul , increasing followers and engagement for food brand Bizim Mutfak on Instagram and Facebook was a top social media marketing priority.

The challenge

Keeping up with rapidly-evolving customer behavior can be tricky.

With a decrease in new followers and current audience interaction, it was important to Digital Media Manager Selin Ergin Acar to develop a media plan and campaign goal that helped the brand capture and create its own community.

Acar explains, “We thought that the brand should create its own community by reaching target audiences online with the most accurate channel, content, and advertising strategy, and while doing this, it should look like an influencer rather than a brand with an Instagram account.”

If the team wanted to scale fast and compete against the bigger agencies out there, they needed to connect the brand with its target audience. That’s where GWI came in.

The type of content that audiences consume on Instagram and Facebook was researched through GWI. This helped YW Istanbul recognize Bizim Muftak’s potential consumers and identify its target audience under 5 main headings:

• Practicals: Women who don’t have time to cook and are on the lookout for practical solutions.
• Appearance-focused: Women who care about their appearance and prefer light meals that they can eat at any time of the day.
• Experiencers: Women who love gourmet delicacies, discovering new tastes, and different presentations.
• Health-oriented: Women who strive for a healthy life and love making healthy food choices.
• Locals: Women who prefer traditional Turkish cuisine dishes.

Once they had their audience research process and media plan nailed down, the brand recruited an expert chef to produce traditional recipes that could be made with Bizim Mutfak products. The contents were matched with the interests of the target audience and published on Instagram and Facebook on specific days and times that had the highest interaction potential.

No strangers to leveraging all kinds of data to drive success, the agency made GWI their focal point for everything audience-related, which led to an immediate surge in followers and engagement.

With the correct use of data, customized content, and advertising strategy, Bizim Mutfak was able to increase the number of unique Instagram profile views from 955 to an incredible 19K, and increased the number of monthly post interactions from 324 to 25K.

The number of users the Bizim Mutfak Instagram account reached rose from 152K to 1M. There was also a net increase of 1,500 followers, putting the brand at an awesome 32,172 followers.

Digital media planning is finding its footing

With all the challenges facing today’s media planners, one cornerstone rule should stay top of mind: keep consumer interests at the core.

The world of digital advertising has to move with consumers – and consumers move fast.

Monitor their new behaviors, spot the relationships between media channels, and also look deeper into the key attitudes and perceptions that drive the decision to watch, engage and purchase.

Media planning tools should be designed to cut through the growing noise and clutter of the online world. And with the right data at your side, the answers you need to do just that aren’t far away.

For agencies like WeAreSocial, Kiwi, and YW Istanbul, market survey data gives them a level of clarity and security over their audience and channel research that first-party data can’t. It allows them to produce better results, and because they’re on the sharp edge of technology and legislation, they’re indispensable to their clients.

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It’s time for your media planning to focus on people, 4 minute read | jay nielsen, svp, global planning products, nielsen | february 2021.

If you’re still planning your media the way you did a year ago, you’re a bit late to the party. Just like it has done to everything else, COVID-19 has thrown traditional media norms for a loop, forcing a massive reset amid rapidly evolving consumer behaviors. So in that way, banking on yesterday’s data and processes to succeed heading into 2021 is a recipe for dubious budget allocations, missed opportunity and wasted spend.

The depth, breadth and duration of the pandemic will have lasting effects on consumer behavior, as many of the shifts that have taken place over the past 10 months have now solidified into full-fledged, ingrained habits. Advertising, unsurprisingly, paused during the height of the first wave of lockdowns, but media usage skyrocketed. Shortly thereafter, media engagement normalized to seasonal levels, but the share of time spent with platforms and channels had shifted. Those shifts, and the ones ahead, are what brands need to be on top of—so they can appropriately plan and optimize their spend accordingly.

With change coming more quickly than ever, planning and optimizing might seem like a dizzying prospect. It absolutely doesn’t have to be. Importantly, brands need to re-focus their efforts on people—the north star for any marketing message, advertisement or campaign. Additionally, they need to maintain that focus 24/7, not just once or twice a year. By focusing on people and approaching the planning process continuously, campaign efficiency and effectiveness will assuredly improve.

FUTURE SUCCESS HINGES ON PEOPLE, NOT DEVICES

The marketing landscape has many nicknames for people: audience or customer segments, consumer groups, targets. By adopting a people-based lens, marketers can set aside words with variant meanings and focus on truth. Syndicated third-party and first-party data alike need to work together to ensure that campaigns are effective and successful. That success hinges on people, not impressions, devices or bots. Connections with real people have never been more important, and marketers who design their planning around people, then adjust to changing behaviors and habits, will reap the benefits for years to come. The connections marketers make with their customers will be true, authentic and meaningful, and so will their bottom lines. 

Unlike in times past, modern marketers need to adopt agile practices and stay nimble. Static marketing proposals and plans based on data from six months ago are no longer viable for successful media planning. Pandemic aside, people change, as do their behaviors, so media plans need to be able to follow suit. To accommodate uncertainty, fluidity and the unforeseen, brands should use a flexible and continuous framework for all media planning.

CONNECTED SYSTEMS IMPROVE ACCURACY AND EFFICIENCY

In thinking about ways to remain people-focused and continuously planning, brands should use the same demographic profiles across their software solutions to ensure that their planning and buying stays accurate. This requires broader collaborations across the media landscape, yet facilitates true connections between targets and plans. The days of relying on spreadsheets are over. Data-driven solutions help marketers connect the same key demographic from refinement to optimization to buying. Specific demographics are just that—specific. So when data isn’t connected or aligned, it’s very easy to confuse moms who are shopping for SUVs with women aged 25-54 if all you’ve got to go on is a spreadsheet. Both groups are similar, but similar isn’t good enough anymore. For example, if you’re aiming to reach women 25-54 in your media buying system and you accidentally substitute the right value for moms shopping for SUVs, your target reach will be off. 

