When advertising any type of business, there has to be a strategy. When you understand the “WHY” you are running an ad, the reason you are running it during a certain timeframe, you officially have a strategy. Now, diving in a little deeper, for the strategy to be the very best media plan to achieve optimal results, focus on identifying the best solutions based industry, budget, return on investment expectations, type of desired clients, and the smartest time to deploy each solution based on seasonality and market.

Two words that can help develop your media plan are Burst and Persist. You want to have both persistent advertising running all year long AND ads that just burst during a certain time. Here is an example: A school should have a solid and reputable presence all year long but during peak times of enrollment, they really need to spike their advertising to fill those spots. Since there is a set time for a school to recruit, it might be an easier example, but every business has the best times to burst, whether it is elevated traffic in their designated marketing area, sporting events, business logistics, higher demands, weather constraints, etc. Figure out when your bursts should be and allocate more budget to those flights.

One of the biggest mistakes I see is a media plan with only bursts and not any persistence in a plan. When you do this, not only do you miss out on a steady flow of business but it’s harder to build a strong brand that people trust in the market. Having both a Burst and Persist strategy does not have to cost more, it just has to be done in a smart, tactful way.