Media planning: If you know your goal, you can determine the right course
Strategic media planning requires realistic - and above all correct - targets. In the third part of the whitepaper series, Oliver Schönfeld from TWMedia shows what needs to be considered when defining objectives and how to ensure that the right KPIs are used, including a tried-and-tested checklist.
Defining the right and realistic goals in media planning is like a map that shows the captain on the high seas the way to the port of destination. Without a map (and a destination), you will just drift around blindly, end up in uncharted waters or, in the worst case, be shipwrecked.
If the goals are unclear or unrealistic, the result will inevitably be unsatisfactory. It becomes fatal if the strategy is based on castles in the air that are impossible to achieve. Often too many - or, even worse, contradictory - goals are stated in the briefing. With the result that the media money fizzles out ineffectively.
Ask yourself questions
Every brand must define for itself where it positions itself and where it wants to position itself in the future. However, this also includes localizing where deficits exist. For example, in terms of brand awareness, image, likeability, buying interest, recommendation, loyalty, etc.
This is condensed in the question: "What do people think about my brand today and what should they think about my brand tomorrow?" This is formulated and visualized in a strategic brand and media plan that shows which measures can be used to achieve the path from the current situation to the target situation.
This question is essential information for defining communication goals and measures. In reality, however, many people give little or no thought to brands - or much less thought than some marketing managers would like to admit.
However, goals should also be set in such a way that they have a chance of being achieved. The best goals are of no use if I don't have the means and basic strategic considerations to implement them in order to gain a competitive advantage over my competitors.
A good communication plan is effective
Marketing and communication goals should therefore be conclusively argued in the briefing so that the media agency can derive comprehensible - and above all realistic - media goals from this. The clearer and more unambiguous the objectives are defined, the more effective the media strategy developed from them will be.
A good communication plan defines clear goals and places them in a realistic relationship to the competition and the available resources. In my experience, this should not exceed a period of twelve months. Anything else would be nonsense. A marketing strategy, on the other hand, should be much longer-term. Otherwise, you run the risk of so-called "marketing tactification" - also known as "actionism" - which is the opposite of a strategy.
Use SMART goals
Good marketers use so-called SMART goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and scheduled. Above all, the fewer and clearer the better. Or as marketing guru Michael Porter would say: "A strategy defines what you shouldn't do." Of course, you can come up with a colorful bouquet of goals, but this is not expedient. With too many goals, you run the risk of getting bogged down or contradicting yourself. In my experience, unless you are P&G, Unilever or Amazon, a maximum of two to three goals work best for the overall plan.
The choice of the right channels, combined with the right message (creation), plays an important role here. In a good media strategy, each selected channel is assigned a justified role (task) in the mix - which does not always happen in reality. But the success of your media strategy and the use of your advertising budget depends on this.
More information about the The third white paper from TWMedia deals with the topic of "Goals" - with valuable practical tips for more media power.
After holding various positions at media and creative agencies and as head of marketing at an outdoor advertising company, he took over Oliver Schönfeld took up the position of Managing Director at TWmedia in Basel in 2018. He has acquired his knowledge through a great deal of curiosity, many years of experience and by studying marketing and psychology on the windy Baltic coast and in vibrant Manchester.
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