When your systems are connected, accuracy and efficiency will improve—without question. Time is another benefit. When a marketer loads competitive intelligence data into a reach and frequency planning system, brands can optimize a previous schedule for a future scenario with a click of a mouse. 

The future is people. Center your plan on people, plan around people and connect your data around people. That’s the blueprint for media planning success, and the data, complemented by an agile approach  to it, will pave the road for effective marketing plans today and tomorrow—regardless of any unforeseen uncertainties.

For additional insight, view the recording of our recent media planning webinar with Forrester. Or if you need help with your ad spend and media planning, you can learn more about Nielsen’s  Ad Intel ,  Clear Decisions  and  Media Impact  solutions.

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• University of Indianapolis

Case Study: An Integrated Media Plan that Delivered A+ Results

How university of indianapolis got its largest first year class ever, the context.

Prior to engaging with us, University of Indianapolis placed traditional media through various vendors, but they didn't have a way to measure what was working and what wasn't. That's when they selected us to develop a targeted, measurable digital campaign that would allow them to directly track conversion and influence enrollment. At the beginning of the engagement, Williams Randall sat down with marketing stakeholders at the university to establish campaign and overall goals, plus metrics that would be used to measure success. D uring this meeting, they challenged us with a lofty goal for the number of incoming first years they expected us to deliver—an enrollment number far beyond anything the university had seen before. Challenge accepted.

So, What Did We Do?

To regain control of the media mix, the first thing we did was consolidate all the buys under one master budget. We developed a comprehensive media plan to reach potential students and their influencers to meet the university’s goal of the highest undergraduate enrollment ever. Our media objective was to generate awareness of University of Indianapolis and drive qualified engagement with landing pages (and occasionally the website) that were designed specifically to motivate prospective undergraduate students to include the school in their consideration set. Strategies to meet these objectives included awareness and lead-generation tactics, detailed audience segmentation, and using a variety of calls to action designed to appeal to prospects in different phases of the research and application process.

Establishing Awareness

To establish awareness within the most relevant and newest student prospects, we utilized targeted online display campaigns, using both behavioral and contextual targeting to reach our audience online. We also included predictive geo-targeting to build relevant display audiences using lists of past University of Indianapolis students and current high school students, and even incorporated lookalike audiences to further expand our reach.

Generating Leads

To grab prospects further down the funnel, Google search campaigns were implemented with a mix of keyword strategies, including academic program-specific, University of Indianapolis-branded, and general college education keywords. Social media ads on Facebook and Instagram, which were originally included for awareness, turned out to be key lead generators for this audience. Specifically, the targeted video and display ads we placed in social delivered strong impressions, engagement and conversions. 

Engaging the Audience

We utilized a variety of calls to action – such as “get free info” (fill out a form), “book a tour” or “apply free online” – to catch users in all stages of their consumer journey, whether they were still researching college options and needed a little push to learn more or if they were ready to apply.

We also layered in display retargeting to further engage prospects who had previously demonstrated behavior indicating some level of interest, such as visiting a landing page or visiting specific qualifying pages on the University of Indianapolis website (financial aid, admissions, academic programs, etc.). We optimized the retargeting strategies throughout the campaign to determine the best ways to encourage prospects to take the next step in the process. In addition, in a future campaign, we ran ads to a list of accepted students to persuade them to commit to the next step in the matriculation process (call to action: "make your deposit").

How Did it Turn Out?

With the secondary education advertising space growing more saturated and competitive each year, we understood that meeting University of Indianapolis’ recruitment goal was a tall order. We are happy to report that after endless hours of planning and campaign optimization, we ended up not just meeting the goal, but exceeding it. In fact, we helped bring in the largest first year class that University of Indianapolis had ever seen!

But the real story here is that we have been able to keep that momentum going. Since that first campaign, we have continued to exceed University of Indianapolis’ growing undergraduate recruitment goals, and we apply what we have learned each year to make our campaigns stronger and stronger.

Recently, our analytics specialists got to deliver this good news about our latest undergraduate campaign (all changes are year over year):

• CPC decreased by 34%
• Conversion rate increased by 236%
• Cost per conversion decreased 81%
• Overall volume of form submissions increased by 223%
• Overall volume of booked tours increased by 935%

Where Do We Go From Here?

We aren’t the type to just tackle one goal and call it a day. Although we exceeded University of Indianapolis’ initial goal and continue to have that same success with our current campaigns, we are always hungry for more. We strive to make our campaigns as innovative and cost-effective as possible, which has allowed us to optimize our budget even further and expand to new tactics like Snapchat since then. It takes planning, learning, collaborating and improving to do our best work possible. Plus the courage to look at the results and trust your gut sometimes. And it takes clients who want those exact same things. Especially the part about improving.

Because the end of every project is really the beginning of the next one.

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12 great case study examples (plus case study writing tips)

GatherContent Contributor, Writer

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This long-form content style is also becoming more common as more marketers discover its value. According to Hubspot’s 2021 State of Marketing report , more than 30% of marketers use case studies as a primary marketing media—up from 13% in 2020.

If you’re new to the world of case studies, we’ll be diving into what case studies are, why they’re important, and how to create your own. We’ll also highlight some compelling case study examples that you can learn from.

What is a case study?

