Looking at your media plan as a financial portfolio

A strong media plan gives you clarity and direction. Think of it like investing. 

You wouldn’t throw all your money at a handful of stocks and walk away. You’d diversify by sector, investment type and timeline to reduce risk. You’d also monitor performance so you’re always ready to pivot and adapt as the market changes to get the most out of every dollar you invest. 

Your media strategy can work the same way.

Let’s dive into how media planners can approach planning like building a financial portfolio — how to balance risk, diversify smartly and continuously optimize for better returns.

What’s media planning?

Media planning is the process of deciding and organizing where, when and how to deliver your brand’s message so it aligns with your specific objectives, budget and audience behavior.

It covers every media channel you’re using in your marketing mix, such as paid search, social, podcasts, influencer marketing, print, and broadcast. 

The media plan looks at each platform's strengths and weaknesses, so you can determine how to create an optimal mix that helps you reach your business goals. 

For example, Meta ads can deliver highly targeted engagement at a low cost. However, they often have a short shelf life as content quickly moves out of audience feeds. That’s where things like LinkedIn articles, blog posts, and podcast episodes can help build long-term brand awareness and trust. 

Most marketers fail at media planning because their data is siloed, inconsistent and backward-looking. Funnel fixes this by unifying, measuring and forecasting in one platform.

At the end of the day, the risk with media planning isn’t choosing the wrong channels. It’s planning with incomplete or biased data. With a marketing intelligence platform like Funnel, you can integrate trustworthy data, measure and optimize in one place. Marketing data is pulled from ad platforms, CRMs, marketplaces, and other data sources, and automatically transformed so it’s analysis-ready. From there, you can build dashboards to make comparisons and track spend or send data to your preferred BI tools.

Funnel also offers advanced measurement capabilities, so instead of just learning how best to allocate your marketing budget, you can also figure out which bets are most likely to pay off. Combining measurement techniques like marketing mix modeling (MMM), multi-touch attribution, and incrementality testing lets you create a fuller picture of marketing effectiveness with more accurate, unbiased insights. 

Why is it so important to get media planning right?

It’s important to get media planning right so you can generate the multiplier effect that comes from layering different channels and keeping them in sync, as described by brand expert Tom Roach.

When your channels support one another and provide a consistent experience, your audience develops greater awareness of your brand, and all the elements in your campaign end up being more convincing. In other words, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. 

It’s through the synergy of all the different elements in your media mix that you can balance effectiveness and efficiency in marketing, optimizing for quick wins while locking in future growth. 

So, what else can your marketing team gain from a robust media plan?

Risk management

Some media channels are low-risk, low-return, like email or blog content. Others, like TikTok or influencer marketing, can generate rapid spikes in engagement and sales, but their performance can fluctuate more due to shifting trends, changing algorithms or unpredictable audience reactions. That’s why the best media plans are diversified and continually monitored to balance this risk. 

Testing and performance analysis

Omnichannel strategies can span dozens of platforms, and without a structured plan, it becomes tough to track performance and tie your media efforts to outcomes. 

A good media plan should allow space for testing, like brand lift studies, A/B experiments or geo-based campaigns. By building those opportunities into the strategy from the outset, you can allocate budget for experiments, set measurable KPIs and define what success looks like before launch. 

You’re not just guessing what might work. You actively plan to learn what works. But to do that, you need reliable data, and that starts with structured planning at the beginning.

When you have clean naming conventions, aligned goals and consistent taxonomy, it’s easier to compare results across campaigns and uncover the insights that fuel smarter decisions. According to a report by Forrester, 73% of marketing leaders invest in software that integrates disparate data sources, like a marketing intelligence platform, demonstrating the importance of having reliable data.

Funnel pulls in marketing data from over 500 connectors, from ad platforms to analytics tools, and harmonizes it automatically. It standardizes naming conventions, maps metrics and formats everything so you can monitor performance side by side, no matter the source. 

