Not all of these may not apply to what you're marketing, but the core elements remain integral.
The first step is
to formulate a media plan. The
purpose of media planning is to conceive, analyze, and select channels of
communication that will direct advertising messages to the right people, in the
right place, at the right time.
Media planning should consist of a Marketing
Plan and an Advertising Plan.
The Marketing Plan should
consist of marketing objectives, marketing strategy and marketing tactics.
The Advertising Plan should
consist of media objectives, media strategy and selecting media. Part of the
media plan is to select media vehicles, particular magazines, or broadcast
programs according to how well they deliver or expose the message to the
desired target audience. In order for this strategy to be effective it must
have continuity. It must have a continuous
schedule where it seeks a set level of exposure during the entire campaign.
It must also utilize Reach and Frequency.
Reach is the total number of different
people exposed at least once to an ad in a given time period. Frequency is the number of times the same
person is exposed to an ad in a given time period.
A successful advertising campaign should identify a target audience,
the product the communications media and the advertising
message. You must understand and agree to these four elements of the
advertising strategy before any creative work begins.
Without the proper marketing strategy you face fragmentation of your message.
For a proper situation analysis it must identify the brand. It must
identify the industry which includes the competition. It must identify the
target segmentation, (the demographic and what they desire, what drives them
behaviorally). It must also identify the key products and benefits of the brand
which includes the brand advantages and differentiation. Finally it must identify
the single most important message to communicate.
I write this not
as a layman observer, but as someone who as part of my degree in Mass
Communication has studied Public Relations and Advertising, Principles of
Advertising and Advertising Campaigns where we developed an integrated
marketing plan for an existing company.
—Dankwa Brooks