A good case study highlights customer stories showing the following:

• The problems the business faced before using a product or service
• How the product or service proposed to solve the problems
• The before and after of using a product or service
• The measurable positive impact of the product or service on metrics such as click-through rate, website traffic, or sales

While case studies are most often product or service-focused, sometimes businesses use them to share their brand or founder story.

These types of case studies typically focus on organizational progress, such as how they grew their revenue or website traffic. One example is this Outfunnel case study on how the team saved over 80% of its time with user onboarding.

Why are case studies important?

They may not suit every business. But case studies are beneficial, for example, for helping SaaS brands reach future customers.

If they make sense for your industry, case studies should be an important part of your content marketing strategy for many reasons.

Three reasons you should incorporate them as soon as possible are:

• To provide value to your audience: At its core, the best marketing doesn’t just drive sales; it serves its audience. Case studies are a brilliant way to teach your audience tips they can incorporate into their businesses. It can also serve as research for industry experts to quote.
• To show off your expertise: A great case study is a perfect blend of data and storytelling. It showcases your expertise to your target audience, most likely dealing with similar issues. By telling a good story in your case studies, you’re essentially saying, “Look how we made everything better for X client—we can do that for you, too.”
• As social proof: Because case studies are available to the public, they’re undeniable social proof—better than hard-to-believe testimonials with client initials. This makes them extra valuable as MOFU and BOFU content ; they can drive sales at the click of a button.

Good to Know: Not sure how to use case studies? They work well as lead magnets, landing pages, repurposed blog posts, and, if you have the capacity, even video content!

12 real-life case study examples to bookmark

Reading about the mechanics of case studies is more straightforward than writing case studies from scratch.

That’s why we’ve gathered 12 real-life marketing case study examples you can review before you embark on creating yours.

1. GatherContent | University of Edinburgh

What works: In this great case study, GatherContent includes quotes from the client (the University of Edinburgh) about how their software has improved their content workflow. This adds a human element and will help readers with the same issues identify with the client.

View more GatherContent case studies .

2. Omniscient Digital | AppSumo

What works: Omniscient Digital includes client feedback in video format and shares the results they achieved in a digestible bullet point format.

3. Bit.ly | Vissla

What works: Besides hosting this case study on their website, Bit.ly provides a PDF link that can both be viewed online or downloaded. Plus, the PDF is visually appealing and easy to read.

4. Asana | Autodesk

What works: Asana leads with their impact and includes basic information about their client to the right of the page so the reader immediately gets bite-sized background information.

5. Shopify | Bombas

What works: Shopify includes a video in their case study, as well as multiple eye-catching images of Bombas products. This ensures that the case study serves both companies, possibly generating customer interest in Bombas socks.

6. Outfunnel | Alight Analytics

What works: Outfunnel has repurposed its case study into a blog post, which increases its visibility. The study is also full of client quotes, which adds valuable social proof.

7. Sapling | Zapier

What works: Sapling also shares quick preliminary information about Zapier on the left panel and includes several screenshots to show the impact of their product on the company’s processes.

8. BigCommerce | Skullcandy

What works: The quick metrics in bold hit readers quickly and highlight BigCommerce expertise to potential customers even before they read the entire case study.

9. Google Ads | L’Oreal

What works: Video format. Few things beat hearing the client praise the service and explain the process and results of the campaign in their own words.

10. ActiveCampaign | Your Therapy Source

What works: ActiveCampaign efficiently showcases the problems and solutions before delving into how they helped the client achieve desired results.

11. Intuit | Xenex Healthcare

What works: The main benefit is highlighted on the first page of the PDF and the rest of the study delves into the process and the nitty-gritty of the product’s impact.

12. Grayscale | Upwork

What works: This page features minimal text. It focuses on quotes from decision-makers at Upwork and ends with a call-to-action that will likely drive conversions.

How to write your own case study

How can you write engaging, effective case studies like the examples above? Here are six steps.

1. Identify a worthy case

Think of projects—either for yourself or for clients—that got outstanding results. Then, whittle it down to the cases that your target audience is most likely to relate to , perhaps because they experience the same problem or have the same goal as in the case.

2. Reflect on your chosen case

Once you’ve decided on the case you’ll start with, do some deeper reflection on the details. What was the project goal? What challenges did you encounter along the way? How did you overcome them to reach your goal?

3. Think about differentiation

Take the last step even further and think of anything you did differently than others might. Did you an experimental tactic or strategy or create a custom solution? If so, use those details to subtly show potential customers why they should be interested in what you have to offer.

4. Gather quotes

Next, get hard-hitting quotes from project stakeholders or clients. Having their thoughts on goals, project obstacles, the solutions provided, and the outcomes will make your description of the case more credible.

5. Draft your case study

Time to turn the details you’ve compiled into a case study draft. How? We’ll talk about the best format for case studies shortly.

6. Add visuals

Next, create visuals that will reinforce the main points of your case study. These could include:

• Charts or screenshots to show the change in metrics before and after the project
• An infographic to give a brief visual overview of the case
• Pictures of deliverables (e.g. a web design agency might show a picture of the new site it designed for a client)
• Product images such as screenshots from within your software that was used on the project

After any designated reviewers and approvers give their stamp of approval on the case study, it’s ready to be published and promoted!

What’s the best case study format?

We’ve seen A+ examples of case studies and gotten some more context on how to create them for your brand or organization. Now, it's time to get to work. As you do, remember to include the following vital sections in your case study format:

• Client name and profile
• The problem
• Your solution (and screenshots!)
• Before and after ( real results with data)
• Appealing visuals, photos, illustrations, infographics, charts, and graphs
• A memorable CTA

Ready to get started? Thankfully, you don’t have to go it alone.