Whether you’re running A/B tests, tracking spend or preparing stakeholder reports, a marketing data integration tool makes the data side of media planning faster, easier and far more actionable.

Create a media plan like you’d build a financial portfolio — Here’s why

Smart media plans aren’t built on habit or instinct. They’re based on strategy. They’re balanced, intentional and data-informed.

But too often, brands default to what they know.

“30% to Meta because we did that last time,” or “Let’s try TikTok because our competitors use it.”

But this habitual, reactive mindset often leads to budget waste as media channels evolve and audiences shift, and you’re left behind with outdated, irrelevant tactics.

A portfolio approach helps you plan more strategically, focusing on what the marketing and sales data says. 

According to Hubspot’s 2025 State of Marketing report, 35% of marketers say data-informed decision-making is becoming more important because it forces you to ask…

• What’s my goal? Long-term brand awareness, brand preference or short-term sales??
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of each channel?
• How do they perform together, not just individually?

Instead of guessing, media buyers can allocate budgets based on impact, volatility and return. 

And with tools like Funnel, you can understand every channel’s contribution to your total marketing mix, so you spend smarter and pivot faster.

How to build a smarter media plan by thinking like an investor

You need to know where to direct your funds, when to pivot and how to balance risk. Here’s how you build a strategic, resilient media plan using investment principles that help you grow your impact.

Start with the why and who you’re trying to reach

A savvy investor would never pick assets at random. They first define their financial goals, whether that’s income, retirement savings or long-term growth.

Marketers need to do the same.

Because without clear campaign goals and a specific audience, your media planning strategy lacks direction. And if you don’t know what you’re aiming for, you can’t assess risk, choose the right channels or plan messaging. And you can’t track incremental revenue growth because you’ve never defined the benchmark for success. 

The result? Scattered, random spend. Ineffective targeting. No reliable method to optimize campaign performance.

So, how do you prevent directionless planning?

Start by asking two key questions:

• What am I trying to achieve? (Awareness, leads, conversions, retention, etc.)
• Who exactly am I trying to reach? (Ideal customer, buyer persona, target audience, etc.)

Once you have this foundation, you can start thinking about the channels and specific media to use for the campaign. 

Spread your bets where it counts

An investor would never pour their entire portfolio into a single stock. Marketers shouldn’t put all their budget into one channel either.

This matters because platforms change quickly — algorithms update, user behavior shifts and even a platform’s future can be uncertain, as seen with the ongoing questions about TikTok in the US.

So, you need a smart media mix to spread risk and expand reach. 

And diversification just works. 

Research from Nielsen shows that omnichannel campaigns — and the media planning behind them — have:

• Helped 43% of companies increase customer lifetime value
• Improved retention for 35%
• Strengthened customer loyalty for 35%

Pair brand-building channels like YouTube or podcasts with performance drivers like paid ads or email. With a well-balanced mix of brand and performance marketing, organizations see ROI lift by an average of 90%, according to The Multiplier Effect report released by WARC.

Use historical data to understand impact

Start by analyzing historical data to set realistic budget baselines. Instead of relying on generic industry benchmarks, your data will show you how much to allocate per channel, what a good CPA looks like and which formats perform best for you.

But don’t just stick to what you know. Reserve 10 to 15% of your budget to test new channels to see whether they drive more impact than your previous campaigns. 

Funnel can help you track impact with regular, automatic data refreshes and always-on marketing measurement. 

With continuous insight into what’s working, you can shift spend away from under-performers before you lose too much on your investment.

Know your high-risk, high-reward plays

Every channel comes with a risk profile. Some channels, like search, offer somewhat steady performance. Other channels, like many social platforms, are a little more volatile.

That’s why smart investors and marketers diversify — to balance that risk.

Use your performance data to rank your online media channels by risk and return. 

For example:

• Tier 1: Low cost, stable – branded search, email
• Tier 2: Mid cost, reliable – YouTube, programmatic
• Tier 3: High cost, unpredictable – TikTok, influencers

You might invest low in experimental channels, keeping them under close watch, while you lean into stable ones for consistent ROI. 

