What every client needs to know about online media planning

by Amy Lennox, Marketing Direct 02-Jun-08, 11:00

Top tips from a media planning specialist.

1. You don't have to buy media space. What you need to do is create something that is interesting for the consumer. You can put a film on YouTube, and use SEO to drive people to it, or you can start a group on Facebook. We are doing some work for Alton Towers, whose website is a strong media entity in its own right. We just need to guide people there, and into the right offer. You may have something right under your nose. But make sure what you offer is functional, informative and easy to use.

2. Do you really need an ad? Content alone can drive your business. Lastminute and Expedia, for example, have built content around a basic product. Rich content - well-written, serious publishing - means they have become an effective travel agent/magazine hybrid. Saga also publishes a magazine and its aggregate content allows the brand to sel- other products such as financia- services. Elsewhere, XFM has also done this well. The communication is used as a hook for advertising.

3. Maximise natural search. Pay-per-click search is more trackable than natural search, but natural search can work just as hard, and it is free. Again, with Alton Towers, we needed to make sure we were bringing people in. People were already searching for "Alton Towers", but we needed to ensure that those who typed in "short break", for example, were also directed to the site, and that the brand's offering was clear. We wanted to encourage people to think about the theme park in new ways.

4. Sticky content may be all the viral you need. Lots of people think they need a viral element, but engaging content is just as, if not more, effective. But it is important to ensure that, at the end of the process, you have a database of people inviting you to talk to them. With our client New Look we created a virtual 'look book', in which consumers could create outfits by choosing from 40,000 combinations. These were entered into a competition, and the results were published in Grazia. Fifty per cent of those who uploaded an outfit passed it on to a friend, and we were able to build a database of over 25,000 new names to talk to.

- Amy Lennox is co-founder of media planning specialist Trinity Communications. She has 10 years' experience of planning and buying online media.