GatherContent—a powerful tool for case study creation

GatherContent makes it possible to keep track of all your case study research —even while working with your marketing team. You don’t have to guess what stage the piece is at or consult another tool to know when your part is due or who to pass the torch to.

GatherContent is a content hub that helps you keep all your content creation in one place , whether you’re writing blog posts, email newsletters, social media posts, or case studies. With content modeling features like Components , you can effortlessly maintain brand identity throughout all your case studies.

Read more customer success stories here to learn more!

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Learn six collaborative methods for prioritising content so your team can be aligned and have confidence in the content being published..

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We’ve made some exciting changes since your last visit, bringing you:

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Advertising made simpler for you. Read about new Advertising Trends, Campaigns, and Strategies.

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Media Planning – Definition, Forms, Importance, Process and Benefits

June 10, 2023 | By Hitesh Bhasin | Filed Under: Marketing

Media planning is the process of identifying and selecting media outlets like television, newspapers, radio, magazines, etc., on which paid advertisements can be done. The person who is in charge of evaluating these media options and strategizing the advertising campaign to promote the said products or services is known as the media planner. Media plans help in finding the most efficient way to deliver the advertiser’s message across its audience.

Delivering messages to your audience is an essential and also crucial step to advertising. Media planners help the right message reach the right audience.

Table of Contents

What is Media Planning?

Media Planning is the process that advertisers go through before launching advertising campaigns to increase effectiveness. It is a crucial first step to any ad campaign. It is the process by which marketers where, when, and how often they will advertise so that the engagement and ROI (Return on investment) are maximized.

The Forms of media planning

Every business differs concerning what form of media would be profitable to it. The requirement for well-executed media planning is the effective delivery of a message to the targeted audience and positive customer response. Digital media includes all the assets a customer finds on the internet. Some of these are PPC (pay-per-click) ads, banner ads, video ads, etc. Media planners rely on the various forms of digital and traditional media to choose which kind best serves the purpose for different advertisers.

Some forms of these media platforms include:

1. Owned Media

Owned media is any web property that one can control and is unique to one’s brand. These include blogs and videos on any website. These kinds of media advertisements are shared on the platform, which the marketer owns. The more owned media a brand has, the more chances it can increase its brand presence in the digital space. These are an extension of one’s brand and creates additional avenues for the people to interact with one’s brand.

2. Paid Media

In simple words, paid media is marketing one pays for. Paying to promote content helps in gaining more exposure. Several social media platforms offer paid media advertising that can help boost the content and the website. It increases the probability of driving the searches to one’s websites. It is a great way to promote content to generate more earned media. It also drives traffic directly to the owned media properties.

3. Earned Media

Earned media is publicity or exposure gained from methods other than paid advertising. Earned media essentially is online word of mouth. It usually consists of mentions, shares, reposts, recommendations, or content picked up by 3rd party sites.

All three elements, owned, earned, and paid, are essential to digital media strategy.

Factors in Media Planning

Each media platform has its pros and cons. For example, some advertising media is cost-effective, and some have a vast reach. The followings are the factors that a media planner should consider before selecting a media platform for advertising and promotion.

The reach of an ad is the most crucial factor that influences the decision of a media planner. The reach of media can be defined as the number of individuals who see an advertisement or post through different media platforms. Traditional media platforms like television and newspaper have greater reachability as compared to media platforms like radio.

However, in the era of the internet, the social media platform has maximum reachability. If a company is planning to target youngsters, then the social media platform is the best platform to reach them. Therefore, it is essential to consider the reachability of the media platform before you invest your money in it.

2. Cost per thousand

In advertising, the cost of advertising is divided per thousand people. How much the company needs to pay to a newspaper to reach one thousand people? The total cost of advertising is calculated by multiplying the cost per thousand with the total number of people.

For example, if a newspaper has 100,000 subscribers and it takes $100 for an advertisement to reach 1000 subscribers, then the advertising company is required to pay $10,000 to the newspaper to get its ad printed in the newspaper.

As a media planner, you would like to choose a media platform with lower cost and high reachability.

3. Frequency of advertisement

The frequency of advertising can be defined as the total number of times an ad would be shown to an individual. It is considered that an ad is required to show at least three or four times to make an individual familiar with the brand.

Therefore, the higher the frequency of advertisement better will be the outcome. However, the cost is also an essential factor that affects the frequency of advertisement. You are required to pay more if you want your ad to be shown frequently.

The impact of the media platform means how likely the chosen media can persuade your audience to take action. Different media have different effects on the audience. For example, an advertisement for perfume in a fashion magazine is more impactful than in a local newspaper.

Similarly, the ad of millennial products should be advertised on internet websites and social media platforms. An advertisement for food items will be more impactful on television. Therefore, a media platform should be selected based on the kind of product that you want to advertise.

If you choose the wrong media platform to promote your product, then the outcome will not be as good as you would expect it to be.

5. Selectivity

This factor focuses on the number of logical audiences in the advertisement of your product. The high reachability of your media platform will be ineffective if the percentage of the valid audience who can afford to purchase your product is low.

For example, a full front-page advertisement of Porsche car in a local newspaper will not get you enough return on investment because the percentage of the audience who could afford your car will be meager.

Therefore, the role of media planner becomes essential as an expert who can calculate the return on advertising investment and can choose the right platform to advertise your products.

Importance of media planning process

The success of your advertising campaign depends mainly on the media planning process. An effective media planning can result in a significant return on investment, whereas ineffective media planning might result in a poor return on investment and lowered brand image.

Have you ever realized that a particular tone or song can remind you of a brand without even mentioning its name? For example, you will be told of thumbs up beverages just by hearing the tune of the song “AjKuchtoofaniKartehai”. Similarly, the tagline “I’m loving it” will remind you of the McDonalds.

