Creativity, goal orientation, efficiency, commitment, knowledge of the media market – these are universal features that a person working for a media house should have. However, some positions require special skills, which are indispensable for effective work. What is a media planner’s job like? What are the duties?
What are the responsibilities of a media planner?
The media planner, as the very name suggests, deals with planning optimal media channels in order to run effective marketing campaigns. The main tasks of a person in this role include media buying, monitoring and optimisation of advertising campaigns; therefore, the media planner must have analytical knowledge and be fluent in Google Analytics.
The media planner is a link between teams of employees responsible for sales, communication in social media, and content creation. The job is associated with customer service, contact with partners, suppliers, and advertising agencies. The media planner is an organiser, creator and negotiator in one – he or she plans media communication, conducts advertising campaigns, and represents the customer in negotiations. The work of such a person is divided into two stages – preparation and implementation. At the first stage, they are responsible for working with a client in order to learn about business goals, desired effects, and advertising strategies. On that basis, they are able to decide on subsequent steps, i.e. choosing the form of advertising message. The second stage comes down to cooperation with other departments and various types of media: internet portals, television, press, and radio. After the campaign is completed, they evaluate its effectiveness and optimise advertising activities. Media planning and project implementation sometimes require communication with representatives of global brands, so fluency in English may be necessary.
Required skills and assets
The media planner should be both creative and have an analytical mind. By combining creative thinking with the analysis of appropriate forms of strategy, they are able to run a successful advertising campaign. Soft skills are extremely important here. In order to achieve the intended goals, the planner must be well organised, multitasking, assertive, accurate, able to maintain appropriate relationships with people and good at negotiating terms of cooperation. The ability to draw correct conclusions is essential, so working with numbers and Excel should not be a problem.
In fact, the faculty a given person has graduated from does not matter so much – what counts is the right predisposition, knowledge, and experience. Most often, media planners start their careers with an internship at a media house, and along with development of their competences, they may be promoted to higher positions.
Media planner – profession of the future?
The position of a media planner will certainly be perfect for people who like being constantly on the move, are development-oriented and passionate about media and new technologies. Having the required skills, they should have no problem finding a satisfactory job at a media house. When taking the role of an assistant, a person is not expected to necessarily have specialist knowledge – at this stage the willingness to learn is the most important. Given the dynamic development of the media and new technologies market, the outlook is pretty promising.
See also: What does a media buyer do? ABC of working at advertising agencies