Be ruthless with what’s not working

While your advertising campaigns may have boomed last quarter, they might flop tomorrow. Staying static in a shifting marketing landscape can kill your returns.

Review your performance weekly or biweekly, not just after a campaign finishes. Move budget away from underperformers and double down on what works.

To make this easier, you can automate it with a marketing intelligence platform like Funnel. 

Set custom rules, like:

• “Flag any campaign where CPL spikes 30%.”
• “Pause ads if ROAS stays low for 7 days.”
• “Tag high-engagement campaigns for budget increases.”

This continuous feedback loop helps optimize customer engagement, keeps you from tanking ROI on a low-performing media mix and helps you scale channels that bring impact.

Metrics aren’t just numbers — use them as market signals

Investing well doesn’t come down to a gut feeling. Smart investors read signals.

As a marketer, metrics are your market signals that help you optimize campaigns. They tell you what’s working, what isn’t and when and where to pivot. 

Media planning should define clear KPIs per channel, like CPC, CTR, ROAS, marginal ROAS, incrementality or CPA. Use attribution models to track impact across touchpoints — including paid media, earned media and online media — and then benchmark those metrics over time.

Play the short game and the long game

Short-term marketing and advertising efforts like ad campaigns and retargeting drive immediate revenue. To support this, long-term plays like influencer partnerships and SEO build brand equity over time.

And while brand-building feels slow, it’s important. According to Nielsen’s 2024 Annual Marketing Report, consistent marketing efforts contribute to 10 to 35% of a brand’s overall value. That’s why you can’t base media plans around CPC or ROAS alone. You need both immediate returns and future momentum.

To strike that balance, pair performance channels (like paid search or email) with brand investments (like content or podcast sponsorships). Use Funnel to track campaign impact over time to show you which of today’s brand investments drive tomorrow’s growth.

Best practices to future-proof your marketing and advertising media plan

Markets shift, channels evolve and teams change. A future-proof media plan is flexible enough to adapt to the latest media trends and industry changes, no matter what happens. 

Here’s how you ensure your media plan is resilient.

Bake measurement into your plan — not just your report

You wouldn’t train for a race without timing your splits because each run gives you data to improve next time. 

Apply this thinking to your media plan. You need to define success and metrics at the start so you can track performance continuously, not just at the end.

Funnel lets you set scenario rules and provides full taxonomy control so you can share metrics using customized dashboards with different stakeholders. The view might change to fit stakeholder priorities, but the meaning behind the numbers stays consistent — across dashboards and platforms — so everyone can rely on the numbers. 

Get everyone in the room before you press go

Creative wants brand videos, media is chasing low-cost conversions and finance wants to stay under budget. If these priorities clash mid-flight, you waste time and money.

Bring stakeholders together at kickoff, from the brand strategist to the finance team. Define shared marketing objectives, align success benchmarks and clarify your buyer persona.

Use a Funnel dashboard to give teams one shared view of performance in real time.

Leave room to move — because things will change

Think of your media plan like a weather forecast — useful, but subject to sudden storms.

Keeping flex funds (10–20% of your budget) is like taking an umbrella just in case it rains. While you’re not planning to spend it, it’s there for any surprises you hadn’t planned for. 

Support this with clear scenario rules, such as If CPC drops 20%, increase spend by 10%. These rules help you react quickly instead of scrambling if the weather shifts.

A marketing intelligence platform like Funnel can also help you stay one step ahead of change by simulating scenarios. Ask questions like, What happens if I shift 10% of budget from Meta to TikTok?, and get answers to help you plan with confidence. 

Get ahead with automation and AI tools so you can focus on what matters

Don’t waste hours copy-pasting metrics into spreadsheets. While you’re busy with manual admin, your competitors are shifting budgets to platforms that work.

Manual analysis takes time away from refining your strategy. 

