Integrated Marketing Communications and Media Planning

Many organisations run their advertising, social media, public relations, events and digital campaigns through separate teams, agencies and budgets. The result is inconsistent messages, duplicated spend and media plans chosen by habit or by the loudest agency. Short-term digital metrics dominate reporting, while brand building and long-term effects are hard to see. With audiences fragmented across platforms and privacy rules limiting tracking, the old ways of planning and measuring no longer give managers the answers they need.

This programme follows the planning cycle of an integrated campaign. It starts with business and communication objectives and audience insight, moves to a single message and creative platform, then to channel selection and media planning, then to budgeting and buying, and ends with measurement and optimisation. Each stage produces part of a complete campaign plan.

Built on recognised practice. The programme references established integrated marketing communications planning principles, the paid, earned, shared and owned media approach, evidence on balancing brand building and sales activation, the AMEC Barcelona Principles 3.0 for communication measurement, and modern effectiveness methods such as marketing mix modelling and incrementality testing. It also covers the requirements of data protection laws that affect targeting and measurement.

Decisions this programme improves. How to set objectives that link communication to business results; which audiences and channels to prioritise; how to split the budget between brand and performance activity and between channels; how to brief and evaluate agencies; and which metrics to use to judge whether a campaign has worked.

How it is delivered. Twenty hours across five sessions, built around one running case: the launch of a new service by an organisation that must reach both consumers and business customers in several GCC markets, in Arabic and English. Participants build the campaign plan step by step, including a media plan, flowchart, budget and measurement framework.

In-house option. For organisations, the programme can be tailored to your own brands, audiences, channels and agency arrangements, and delivered to marketing, communication and digital teams together so that they plan from one brief.

Who Should Attend

Marketing professionals: marketing managers, brand managers and campaign managers

Communication and public relations staff: corporate communication officers, media relations and content managers

Digital marketing specialists responsible for social media, search and paid digital campaigns

Media planning and agency staff working on client campaigns

Government communication teams running public awareness and service campaigns

Objectives

Set communication objectives that are linked to business goals and can be measured

Define target audiences using research, data and customer journey insight

Develop a single core message and creative platform that works across channels and languages

Select an effective mix of paid, earned, shared and owned media for a given objective

Build a media plan using reach, frequency, timing and cost measures

Allocate a budget between brand building and sales activation, and between channels

Write clear briefs for creative, media and public relations agencies and evaluate their proposals

Apply data protection requirements to targeting, tracking and customer data use

Design a measurement framework that combines outputs, outcomes and business impact

Use campaign results to optimise activity during and after a campaign

Course Outline

Why Integration Matters: Objectives, Audiences and Insight

What integrated marketing communications means in a fragmented media landscape
Linking business, marketing and communication objectives
Audience segmentation, personas and customer journey mapping
Using research, first-party data and social listening for insight
B2B and B2C communication: different buyers, different journeys
Cultural and language considerations for Arabic and English audiences

One Message, Many Channels: Positioning and Creative Platform

Brand positioning and the single-minded proposition
Building a creative platform that adapts across formats
Content planning for owned and shared channels
Public relations, media relations and earned coverage
Influencer and creator partnerships: selection, disclosure and risk
Using generative AI in content production: uses, quality control and brand risks

Media Planning: Choosing and Scheduling Channels

Paid, earned, shared and owned media and how they work together
Channel roles: television, audio, out-of-home, print, search, social, video and retail media
Reach, frequency, gross rating points and effective frequency
Scheduling patterns: continuous, flighting and pulsing
Audience data, targeting and contextual approaches
Building the media flowchart

Budgets, Buying and Agency Management

Methods for setting the communication budget
Balancing brand building and sales activation over time
Media buying models: direct, programmatic and negotiated deals
Cost measures: CPM, CPC, CPA and cost per reach point
Brand safety, ad fraud and viewability
Briefing, selecting and managing agencies

Measuring Effectiveness and Optimising Campaigns

Outputs, outcomes and business impact: the Barcelona Principles 3.0
Brand metrics: awareness, consideration and preference
Attribution models and their limits
Marketing mix modelling and incrementality testing
Data protection, consent and measurement with less tracking
Dashboards and reporting for senior management
Post-campaign review and lessons for the next plan

Competencies

Integrated campaign planning

Audience insight and customer journey mapping

Core message and creative platform development

Paid, earned, shared and owned media integration

Media planning with reach and frequency

Budget allocation between brand and activation

Agency briefing and management

Communication measurement and effectiveness

Data protection in marketing and measurement

Istanbul

Train in Istanbul with access to Elite Academy’s full portfolio of professional programs. In a city known as a major international business crossroads connecting Europe, the Middle East and Asia, organizations and professionals can join upcoming courses or request any program to be arranged locally. Professional training in Istanbul is not limited to a specific group of subjects. Elite Academy makes its complete portfolio available in the city across management, business, technical and industry-focused disciplines. With a major international business crossroads connecting Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Istanbul provides an effective setting for international learning. Use the schedule below to view courses already planned for the destination, or contact our team to request another program and preferred dates in Istanbul, subject to scheduling and delivery requirements.