Media Planner
The placement strategist—media planners determine where, when, and how your ads will make the biggest impact.
What is a Media Planner?
The strategist of screen time. Media planners decide where, when, and how a campaign should show up for maximum impact.
What does a Media Planner do?
They evaluate platforms, audiences, budgets, and goals—then map out the media mix to support campaign strategy.
What does this role look like in a creative agency?
At RIOT, media planners are collaborators from day one. They don’t just drop plans—they help shape creative that’s channel-native, audience-ready, and outcome-driven.
Dive Deeper
Media Planners are the placement strategists who map out where, when, and how advertising campaigns should run to maximize impact. They balance audience data, media costs, brand goals, and creative execution to design cross-channel strategies that deliver the right message to the right people at the right time. In creative and media agencies, Media Planners ensure that great ideas actually land in market—and drive results.
Related Glossary Terms
| Related Glossary Terms | Why It’s Relevant |
|---|---|
| Media Planning and Buying | The core practice of this role—building strategic frameworks and tactical media plans to guide campaign deployment. |
| Paid Media Campaigns | Media Planners create the paid campaign blueprints that Buyers activate across channels like social, display, video, and search. |
| Retargeting Campaigns | Planners often layer retargeting into media strategies to re-engage users and improve conversion rates. |
| Programmatic Media Buying | Understanding automated media buying processes and audience targeting options is increasingly central to modern media planning. |
| KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) | Media plans are tied to KPIs like reach, frequency, CPM, CTR, and ROI—ensuring accountability and optimization post-launch. |
Related Job Roles
| Related Job Roles | Why It’s Connected |
|---|---|
| Media Buyer | Executes the media plans—negotiating rates, buying placements, and managing vendor relationships across platforms. |
| Performance Marketing Manager | Optimizes live campaign performance in alignment with the strategic objectives set by the Media Planner. |
| Account Executive | Communicates media strategies, budget allocations, and performance updates to clients throughout campaigns. |
| Marketing Manager | Aligns broader brand initiatives with the paid media strategies crafted by Media Planners. |
