Course Introduction

This training course on strategic media planning looks at the process required to deliver your organisation’s messages to the right target audience in an effective manner within your budget.

Over the past two decades the emergence of digital media has entirely changed the media landscape and has blurred the distinctions between marketing and PR/communications. Paid for media in the form of advertising is no longer the automatic norm. Media planning determines the best combination of media to achieve campaign goals. This course looks closely at the nature of the mix between paid-for, earned and owned media.

Successful media planning involves setting clear objectives and strategies to accomplish your business objectives. Media planning involves; market analysis, establishment of media objectives, media strategy development and implementation, and evaluation and follow-up.  A media plan should reflect significant research that produces a detailed rationale for all media activities. Information that should be included in a media plan is the objective, strategy, rationale, execution and summary.

This Oxford Management Centre training course will highlight the following key topics:

• Audience planning, targeting and segmentation
• Research techniques for customer insight.
• Audience measurement and media metrics
• How to allocate a media budget across channels?
• Analyse strengths of a range of media
• Media strategy and strategic thinking.

Objectives

By the end of this training course, you will have learned how to:

• Understand metrics of audience measurement and media accounting;
• Allocate a media budget across digital and traditional media
• Access and use media data to develop strategic media objectives
• Apply research techniques to the understanding of audience segmentation, targeting and positioning
• Understand stakeholders’ habits and attitudes towards media
• Place stories that earn free editorial space

Training Methodology

This training course encourages delegate participation through a combination of lectures, peer-to-peer activities, group discussion, practical exercises, case studies, video clips, and breakout sessions designed to reinforce new skills.

Organisational Impact

Major benefits to the organisation include:

• More consistent media policy and placement
• Reduced media spend
• More accurate and targeted placement
• Greater alignment between advertising, editorial and social media messaging
• A more strategic approach to your media mix
• A suite of research and measurement tools to give greater control

Personal Impact

Participants will gain the following benefits:

• Improved media planning ability
• Enhanced media communication abilities
• Greater self-confidence
• Increased effectiveness in media planning and placement
• Enhanced strategic goal setting ability
• Increased ability to use social media effectively and plan campaigns that work

Who Should Attend?

This training course is for anyone who desires to expand their expertise in government communications best practices, policies and procedures. Delegates do not require any previous political experience to benefit from this training Course.

This course is suitable to a wide range of professionals, but will greatly benefit:

• Marketing Professionals
• Public Relations Practitioners
• Marketing Managers
• Media Buyers
• Brand and product Managers

Course Outline

DAY 1

Media Trends Analysis

• The impact of Digital Media
• Changing consumer habits and attitudes
• Using secondary sources of media data.
• The rise of Direct To Consumer post Covid 19 - Search Engine and Email marketing
• Content Marketing and Relationship Marketing
• POEM – Paid, Owned and Earned Media

DAY 2

Auditing your communications

• Reviewing your channel output
• Assessing the effectiveness of your channel mix
• Stakeholder analysis
• Competitor communications analysis
• Analysing messaging across the organisation

DAY 3

Developing a Media Strategy

• Audience mapping
• SWOT and PESTLE analysis
• Setting SMART objectives and KPIs
• Brand positioning, tone and promise
• Build successful campaigns
• Message and Content Development

DAY 4

Planning Your Media Mix

• Marketing Communication
• Multi-channel strategy development
• Bringing your call centre/service hub into alignment
• Creating an editorial calendar
• Media buying
• Selecting and using agencies

DAY 5

Media Measurement and Action Planning 

• Executing on your media plan.
• Evaluating the results
• Developing a suite of metrics including free tools
• Action Planning
• Planning Models
• Final Assignment