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Course Overview

  • icon1 day course
  • iconCertificate of Attendance
  • iconIn-person, Live Online, Private
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Effective media planning connects business objectives, audience needs and channel decisions. This one-day media planning course gives you a practical framework for developing integrated, measurable digital campaigns.

On this course, you’ll explore the evolving role of media planning in a digital-first world before examining audience segmentation and the integration of owned, earned, paid and shared media. We’ll review how first, second and third-party data support audience planning, set meaningful KPIs and balance brand awareness with performance goals.

Through practical frameworks and examples, you’ll evaluate paid search, programmatic, social, video, native and retail media before allocating budgets across audiences and funnel stages. You’ll also explore forecasting, scenario planning, media calendars, creative briefing, attribution, optimisation and post-campaign reporting.

Attend at The Shard in London or through our live virtual classroom. Private sessions are also available at The Shard, online or at a location of your choice anywhere in the UK or globally.

What you'll learn

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Translate business and marketing goals into media objectives and meaningful KPIs
  • Evaluate digital channels and select an appropriate media mix
  • Structure and present a media plan covering timelines, forecasts and creative requirements
  • Develop audience-first plans using data, personas and cross-platform touchpoints
  • Allocate budgets across audiences, channels and stages of the marketing funnel
  • Compare attribution approaches and use campaign data to inform optimisation and reporting

Course agenda

Foundations of Modern Media Planning

  • Understand the evolving role of media planning in a digital-first world
  • What is digital media planning in 2025?
  • Media planner vs. media buyer: responsibilities and collaboration
  • The shift from channel-first to audience-first planning
  • Owned, earned, paid, and shared media integration
  • How privacy, automation, and AI have changed media planning

Setting Objectives & Defining KPIs

  • Start with strategy, not spend
  • Aligning media plans with business and marketing goals
  • Translating funnel stages into measurable objectives (awareness, engagement, conversion, retention)
  • Choosing meaningful KPIs: CPM, CTR, CVR, ROAS, incremental lift
  • Brand vs. performance goals - and how to balance them
  • Benchmarking and forecasting campaign impact

Audience Planning & Segmentation

  • Know your audience and how to reach them effectively
  • Using first, second, and third-party data in planning
  • AI-enhanced segmentation and predictive modeling
  • Defining audience personas and mapping media touchpoints
  • Cross-device, cross-platform targeting (mobile, web, CTV, etc.)

Channel Selection & Budget Allocation

  • Pick the right mix and make your money count
  • Evaluating digital channels: paid search, programmatic, social, video, native, retail media
  • Allocating budgets across funnel stages and audiences
  • Platform strengths and limitations (Meta, Google, TikTok, LinkedIn, Amazon Ads, etc.)
  • Testing frameworks (A/B, multivariate, geo splits)

Building & Presenting a Media Plan

  • Structuring a media plan: audience, channels, budgets, KPIs, timeline
  • Media mix modeling and scenario planning
  • Building a media calendar
  • Briefing creative teams with media insights
  • Presentation best practices for clients and stakeholders

Measurement, Optimization & Reporting

  • Track what matters and adjust in real time
  • Campaign tracking setup and tagging
  • Attribution models: last-click vs. data-driven vs. MMM
  • Optimization levers: audience, bid strategy, creative, placements
  • Post-campaign analysis: what to measure and how to report it
  • Dashboards and reporting tools

Who it's for

This course is perfect for:

  • Media planners and buyers looking to strengthen their audience-first strategic planning skills
  • Digital marketing managers responsible for channel selection, budgets and performance
  • Brand strategists and in-house teams developing integrated digital campaigns

Prerequisites

No previous media planning experience is required. A basic understanding of digital marketing channels will be helpful, particularly when comparing platform roles, audience opportunities and performance measures.

Next steps

Want to investigate campaign performance in greater depth? Our Google Analytics 4: Advanced Analysis course explores attribution, audiences, advanced segmentation and custom explorations.

If you want to examine how AI is changing targeting, forecasting and campaign optimisation, our AI in Digital Marketing course explores its practical applications across the marketing funnel.

BOOK THIS COURSE

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Book two seats on the same session, the second at half price

  • Media Planning for Digital Marketing

    10:00am – 5:00pm
    Live Online
    £499 per personex VAT
  • Media Planning for Digital Marketing

    10:00am – 5:00pm
    In-person at The Shard, London
    £499 per personex VAT
  • Media Planning for Digital Marketing

    10:00am – 5:00pm
    Live Online
    £499 per personex VAT
  • Media Planning for Digital Marketing

    10:00am – 5:00pm
    Live Online
    £499 per personex VAT
  • Media Planning for Digital Marketing

    10:00am – 5:00pm
    Live Online
    £499 per personex VAT

Frequently Asked Questions

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Media Planning for Digital Marketing

Well structured training session.

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