This is all possible because of the effective media planning of the brands. They were able to succeed in targeting the right audience, at the right time through the right media. The choice of right media is significant for the success of an advertising media campaign.

An effective media planning is essential if you want to get into the minds of people. The choice of right media will attract the right customers towards your brand. Companies with small advertising budgets get successful in making their brand’s name in the market because of the correct media planning.

In the next section, you will learn about the steps involved in the process of media planning.

Benefits of Media planning

1. organization.

The advertisement campaigns will become more organized from the beginning.

2. Tracking

Tracking and setting goals would become more accessible.

3. Determining the target audience

Planning leads to in-depth research of the audience, which will make targeting the audience more effectively.

4. Conducting analyses to keep up with the competition

In the competitive environment of digital media, planning an advertisement before the campaign would help stay ahead of the peers.

5. Keeping up with internet trends

Media planning agencies have several tricks to engage the audience. The internet keeps on upgrading and introducing trends. Media planning helps advertisers keep up with these trends, which increases trafficking.

6. Budgeting

Media planning also helps the marketers remain within the budget and avoids overspending the capital.

7. Media Planning Strategies

Forming media planning strategies can help marketers in extracting the full potential of an advertisement campaign. Some of these strategies can be:

8. Choosing Relevant Media channels

Choosing the right media channel to share content is an essential step. There are several traditional as well as digital channels that serve a range to users. Traditional channels include television, radio, magazines, etc.

Digital channels include social media, blogs, websites, videos, and other online platforms. The choice of channels should be in relevance to the targeted audience. Channels are selected based on the kind of content being promoted, demographics, geographical aspects, etc.

9. Formulating a marketing strategy

Forming a marketing strategy is an intricate step in a well-executed media planning method. It helps the marketer thrive in a competitive environment. It helps maintain the budget over an advertisement campaign.

Forming a marketing strategy involves

• Study the external and internal factors that may affect the media plan.
• Conduct segmentation regarding the target audience, so the message is reached across the maximum number of people.
• Take into consideration and acting according to the four marketing mixes, i.e., product, price, place, and promotion.

10. Prioritizing the targeted audience

If a media planner has succumbed to all the strategies and made a successful advertising campaign, the sales are still not what one expected. This can hugely be because even though they did everything right, the advertisement was not directed to the right people, i.e., the targeted audience.

Once a company chooses the right target audience for its brand, choosing the correct media channel becomes easier.

11. Setting goals

The main aspect of any successful advertisement, especially in the digital context, is the number of people it reaches. This is known as the reach of any content. This reach can be measured by the likes, comments, shares, views, etc. that content receives. Tracking such information and setting goals accordingly can be a vital element to increasing an advertisement’s engagement. Marketers can set a benchmark according to the reach that their content is receiving. This further helps them in improving the quality of their content.

12. Setting the tone

The “tone” that any advertisement uses can make or break the product’s reputation. This tone refers to the choice and length of the words and paragraphs used in the content in the written context. In visual media, this “tone” refers to the message spread across by the kind of pictures, colors, and shapes being portrayed. The tone of an advertisement builds trust between the marketer and their prospective customer. This tone needs to be promising to tell the customers that their needs will be fulfilled.

Steps in the media planning process

There are four important elements of a media plan

1. Proper Research and Analysis

There should be in-depth research about the stated brand and its components. These include the targeted audience, keynotes from previous ad campaigns, market segmentation, media channels, budget, etc.

2. Incorporating ways to increase engagement

Digital advertising is all about who saw your brand. Media planning includes implementing ways to resonate with the target audience based on demographics and viewership.

3. Media strategy

Forming a media strategy includes reaching out to the targeted audience, budgeting, setting goals, etc., to bring out the most effective in the campaign.

4. Implementation

Forming a perfect plan for an advertisement campaign would go to waste if the plan is not implemented correctly. Implementing simply means when and how and you will launch, monitor, and measure the ad campaign’s effectiveness.

What is Media Buying?

Media buying is the next step after successful media planning. Both processes take place side by side. Media buying involves the set of strategic wholesale multi-platform ad space purchases, negotiations, and arrangements that are aimed at finding the most effective ad places at the lowest rates. A specialized media buying requires a special set of skills and techniques, such as an intricate understanding of the market. Media buyers also indulge in networking and building relationships with people in the industry. This provides the companies with an advantage as they have a better chance of getting a fair deal.

The process of media buying includes prelaunch, launch, and post-launch. The first part of the process involves media buyers getting the right set of opportunities for a client to advertise. During the launch phase, buyers must be able to guarantee that advertisers deliver on their objectives. The final step, post-launch, involves assessing how effective the campaign was and reporting back to businesses to provide feedback.

Key differences between media buying and media planning

The main aim both for media planning as well as media buying, in the end, is to help establish a successful advertising campaign to help a brand flourish.

Media planning helps in identifying what mix of media platforms will best achieve the goals of a campaign based upon the constantly changing trends of the marketplace. The goal is to determine when, where and how often a message should be placed to optimize audience response.

Media buying, on the other hand, is the acquisition of media space and time slots that ensures that the message reaches the set target audience across different media channels. Media buyers mainly deal with concerns like ad impact, ROI (Return on investment), taking care of ad frauds, engagement, among others.

The process consists of various steps like researching about various platforms, the audience, and the pricing for these platforms.

An overall media strategy incorporates both these processes. Media planning as well as buying both are critical functions of the building and executing contemporary marketing strategies. An imbalance created between both of these strategies can hugely influence the quality of the ad campaign. The results may diminish in purchasing media without ensuring its potential for optimal results. It could also affect the development of a sound plan that lacks actual media placement.

