Media planning is something we'd rather skip. Unfortunately, a media plan is essential to any advertising campaign and should not be taken lightly.

If we are honest, we'd rather forget about the planning and just run the adverts.

However, planning is vital in all major business decisions and advertising is certainly no exception.

The media planning exercise should involve conducting some targeted brand or specific research to assess recall and the viewership & readership of a particular campaign. There is a lot more to it than buying and designing ads, you know.

That said, a good media plan does not have to take an age to prepare and implement. Once you have done some initial research, all you have to do is think logically about the four main points:

1. How much money do I have to spend

2. Which media will reach my target audience

3. What is the main focus and objective of this campaign

4. What kind of message do I want to give out

When you put these points together, you will then be able to come up with a basic map of what you need to do and where to go to achieve your objectives. These fundamental areas are vital to any media plan and if researched well, should bring in the results for you. Let's take a look at each point.

So, how much do you have to spend?

If your budget is small, you should consider online, newspapers, magazines and some outdoor advertising.

If your budget is quite large, you can also include TV and Radio into the mix, although the latter can be achieved on a fairly modest budget.

Which media should you use?

A lot depends on the budget, but mostly on the desired target audience. If you want to target consumers you should possibly look at the lower end of the cost scale with online and pay per click advertising and some newspaper adverts. The coverage you'll achieve with TV and radio will be on a much higher level but there are also the extra costs associated with these media. Another alternative is Outdoor advertising and there are many new formats in ambient, transport and billboards than ever before.

What is the main objective of this campaign?

If you want leads or clicks to your website, then online and pay per click is probably the way to go. However, the web is an amazingly diverse medium, so a successful online media planning campaign needs great attention to detail.

If you need some brand awareness and name up in lights advertising then magazines and Outdoor can give your message terrific impact and presence.

Some media will do very different jobs for you and a lot of the response will depend on the type of media and format you use, as well as the design and message in your advertisements.

What kind of message do you want to give out?

A lot of adverts are catchy, clever and visually appealing - but do they do anything to create real results and sales?

If your message has a specific call to action then potential customers will know there is something for them to do or receive when they enquire and reply to the advert. If your message is about building a brand, then a long-term plan is in order and you should not expect huge results quickly. However, building awareness can also be built into a call to action response plan as well, so you can display different messages on many different media for great results.

If you would rather take on the services of a professional there are many Advertising Agencies and other companies out there that can help. A lot of these organisations will provide market plan development, media planning and buying, event marketing, public relations, and even creative services.

If you find the right organization or Advertising Agency for the job, they will certainly help to simplify this time consuming process by using an efficient, automated, media planning system.

Remember, Media Planning and Media Buying is not something that has to be put on the back burner, or should be done in a spasmodic way. All of the work you put in now will make a huge difference to the overall effectiveness of your campaign.