What are the biggest barriers to successful media planning from an advertiser’s point of view?

Media planning is a process where marketers and advertisers determine how, when and where the consumer is exposed to a certain advertising message (Marketing Evolution, 2019). From an advertiser’s point of view planning correctly is the difference between a successful or unsuccessful outcome. ‘Successful media planning achieves specific brand goals from its audience, such as: Awareness, Association, Consideration, and Motivation.’ (TheMarketingMagpie, 2021).

There are many barriers to successful media planning, highlighted below are three main reasons why media planning may not succeed from an advertiser’s point of view:

1. Creativity

Creativity is an important part of media planning, it allows for memorable, long-lasting advertising. Advertisers are constantly being forced to adapt to rapid changes in digital technology and online trends (Budíková, 2014). The rise of social media has paved the way for new and exciting marketing techniques; however, it constantly provides a challenge for advertisers as it becomes impossible to keep up with changing trends. Arguably this is compounded with consideration of managing consumer expectations while media planning (Gusho, 2020).

Due to everchanging trends, it can be hard to implement a cemented media plan. Advertisers need to include room within their plan to make alterations and cater to certain trends. An essential part of their job will be to keep on top of trends and understanding their consumer. They need to be flexible and be prepared to change their plan according to trends and consumer behaviour. Including research into your target audience, will be a huge help when media planning and prepping for a change in trends, it benefits the brand hugely to build consumer profiles (Geyser, 2021).

2. Budget

Budgets arguably play the biggest part in media planning and how a company utilises their budget can determine how successful their marketing will be. Advertisers need to determine how to distribute their budget in terms of how much media space should be bought, how much should stay off-line, and how they use it to create a ’relevant buzz’ (Budíková, 2014).

It is important to leave room in your budget to amend errors or make adjustments. It is hard to guarantee whether a media plan will be successful; by leaving a percentage of your budget you are able to potentially change the course of your marketing campaign. It also allows you to try out new ideas and experiment along the way (redpepper, 2019).

Misuse of budget can mean a brand is unable to deliver on the promises it has made to consumer, therefore your risk losing loyal customers. Recently Missguided, the online fast-fashion retail, went into administration due to their loss of funds. This has meant that they are no longer able to ship goods that have been purchased or refund orders that have been returned. Now loyal consumers have lots trust in the brand and have made public statements that they will not shop there again, as they have been accused of ‘robbing’ from their customers (Williams, 2022). Stories like this should be clear warning to advertisers that budget needs to be taken seriously and you cannot spend beyond your means, or you risk administration.

3. Measuring success

Being able to measure outcomes and therefore understand your successes and failures is crucial for advertisers. You can predict how successful your campaign is, but unless you can confirm your hypothesis the planning cannot be fully complete. There are many ways advertisers can test the success of marketing depending on what the KPI’s are (New York Interconnect, n.d.). As mentioned above, plans may change during the implementation, therefore KPIs may need to be reconsidered and so success may come in a different form. Again, being flexible is one of the most important attributes an advertiser can possess. ‘It is no longer true that an annual plan is left unchanged for a whole year; more and more, advertisers will make changes to at least some parts of the advertising plan while the campaign is running.’ (Katz, 2016, p.211).

The success of a media planning directly effects the consumer as they decide what success looks like. Without consumers a media plan cannot be successful. It is important that advertisers understand that consumers are the driving force behind any successful media plan and campaign. What pulls in and pushes away a consumer is the difference between a good or bad media plan. Brands should be open to consumer feedback and implement them into the media plan at the beginning of the planning stage right through to the live campaign (White, 2019).

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References

Budíková, J. (2014). How Digital Trends Are Changing the Marketing Landscape. Central European Business Review, 3(2), pp.57–58. doi:10.18267/j.cebr.86.

Geyser, W. (2020). 5 of the Biggest Social Media Marketing Challenges. [online] Influencer Marketing Hub. Available at: https://influencermarketinghub.com/social-media-marketing-challenges/.

Gusho, K. (2020). 5 Hurdles Online Media Planners Commonly Face. [online] www.exactdrive.com. Available at: https://www.exactdrive.com/news/5-hurdles-online-media-planners-commonly-face.

Katz, H. (2016). The Media Handbook A Complete Guide to Advertising Media Selection, Planning, Research, and Buying. 6th ed. Routledge, p.211.

Marketing Evolution (2019). What is Media Planning? | Marketing Evolution. [online] Marketingevolution.com. Available at: https://www.marketingevolution.com/marketing-essentials/media-planning.

New York Interconnect (n.d.). Challenges Media Planners Face in 2021. [online] New York Interconnect. Available at: https://www.nyinterconnect.com/discover/news-notes/challenges-media-planners-face-in-2021/.

redpepper (2019). 4 Things to Consider When Developing a Media Strategy. [online] redpepper. Available at: https://redpepper.land/blog/media-blog-post-four-things-to-consider-when-developing-a-media-strategy/.

Techfunnel (2019). How Consumer Behavior Affects Marketing Strategy | TechFunnel. [online] Techfunnel. Available at: https://www.techfunnel.com/martech/how-consumer-behavior-affects-marketing-strategy/.

TheMarketingMagpie (2021). What Are the Biggest Barriers to Successful Media Planning from an Advertiser’s Point of view? How Does This Affect the consumer? | the Marketing Magpie. [online] The Marketing Magpie. Available at: http://themarketingmagpie.com/index.php/2021/07/08/what-are-the-biggest-barriers-to-successful-media-planning-from-an-advertisers-point-of-view-how-does-this-affect-the-consumer/ [Accessed 10 Jul. 2022].

Williams, R. (2022). Missguided accused of ‘robbing’ customers over refunds for returned items. [online] Daily Record. Available at: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/missguided-accused-robbing-customers-administrators-27250216 [Accessed 10 Jul. 2022].