With Funnel, you can automate cross-platform data pulls, harmonize KPIs and apply logic at scale. You can also plan smarter with AI-powered measurement and scenario planning to detect inefficiencies and recommend smarter budget allocation — before money is wasted. 

Just look at Limango.

Limago uses Funnel rules to automatically adjust product-level ad spend daily.

How Funnel improves your media planning

Media planning can get messy quickly. Multiple teams. Dozens of platforms. Constant performance shifts. 

Funnel simplifies the chaos so you have a clear, connected view of what’s working and what’s not.

Here’s how.

Struggling to see your campaign performance all in one place?

While omnichannel marketing helps you reach your target audience across platforms, it also means you’re working with dozens of dashboards. And when you’re flicking between tools, all with different terms for each metric, it’s tough to compare performance.

Funnel solves this by pulling all your media data into one central Data Hub. No more comparing apples to oranges.

Instead, Funnel connects to hundreds of platforms, including social media accounts like Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn, plus Google ads, CRMs, GA4 and more. It automatically ingests spend, performance and attribution data and standardizes naming conventions, KPIs, currencies and date formats. 

By harmonizing metrics and consolidating reports, you save hours of admin and improve reporting accuracy.

Wish you could react to performance shifts before it’s too late?

Media performance can change overnight. If you only check progress once a month, you might miss your pivot window.

Funnel combines historical and real-time reporting, so you can track changes daily while also identifying long-term trends. So if your performance dips, you notice it early, before issues escalate and your budget tanks.

Funnel’s budget pacing alerts, goal tracking and custom thresholds all show you when to pause underperformers, scale top performers or reallocate spend mid-flight. But it doesn’t just alert marketers — it helps them anticipate shifts and reallocate with confidence. With Funnel, you always know when to act and where exactly to focus. 

Losing time translating digital marketing reports for different stakeholders?

Different stakeholders want data sliced in different ways. Finance wants cost breakdowns. Creative wants asset-level insights. CMOs want ROI. If you’re not careful, you’ll spend hours repackaging reports.

But with Funnel, cross-team reporting is simple. You can build custom dashboards for each target audience so everyone gets the same clean, centralized data, but framed in the way that suits them.

Waiting on data teams to answer basic media performance questions?

If you can’t decipher insights without your data team, media buying decisions slow down and opportunities slip past. Your chances of running a successful advertising campaign get slimmer.

Funnel gives marketing teams control with a no-code logic builder that helps you create customer custom groupings, calculated metrics and dimensions in minutes.

No matter how you want to view campaigns — by funnel stage, market or creative type — Funnels makes this simple without technical help.

Struggling to manage multiple brands, regions or clients?

If you’re managing various teams, clients or territories, you’re likely duplicating work. You’re rebuilding dashboards, patching together inconsistent data and reconciling naming conventions. 

Funnel gets rid of this issue so you can scale without doubling up on work. You can reuse reporting logic across units or clients and apply consistent naming and metrics across markets. 

For agencies, that means faster onboarding and fewer hassles. For in-house teams, it means cross-functional alignment across every line of business. 

Trying to prove the value of every dollar spent?

If you’re struggling to tie spend to outcomes, you’ll find it tough to understand what’s working and justify budgets.

Funnel closes the loop between cost and results. You can track every dollar from campaign to conversion across all channels, breaking down performance by creative, target audience, campaign type or platform. With Funnel Measurement, you can take things a step further, using marketing mix modeling (MMM), multi-touch attribution and incrementality testing to optimize your media mix. 

Plan like a pro — adapt like an investor

Smart investors don’t wing it. They do their research, build a diversified portfolio and watch the markets and adapt as conditions change.

Media planning is no different.

You need a rock-solid strategy, but it can’t be rigid. You need to be able to shift fast. But flexibility is limited if you’re dealing with scattered data and clunky reports.

Try Funnel for free and get the clarity you need to build, track and optimize your media mix like a shrewd investor.