Fall in love with the media mix

It’s the combination of ways you’re putting your campaign in front of people to meet your marketing objectives. These plans must be agile to respond to what’s working well in a campaign as soon as the data tells us. There’s an ever-expanding list of channels and solutions to be added into the media mix, demanding bigger skill sets, guidelines and standards than ever before. But there’s no need to be intimidated.

Cross-media planning and campaigns can be phenomenally effective, and the average campaign uses nine different platforms these days. There’s no getting around the fact that digital advertising is more complicated than ever - but this is where your agency comes in.

Your agency should simplify the process of getting the media mix right, taking your pain away and ensuring the right message is delivered to the right people at the right time and in the right place. Effective media campaigns are audience-led and data-driven, adding value and reducing the complexity you have to deal with. It’s your agency’s job to showcase the options available in the modern media world in a simple manner.

Effective media campaigns are audience-led and data-driven, adding value and reducing the complexity you have to deal with.

A successful integrated media campaign uses a combination of channels and formats to reach different audience segments. Deciding which channels to use is a task for your media planners and strategists, who will conduct deep dives into your audience – reviewing audience segments, personae and competitive analyses to uncover meaningful insight – to choose the most effective channels for your campaign and consider when and how frequently content should show up for your target audience.

Ads need to be consistent and cohesive across a campaign to reinforce the message and in a language the audience understands, in a format they can easily consume, through a channel they actively engage with. When your media plan is data-driven by audience insight, negotiated at the right price with relevant ad placements and served at the right time, there’s less wastage and more value. It’s not always about targeting people who are just about to make a purchasing decision, but about making sure you are front of mind when they do.

And that’s all down to the media mix:

1. Select channels that have been historically successful, based on data.
2. Incorporate channels that are particularly relevant to the target audience.
3. Ensure the channels are appropriate for specific campaign objectives.
4. Prioritise the channels where the target audience are most receptive.

Case Study: 'Wednesday' Marketing Campaign

Netflix series 'Wednesday' has been a massive success, and a large proportion of this can attributed to the marketing campaign and the media mix used to help it amass 1.19 billion watch hours, having been viewed in 176 million household within the first 28 days. The campaign featured some of the programme's most iconic quotes with a relevant twist to the social settings across TikTok, Instagram, elevators, bus shelters and billboards. On Twitter, Netflix created a 'Wednesday Addams' handle and posted videos of Wednesday for their upcoming new show. A clip of Wednesday Addams performing a bizarre dance routine at a school dance inspired TikTokers to replicate the sequence.

Some of the Wednesday marketing placements left the public stunned – from clever bus shelter and ‘on-vehicle ‘promo and billboards to, most captivating of all, the airport security tray ad placement which surprised and delighted unsuspecting travellers everywhere. The relevancy of the placements made it one of the most iconic Netflix campaigns to date and successfully maximised the media mix.

If reading this has piqued your interest give us a bell, we’d love to make 2023 the best and most successful year for you.