Media Planning
Part of Cross-channel media planning
Defining a media brief from a business objective
Turn a business goal into a media brief with a clear outcome, audience, communication task, constraints and review decision.
A media brief translates a business objective into a decision the media team can act on. It defines the desired outcome, the people who could produce it, the communication task, the constraints and the evidence needed to judge the work. It leaves room for planners to recommend channels.
Translate the objective into an observable outcome
Begin with the business statement, then ask what record would show progress. If the aim is more service enquiries, decide whether success means every form submission, an enquiry accepted by staff or a confirmed booking. Name the product or service, eligible Australian locations, dates and any capacity limit.
Next, describe the customer's decision. Are people learning that the service exists, comparing alternatives or ready to make contact? The answer gives media a communication task. It does not yet establish which channel to buy.
For example, a repair business might brief a campaign to increase accepted enquiries for a new service in its coverage area. The brief would specify what the service includes, where customers can check availability, who records accepted enquiries and when the result will be reviewed.
Give planners the inputs they need
Field / What to specify
- Business outcome
- Counting rule, record owner and review date
- Audience
- Eligible customers and the decision they face
- Communication task
- What people need to understand or do
- Offer and destination
- What can be promised and where the next step occurs
- Boundaries
- Market, dates, exclusions, fulfilment and approval limits
- Evidence
- Available research, past results and known gaps
- Decision
- What the campaign review must help the business choose
Attach a source and date to any audience or historical figure in the working brief. A past campaign average can inform a question, but it is not a guaranteed target. If the customer record cannot distinguish accepted enquiries from duplicates, identify that gap and agree how to handle it.
Key Elements of a Media Brief
- Business Outcome
- Counting rule, record owner, review date
- Audience
- Eligible customers and their decision-making stage
- Communication Task
- What people need to understand or do
- Offer and Destination
- What’s promised and where users go next
- Boundaries
- Market, dates, exclusions, approval limits
- Evidence
- Research, past results, known gaps
- Decision
- What the campaign review must help choose
Separate success from diagnostics
Write the business outcome first. Then identify delivery and response measures that could help explain what happened.
Platform campaign objectives do not define the business's counting rule or prove that the campaign caused a recorded sale or lead.
Name practical constraints too. An unapproved offer, unavailable appointment capacity, missing destination or inaccessible outcome data can change the recommended plan. Channel selection alone cannot resolve them.
Business Outcome vs. Platform Campaign Objectives
- Business Outcome (e.g., accepted enquiries)Defines what success looks like in business terms; requires a clear counting rule and record owner
- Platform Campaign Objective (e.g., 'Leads' in Google Ads)Describes platform-level actions; does not define business counting rules or prove causation
Check the brief before requesting a plan
Ask the person responsible for the outcome to apply the counting rule to sample records. Ask the media team whether the brief supports more than one credible channel approach. If either party must guess about eligibility, the offer or the decision to be made, revise the brief.
Approve a dated version of the brief for the planning team. Record later changes to the outcome, offer or market so proposals and results can be compared against the relevant version.