Liked this post? Check out the complete series on Advertising

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• Merchandise Planning: Components, Importance, and Process
• The 7 Important Steps Retail Planning Process you Should know
• Media Mix Definition – What is Media Mix?
• What is Owned Media? Definition, Channels, Process and Examples
• Who is Media Buyer? Role of Media Buyer Explained
• Retail Assortment Planning: Factors Affecting and the Importance
• What is Transportation Planning? Meaning, Objectives Importance,
• Sales And Operations Planning (S&OP) – Meaning and Importance
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About Hitesh Bhasin

Hitesh Bhasin is the CEO of Marketing91 and has over a decade of experience in the marketing field. He is an accomplished author of thousands of insightful articles, including in-depth analyses of brands and companies. Holding an MBA in Marketing, Hitesh manages several offline ventures, where he applies all the concepts of Marketing that he writes about.

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Title: the case for developing a foundation model for planning-like tasks from scratch.

Abstract: Foundation Models (FMs) have revolutionized many areas of computing, including Automated Planning and Scheduling (APS). For example, a recent study found them useful for planning problems: plan generation, language translation, model construction, multi-agent planning, interactive planning, heuristics optimization, tool integration, and brain-inspired planning. Besides APS, there are many seemingly related tasks involving the generation of a series of actions with varying guarantees of their executability to achieve intended goals, which we collectively call planning-like (PL) tasks like business processes, programs, workflows, and guidelines, where researchers have considered using FMs. However, previous works have primarily focused on pre-trained, off-the-shelf FMs and optionally fine-tuned them. This paper discusses the need for a comprehensive FM for PL tasks from scratch and explores its design considerations. We argue that such an FM will open new and efficient avenues for PL problem-solving, just like LLMs are creating for APS.

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How can I plan what to eat or drink when I have diabetes?

How can physical activity help manage my diabetes, what can i do to reach or maintain a healthy weight, should i quit smoking, how can i take care of my mental health, clinical trials for healthy living with diabetes.

Healthy living is a way to manage diabetes . To have a healthy lifestyle, take steps now to plan healthy meals and snacks, do physical activities, get enough sleep, and quit smoking or using tobacco products.

Healthy living may help keep your body’s blood pressure , cholesterol , and blood glucose level, also called blood sugar level, in the range your primary health care professional recommends. Your primary health care professional may be a doctor, a physician assistant, or a nurse practitioner. Healthy living may also help prevent or delay health problems  from diabetes that can affect your heart, kidneys, eyes, brain, and other parts of your body.

Making lifestyle changes can be hard, but starting with small changes and building from there may benefit your health. You may want to get help from family, loved ones, friends, and other trusted people in your community. You can also get information from your health care professionals.

What you choose to eat, how much you eat, and when you eat are parts of a meal plan. Having healthy foods and drinks can help keep your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels in the ranges your health care professional recommends. If you have overweight or obesity, a healthy meal plan—along with regular physical activity, getting enough sleep, and other healthy behaviors—may help you reach and maintain a healthy weight. In some cases, health care professionals may also recommend diabetes medicines that may help you lose weight, or weight-loss surgery, also called metabolic and bariatric surgery.

Choose healthy foods and drinks

There is no right or wrong way to choose healthy foods and drinks that may help manage your diabetes. Healthy meal plans for people who have diabetes may include

• dairy or plant-based dairy products
• nonstarchy vegetables
• protein foods
• whole grains

Try to choose foods that include nutrients such as vitamins, calcium , fiber , and healthy fats . Also try to choose drinks with little or no added sugar , such as tap or bottled water, low-fat or non-fat milk, and unsweetened tea, coffee, or sparkling water.

Try to plan meals and snacks that have fewer

• foods high in saturated fat
• foods high in sodium, a mineral found in salt
• sugary foods , such as cookies and cakes, and sweet drinks, such as soda, juice, flavored coffee, and sports drinks

Your body turns carbohydrates , or carbs, from food into glucose, which can raise your blood glucose level. Some fruits, beans, and starchy vegetables—such as potatoes and corn—have more carbs than other foods. Keep carbs in mind when planning your meals.

You should also limit how much alcohol you drink. If you take insulin  or certain diabetes medicines , drinking alcohol can make your blood glucose level drop too low, which is called hypoglycemia . If you do drink alcohol, be sure to eat food when you drink and remember to check your blood glucose level after drinking. Talk with your health care team about your alcohol-drinking habits.

Find the best times to eat or drink

Talk with your health care professional or health care team about when you should eat or drink. The best time to have meals and snacks may depend on

• what medicines you take for diabetes
• what your level of physical activity or your work schedule is
• whether you have other health conditions or diseases

Ask your health care team if you should eat before, during, or after physical activity. Some diabetes medicines, such as sulfonylureas  or insulin, may make your blood glucose level drop too low during exercise or if you skip or delay a meal.

Plan how much to eat or drink

You may worry that having diabetes means giving up foods and drinks you enjoy. The good news is you can still have your favorite foods and drinks, but you might need to have them in smaller portions  or enjoy them less often.

For people who have diabetes, carb counting and the plate method are two common ways to plan how much to eat or drink. Talk with your health care professional or health care team to find a method that works for you.

Carb counting

Carbohydrate counting , or carb counting, means planning and keeping track of the amount of carbs you eat and drink in each meal or snack. Not all people with diabetes need to count carbs. However, if you take insulin, counting carbs can help you know how much insulin to take.

Plate method

The plate method helps you control portion sizes  without counting and measuring. This method divides a 9-inch plate into the following three sections to help you choose the types and amounts of foods to eat for each meal.

