While working with clients, have you observed this? Clients will call a marketing initiative a branding campaign until they take a look at their reports. Like any rational person, their eyes head to the far right-hand side of report, looking past impressions, clicks, and cost per click to evaluate how many actions they are getting. And they should. Today, marketers must focus on engagement, high-value brand interactions, and of course, actual leads and sales. Think of it this way: there are banner impressions and then there are lasting impressions. Engagement helps brands make lasting impressions with target audiences.
So in parallel to a great Media Plan, one should have a great Engagement Plan. An accompanying document should map not just where your creative will be placed, but what people will be encouraged to do when they see and click on your ads. Especially today, when properties offer an assortment of rich media units and engagement ads, how people respond can vary as much as what people see.
Let’s say you are advertising on LinkedIn. You can enable people participate in a poll and then be redirected to your landing page. Facebook’s Engagement Ads let people become a fan of your company right from the ad. And on all media you place, your clicks go to landing pages that should be help trigger chains of events and engagements.
So as a media planner your plan should show the whole picture: the Media Plan and the Engagement Plan. The Media Plan tells clicks where they are going to “be,” an Engagement Plan tells the client what you are trying to get people to “do” and what you are going to “measure” from an action standpoint.