How a media plan gets built
A media plan is the document that decides where your budget goes and why. It is not a channel wish list. This page walks through how we build one, from the first brief to the reporting frame, so you know what to expect and what we will ask you for.
The brief and the audience decide everything after them
Step one: the brief
Everything starts with a written brief. We need to know what you sell, who buys it, what the budget is, when the campaign runs, and what a good outcome looks like. We also ask what has been tried before and what it produced, even if the numbers are disappointing. A brief that says "we want more awareness" is not usable; a brief that says "we want to be recognised by 30-to-45-year-old drivers in Silesia by spring" is.
- What you sell, in plain words
- Who buys it and where they are
- The budget and the campaign window
- What a good outcome looks like
- What you tried before and what it produced
- Who can approve the plan
Step two: audience definition
Audience definition decides most of the plan. We describe the target in terms of behavior and media consumption, not just demographics: what they read, watch, search for, and scroll past. Where data allows, we build targetable segments for programmatic and social buys. Where it does not, we plan on broader reach and accept less precision. Being honest about which situation you are in prevents a plan from promising targeting it cannot deliver.
Channel mix: each channel earns its place
With the audience set, we propose the channels. Each one is chosen for a job: search for demand capture, display and video for reach, social for both, programmatic for scaled delivery, classic media for local presence. A typical plan uses three to five channels, and the mix is weighted toward whichever does the primary job best. More channels is not better. Each addition costs management attention and makes attribution murkier.
The channel that carries the primary job takes the largest weight
For a retail campaign that is usually search plus a reach layer. For a brand launch it is usually video and display. We name the dominant channel in the plan and say why it is dominant, so the budget split that follows is not a surprise.
Demand capture — people already looking for what you sell.
Reach — putting the brand in front of people who are not searching yet.
Both — reach and direct response in the same placement.
Scaled delivery across a wide inventory without buying each site by hand.
Retail and local campaigns often mix search and social with classic media: outdoor near the point of sale, local press, radio in the commuter window. Classic placements cannot be re-targeted after the fact, which is why the schedule in the plan carries exact dates before anything is booked.
Budget split, in percentages and in zloty
The budget split follows the mix. We allocate by channel, then by format within channel, then by time period. A launch phase often front-loads reach; a maintenance phase spreads spend more evenly. We show the split in percentages and in zloty, so there is no ambiguity about what a line item costs. If the budget cannot support the plan you need, we say so rather than trimming every line until the plan stops working.
Each channel is broken down again by format and by month, so you can see when the spend is concentrated and where it is spread.
Reach and frequency targets
Zasięg (reach) is how many different people see the campaign. Częstotliwość kontaktu (frequency) is how many times each of them sees it. These two numbers trade off against each other at a fixed budget: buy more reach and you buy less frequency. We set both as targets in the plan, based on the campaign's job. Awareness campaigns usually want high reach and moderate frequency; a promotional burst may want the opposite.
Reach
How many different people see the campaign at least once. Buying reach widens the audience.
Frequency
How many times each person sees it. Buying frequency deepens the message for a smaller group.
Emisja reklamowa and scheduling
Emisja reklamowa is the actual running of the advertising: when each placement goes live, for how long, and at what weight. Scheduling decides whether spend is continuous, pulsed around key dates, or concentrated in a short burst. Retail campaigns often pulse around paydays and holidays; brand campaigns run more continuously. The schedule is written into the plan with dates, so you can see exactly when money is being spent.
Continuous
Even spend across the whole campaign window. Common for brand work.
Pulsed
Heavier weeks around paydays, holidays or product launches, lighter between them.
Burst
Concentrated spend in a short window. Used when the offer has a hard end date.
Creative requirements, listed before production starts
Every channel imposes format rules. Display needs specific banner sizes; video needs specific durations and aspect ratios; search needs headline and description character counts; social needs vertical formats for mobile placement. We list these requirements in the plan so creative production can start on time. Late creative is one of the most common reasons a campaign launches weaker than planned.
Fixed banner sizes per placement. Static and animated variants are usually produced in parallel so a slow approval on one does not hold the other.
Set durations and aspect ratios per platform. A single master cut rarely fits everywhere; we list the cuts the plan actually needs.
Headline and description character counts for search, vertical formats for social mobile placement, plus the variants needed for testing.
The measurement frame is agreed before anything runs
Before anything runs, we agree what will be measured and how. That covers platform metrics (impressions, clicks, views), delivery metrics (reach, frequency), and business metrics where tracking allows (leads, sales, cost per acquisition). We also agree the reporting schedule and who receives it. Setting this up front avoids the argument later about which number counts.
Impressions, clicks and views, taken from each buying platform.
Reach and frequency against the targets set in the plan.
Leads, sales and cost per acquisition where site or store tracking allows.
Who receives the report and how often, agreed before launch.
What can change after launch
Plans are not frozen. Auction prices move, creative performs better or worse than expected, and some placements deliver nothing useful. We review delivery weekly in the first month and reallocate where a channel is clearly underperforming. What we do not do is quietly change the plan and report against the new version. Changes are written down, with the reason and the date.
Three things, and none of them are unusual:
- A decision-maker who can approve the plan. Without one, plans stall.
- Access to whatever tracking exists on your site or store. Without it, reporting is limited to platform numbers.
- Creative assets or a schedule for producing them. Without creative, nothing can launch.
Campaigns have failed on all three. Raising them at the brief stage is how we avoid it.
Send your brief
Write down what you sell, who buys it, the budget, the campaign window, and what a good outcome looks like. If the brief is thin, we will ask the questions that make it usable before we start costing anything.
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