• Nonstarchy vegetables—such as leafy greens, peppers, carrots, or green beans—should make up half of your plate.
• Carb foods that are high in fiber—such as brown rice, whole grains, beans, or fruits—should make up one-quarter of your plate.
• Protein foods—such as lean meats, fish, dairy, or tofu or other soy products—should make up one quarter of your plate.

If you are not taking insulin, you may not need to count carbs when using the plate method.

Work with your health care team to create a meal plan that works for you. You may want to have a diabetes educator  or a registered dietitian  on your team. A registered dietitian can provide medical nutrition therapy , which includes counseling to help you create and follow a meal plan. Your health care team may be able to recommend other resources, such as a healthy lifestyle coach, to help you with making changes. Ask your health care team or your insurance company if your benefits include medical nutrition therapy or other diabetes care resources.

Talk with your health care professional before taking dietary supplements

There is no clear proof that specific foods, herbs, spices, or dietary supplements —such as vitamins or minerals—can help manage diabetes. Your health care professional may ask you to take vitamins or minerals if you can’t get enough from foods. Talk with your health care professional before you take any supplements, because some may cause side effects or affect how well your diabetes medicines work.

Research shows that regular physical activity helps people manage their diabetes and stay healthy. Benefits of physical activity may include

• lower blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels
• better heart health
• healthier weight
• better mood and sleep
• better balance and memory

Talk with your health care professional before starting a new physical activity or changing how much physical activity you do. They may suggest types of activities based on your ability, schedule, meal plan, interests, and diabetes medicines. Your health care professional may also tell you the best times of day to be active or what to do if your blood glucose level goes out of the range recommended for you.

Do different types of physical activity

People with diabetes can be active, even if they take insulin or use technology such as insulin pumps .

Try to do different kinds of activities . While being more active may have more health benefits, any physical activity is better than none. Start slowly with activities you enjoy. You may be able to change your level of effort and try other activities over time. Having a friend or family member join you may help you stick to your routine.

The physical activities you do may need to be different if you are age 65 or older , are pregnant , or have a disability or health condition . Physical activities may also need to be different for children and teens . Ask your health care professional or health care team about activities that are safe for you.

Aerobic activities

Aerobic activities make you breathe harder and make your heart beat faster. You can try walking, dancing, wheelchair rolling, or swimming. Most adults should try to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week. Aim to do 30 minutes a day on most days of the week. You don’t have to do all 30 minutes at one time. You can break up physical activity into small amounts during your day and still get the benefit. 1

Strength training or resistance training

Strength training or resistance training may make your muscles and bones stronger. You can try lifting weights or doing other exercises such as wall pushups or arm raises. Try to do this kind of training two times a week. 1

Balance and stretching activities

Balance and stretching activities may help you move better and have stronger muscles and bones. You may want to try standing on one leg or stretching your legs when sitting on the floor. Try to do these kinds of activities two or three times a week. 1

Some activities that need balance may be unsafe for people with nerve damage or vision problems caused by diabetes. Ask your health care professional or health care team about activities that are safe for you.

Stay safe during physical activity

Staying safe during physical activity is important. Here are some tips to keep in mind.

Drink liquids

Drinking liquids helps prevent dehydration , or the loss of too much water in your body. Drinking water is a way to stay hydrated. Sports drinks often have a lot of sugar and calories , and you don’t need them for most moderate physical activities.

Avoid low blood glucose

Check your blood glucose level before, during, and right after physical activity. Physical activity often lowers the level of glucose in your blood. Low blood glucose levels may last for hours or days after physical activity. You are most likely to have low blood glucose if you take insulin or some other diabetes medicines, such as sulfonylureas.

Ask your health care professional if you should take less insulin or eat carbs before, during, or after physical activity. Low blood glucose can be a serious medical emergency that must be treated right away. Take steps to protect yourself. You can learn how to treat low blood glucose , let other people know what to do if you need help, and use a medical alert bracelet.

Avoid high blood glucose and ketoacidosis

Taking less insulin before physical activity may help prevent low blood glucose, but it may also make you more likely to have high blood glucose. If your body does not have enough insulin, it can’t use glucose as a source of energy and will use fat instead. When your body uses fat for energy, your body makes chemicals called ketones .

High levels of ketones in your blood can lead to a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) . DKA is a medical emergency that should be treated right away. DKA is most common in people with type 1 diabetes . Occasionally, DKA may affect people with type 2 diabetes  who have lost their ability to produce insulin. Ask your health care professional how much insulin you should take before physical activity, whether you need to test your urine for ketones, and what level of ketones is dangerous for you.

Take care of your feet

People with diabetes may have problems with their feet because high blood glucose levels can damage blood vessels and nerves. To help prevent foot problems, wear comfortable and supportive shoes and take care of your feet  before, during, and after physical activity.

If you have diabetes, managing your weight  may bring you several health benefits. Ask your health care professional or health care team if you are at a healthy weight  or if you should try to lose weight.

If you are an adult with overweight or obesity, work with your health care team to create a weight-loss plan. Losing 5% to 7% of your current weight may help you prevent or improve some health problems  and manage your blood glucose, cholesterol, and blood pressure levels. 2 If you are worried about your child’s weight  and they have diabetes, talk with their health care professional before your child starts a new weight-loss plan.

You may be able to reach and maintain a healthy weight by

• following a healthy meal plan
• consuming fewer calories
• being physically active
• getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night 3

If you have type 2 diabetes, your health care professional may recommend diabetes medicines that may help you lose weight.

