Channel planning

2 4 . 0 9 . 1 3

Interaction planning

Touch points

planning

Connections planning

Experience planning

Engagement planning

Many names (almost) the same thing

A good channe l p lan l eads to…

Good channel plan

Connectedness Engagement Direction for media

Seamless experience Interaction

What i t ’s NOT

Media planning

Def in i t ion

Putting channel thinking into the creative process

Decide which channels will deliver on our

clients’ targets and yield the best ROI

Why d id th is come about

Media and advertising used to be in the same agency

Why d id th is come about

Then they separated the creation of ideas from the choosing of media

$$

Channel Planning emerged as a significant presence in marketing in the 2000s in response to the proliferation of new media and the resultant

complexity

How is i t d i f f e ren t f rom ‘norma l ’ p lann ing

Far less concerned with defining what the brand is about and more concerned with deciding where the consumer is, how they behave when they’re there

Untapped opportunities and consumer needs

A separa te d isc ip l ine?

Not all account planners who trained in "traditional" agencies have these skills. 

It is possible that in future, once the new media environment has been thoroughly internalised, Channel Planning will disappear as a separate discipline. 

What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it.

What about channe ls?

The a r t o f sacr i f i ce

What can we do well? What can we afford to do well? Where is our audience?

paidAudience exposure

Ads, partnerships, advertorials,

PR

owned

Brand domains and

owned platforms

earnedA transparent

space for brand

advocacy and WOM (good

and bad)

Channe l d is t inc t ions

Co-op ted :Embass ies : bo r rowed spaces

What mat te rs a re peop le ’s behav iours

It’s what you search for when you’re alone. Questions asked, answers found. Intend or need

It’s a public space, you share your life with friends. Show who you are

Content you’re proud of. It’s where you learn stuff and discover things to make you look smarter. Occasional ranting

G o o g l e

F a c eb o o k

Tw i t t e r

E t c … . .

Curren t behav iours , exp lo i ted

brand

consumerschannels

Te c h n o l o g y

Ask these ques t ions

User stories

• What channels does the idea work in?

• What goals can we help our consumers achieve?

Engagement territories

• How do we tell them our proposition?

• What would they be interested in or find useful?

Role of brand

• How do we get people to respond/do/buy?

• What role can the brand play? A vision for th

e work

Plann ing fo r channe ls . A p lace to s ta r t

Set c l i en t expec ta t ions and know your l im i ta t ions

MASS

A significant number of people will get involved and

participate

MASS EXPOSURE

Fewer participants, but what they do will be of interest to

others

Examp les :

Lee mqewanDav id ’s b l ank examp le

How to do channel planning – practical guide

Get da ta

TNSTGIMintelAnalyticsGoogle searchFacebook/twitterMedia data: CTR etcClient sales/footfall data

Put th is da ta aga ins t your cus tomer journey

What does the data tell you? Where are the gaps? Which channels are under-performing? What does your intuition tell you? Where else will our target audience spend time? New technologies?

Plan fo r wha t happens AFTER

What will people do with it? How will they use it and share it? How will they talk about it?

Examp les :

Lee mqewanDav id ’s b l ank examp le

Examp les :

Lee mqewanDav id ’s b l ank examp le

Snow as a channe l