How do you incorporate social media, influencer marketing, and content marketing into your media plan?

Media planning is the process of selecting and allocating the best channels, platforms, and formats to reach your target audience and achieve your marketing objectives. In today's digital landscape, social media, influencer marketing, and content marketing are three powerful ways to connect with your customers, increase your brand awareness, and generate leads and sales. But how do you incorporate them into your media plan effectively? Here are some tips to help you.

1 Define your goals and KPIs

Before you start planning your media mix, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish and how you will measure your success. Your goals should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Your key performance indicators (KPIs) should be aligned with your goals and reflect the metrics that matter most to you. For example, if your goal is to increase brand awareness, you might use KPIs such as reach, impressions, engagement, and sentiment. If your goal is to generate leads and sales, you might use KPIs such as conversions, cost per lead, and return on ad spend.

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Syed Shahnawaz Karim

Educator | Automotive Consultant | Inventor @ULKAGEAR, @WHEELSGURU | Ex - Bharti AirTel, Nimbuzz | MBA | CDMP | AMA Pro BMW Group International Certified Trainer - Offroad and In-Person. Making life a great adventure!
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One thing that I found that was really helpful was to make sure that we communicate well with the influencer as well as reviewing the defined outcome of the KPI’s set with them. This we we can define if we plan to continue with them in future campaigns as well.

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António Costa

Head of Demand Generation Marketing at Aon Affinity
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A lot of the revenue impact from influencers comes from people who view but do not click the content. For that reason, specific coupon codes are useful to measure revenue impact. Another alternative is to leverage the influencer's content as a paid ad as that will give you view-through metrics (people who became a lead or a customer after seeing the ad).

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2 Know your audience and their journey

The next step is to understand who your target audience is and how they interact with your brand across different stages of the buyer's journey. You can use tools such as personas, segments, and customer journey maps to create a detailed profile of your ideal customers, their needs, preferences, pain points, and motivations. You can also use data from your own website, social media, and analytics platforms to gain insights into your audience's behavior, interests, and demographics. By knowing your audience and their journey, you can tailor your media plan to deliver the right message, to the right person, at the right time, and on the right channel.

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António Costa

Head of Demand Generation Marketing at Aon Affinity
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It is also helpful to talk to the influencer since they know their audience the best. Messaging-wise, communicate your goals to the influencer but allow them to use their own voice.

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António Costa

Head of Demand Generation Marketing at Aon Affinity
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It's hard to know at which point in the buyer's journey the influencer's audience is going to be in. But buyer journeys depending on the industry can be quite fluid. At the end of the day what you communicate through the influencer is what defines the phase of the journey. You can choose to inform about a problem and your product's solution to create consideration or you can communicate a discount to create purchase intent. Know as much as your influencer's audience as possible to define which kind of messaging will be more relevant.

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3 Choose your channels and formats

Once you have defined your goals, KPIs, and audience, you can start selecting the channels and formats that best fit your media plan. Social media, influencer marketing, and content marketing can work together to create a synergistic effect and amplify your reach and impact. To make the most of each channel and format, consider the strengths and weaknesses of each, as well as the budget and resources available. For example, social media platforms offer a variety of ways to engage with your audience, such as organic posts, stories, live videos, polls, quizzes, and ads. However, it requires constant attention, creativity, and adaptation to changing algorithms and trends. Influencer marketing can help you increase brand awareness, credibility, and trust. But it also needs careful planning and research. Content marketing can improve SEO ranking and organic traffic. Yet it requires a lot of time and effort to create a clear strategy and editorial calendar. When selecting the formats for your campaign, consider what matches your audience's needs and preferences.

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Susan Coelius Keplinger

CEO at Force of Nature | Performance Marketing at Scale
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Not all platforms are created equal. Select the social media channels where your target audience is most active, and decide on the content formats (e.g., videos, blogs, infographics) that resonate best with them.

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4 Allocate your budget and resources

After you have chosen your channels and formats, you need to allocate your budget and resources accordingly. Your budget should reflect your goals, KPIs, and expected return on investment (ROI). Your resources should include the people, tools, and partners that will help you execute your media plan. You should also consider the costs and benefits of different media types, such as owned, earned, paid, and shared media. Owned media are the channels and content that you control, such as your website, blog, or social media accounts. Earned media are the exposure and recognition that you gain from others, such as word-of-mouth, reviews, or press coverage. Paid media are the channels and content that you pay for, such as ads, sponsored posts, or influencer collaborations. Shared media are the channels and content that are co-created or co-distributed by you and others, such as user-generated content, social media communities, or co-marketing campaigns.

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5 Test, measure, and optimize

The final step is to test, measure, and optimize your media plan based on your performance data and feedback. You should use tools such as Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, or HubSpot to track and analyze your KPIs and ROI across different channels and formats. You should also use tools such as SurveyMonkey, Hotjar, or UsabilityHub to collect and understand your audience's opinions and satisfaction. By testing different variables, such as headlines, images, calls-to-action, or targeting options, you can identify what works best for your media plan and what needs improvement. You should also be flexible and adaptable to changing market conditions, customer behavior, and media trends.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do you incorporate social media, influencer marketing, and content marketing into your media plan?

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1 Define your goals and KPIs

2 Know your audience and their journey

3 Choose your channels and formats

4 Allocate your budget and resources

5 Test, measure, and optimize

6 Here’s what else to consider

Media Planning

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