Online tools such as the Body Weight Planner  may help you create eating and physical activity plans. You may want to talk with your health care professional about other options for managing your weight, including joining a weight-loss program  that can provide helpful information, support, and behavioral or lifestyle counseling. These options may have a cost, so make sure to check the details of the programs.

Your health care professional may recommend weight-loss surgery  if you aren’t able to reach a healthy weight with meal planning, physical activity, and taking diabetes medicines that help with weight loss.

If you are pregnant , trying to lose weight may not be healthy. However, you should ask your health care professional whether it makes sense to monitor or limit your weight gain during pregnancy.

Both diabetes and smoking —including using tobacco products and e-cigarettes—cause your blood vessels to narrow. Both diabetes and smoking increase your risk of having a heart attack or stroke , nerve damage , kidney disease , eye disease , or amputation . Secondhand smoke can also affect the health of your family or others who live with you.

If you smoke or use other tobacco products, stop. Ask for help . You don’t have to do it alone.

Feeling stressed, sad, or angry can be common for people with diabetes. Managing diabetes or learning to cope with new information about your health can be hard. People with chronic illnesses such as diabetes may develop anxiety or other mental health conditions .

Learn healthy ways to lower your stress , and ask for help from your health care team or a mental health professional. While it may be uncomfortable to talk about your feelings, finding a health care professional whom you trust and want to talk with may help you

• lower your feelings of stress, depression, or anxiety
• manage problems sleeping or remembering things
• see how diabetes affects your family, school, work, or financial situation

Ask your health care team for mental health resources for people with diabetes.

Sleeping too much or too little may raise your blood glucose levels. Your sleep habits may also affect your mental health and vice versa. People with diabetes and overweight or obesity can also have other health conditions that affect sleep, such as sleep apnea , which can raise your blood pressure and risk of heart disease.

NIDDK conducts and supports clinical trials in many diseases and conditions, including diabetes. The trials look to find new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease and improve quality of life.

What are clinical trials for healthy living with diabetes?

Clinical trials—and other types of clinical studies —are part of medical research and involve people like you. When you volunteer to take part in a clinical study, you help health care professionals and researchers learn more about disease and improve health care for people in the future.

Researchers are studying many aspects of healthy living for people with diabetes, such as

• how changing when you eat may affect body weight and metabolism
• how less access to healthy foods may affect diabetes management, other health problems, and risk of dying
• whether low-carbohydrate meal plans can help lower blood glucose levels
• which diabetes medicines are more likely to help people lose weight

Find out if clinical trials are right for you .

Watch a video of NIDDK Director Dr. Griffin P. Rodgers explaining the importance of participating in clinical trials.

What clinical trials for healthy living with diabetes are looking for participants?

You can view a filtered list of clinical studies on healthy living with diabetes that are federally funded, open, and recruiting at www.ClinicalTrials.gov . You can expand or narrow the list to include clinical studies from industry, universities, and individuals; however, the National Institutes of Health does not review these studies and cannot ensure they are safe for you. Always talk with your primary health care professional before you participate in a clinical study.

This content is provided as a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health. NIDDK translates and disseminates research findings to increase knowledge and understanding about health and disease among patients, health professionals, and the public. Content produced by NIDDK is carefully reviewed by NIDDK scientists and other experts.

NIDDK would like to thank: Elizabeth M. Venditti, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

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Protecting the Great Lakes from climate change? The Army Corps of Engineers wants your input

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is looking for input on how to make the Great Lakes region more resilient to the effects of climate change.

The Corps is holding a series of virtual meetings for its Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study in collaboration with the seven Great Lakes states.

Mike Padilla with the Corps says the five-year collaborative study will use research along with input from stakeholders and the public on how to protect the economic, social and environmental value of the Great Lakes.

"What we're trying to do is identify coastal areas and coastal resources that are likely, are already or likely become vulnerable to flooding, erosion and accretion," he said. "We want to identify resilient actions that address those vulnerabilities and improve resilience and adaptability of coastal resources."

Resilient actions can include investments that support the protection of infrastructure, habitat, resources and recreation in the region, Padilla said.

"We're worried about the things that could cause disruptions or events that could be negative or impactful to the [people] here," he said. "That could be variable water levels and ice conditions under a range of possible climate change scenarios."

One goal of the study is to preserve the water quality and shoreline in the face of climate change, said Scudder Mackey, chief of the Office of Coastal Management with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

"Nutrient and sediment loading to the lake that helps, generate and cause the harmful algal blooms," he said. "More specific issues that we deal with are … water level, storms and social events, coastal erosion and flooding, sand resources, habitat loss and degradation."

"What we're trying to do is identify coastal areas and coastal resources that are likely are already or likely become vulnerable to flooding, erosion and accretion," he said. "We want to identify resilient actions that address those vulnerabilities and improve resilience and adaptability of coastal resources."

Padilla says the Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study is expected to be completed in 2028 and will include a strategic plan to preserve lakefront communities and water conditions.

The next virtual public meeting is cohosted by Michigan at 3 p.m. Thursday over Zoom . The public meetings continue through next week with a meeting hosted by the state of New York Monday at 2 p.m. and two separate meetings on Tuesday hosted by the state of Wisconsin at 11 a.m. and by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at 6:30 p.m.

Diversity in children's literature – the Black children's library as a case study for discrimination-sensitive reading (aloud)

Monday 13th may - 12:00 to 12:50 pm.

Presentation language: German This event will take place online.

In this short presentation followed by a discussion round, the Black Children's Library Bremen will introduce itself. Co-director and speaker Maimuna Sallah (she/her) will explain the concept of the children's library, offer a virtual tour, and engage with participants in a discussion on the topic of diversity in children's literature.

Click here to register