Advertising media planner
Advertising media planners decide which media is best to advertise their client's products or services.
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
In this role you could:
- research and analyse data to find out how people use different media
- create a media plan of how, when and where to advertise
- work out costs with a media buyer
- present plans and costs to clients and book advertising space
- monitor the effectiveness of campaigns
- work closely with creative teams, researchers and other media organisations
Working environment
You could work in an office or at a client's business.
Career path and progression
With experience you could:
- get a job as an advertising account manager
- become a senior advertising planner or strategic manager
- work as a freelance media planner
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- knowledge of media production and communication
- the ability to use your initiative
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- to be flexible and open to change
- customer service skills
- the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
- the ability to sell products and services
- excellent verbal communication skills
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
How to become
You can get into this job through:
- a university course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role
- specialist courses run by professional bodies
To become an advertising media planner, you'll usually need a foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree in a subject like:
- advertising and marketing
- statistics or operational research
- communication and media studies
- business or management
- psychology
You can apply for graduate roles in advertising agencies like junior media planner if you have a degree.
Some employers combine the roles of media planner and media buyer which means you could get a wide range of experience before specialising in planning.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a foundation degree or higher national diploma
- 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
More Information
You could start on an advertising and media executive advanced apprenticeship.
If you also get some advertising experience, you can apply for jobs as a media planner.
This usually takes 18 months to complete and is a mix of learning in the workplace and study.
Entry requirements
Employers will set their own entry requirements.
More Information
You might be able to start in a junior position at a small advertising agency in a position like admin assistant.
You can then work your way up as your experience in advertising grows.
Experience will help you understand advertising and allow you to meet new people who may help you find paid work.
You could try:
- work experience
- internships
- temporary employment
You could contact agencies directly to ask about volunteering opportunities. You could also make contacts on social media channels like LinkedIn.
You could take the advertising Foundation Certificate to get some of the skills you need to get a paid job in advertising.
The course is offered by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and is open to anyone with less than one year of experience in an advertising, marketing or communications role.
Career tips
It might be useful to get some work experience in a media, marketing, communication or sales role.
Professional and industry bodies
You could join the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) to find training opportunities for professional development and to make industry contacts.
Further information
You can find out more about how to become an advertising media planner from the IPA.
You can also find out about working in a creative career from Discover Creative Careers.
Related videos
Suggested videos
Coffee With is in early release mode with a limited number of videos. New videos are being added every week, so please check back for updates.
External links
This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.