Overview
A paid media planner helps a growth lead turn budget, channels, flights, goals, and assumptions into one reviewable plan before spend starts moving. This playbook installs a paid media plan table and a planning assumptions document, replacing the spreadsheet where channel rows, budget math, and review notes usually drift apart.
Use it when you need a channel-by-channel media plan for a launch, quarter, promotion, or demand generation push. Juno keeps the workflow narrow: plan the budget and flighting, make assumptions visible, and show which rows need approval. It does not publish campaigns or edit ad accounts.
Why you should make budget tradeoffs visible
Media planning gets messy because every row carries a hidden bet. Paid search may be demand capture, LinkedIn may be pipeline creation, Meta may be retargeting, and a sponsorship may be an awareness test. If those jobs are not visible, the budget conversation collapses into "can we spend less here?"
Platform tools show why the planning layer matters. Google Ads describes Performance Planner as a way to create plans for advertising spend and test bid or budget changes before implementation (Google Ads Help). Meta also separates budget choices across campaign and ad set levels, with daily or lifetime budget options (Meta Business Help Center).
Juno gives the team a neutral operating surface before those platform-specific decisions. The plan table shows channel role, audience, flight dates, budget, budget share, goals, assumptions, dependencies, owner, status, and review notes. The assumptions document explains the logic so reviewers can challenge the plan without reverse-engineering a spreadsheet.
Step-by-step
- 1Confirm the brand or product, planning period, total budget, business goal, priority channels, markets, fixed flights, and review cadence.
- 2Install the paid media workspace with a primary media plan table and a planning assumptions document.
- 3Frame the plan around the business goal, budget guardrails, planning window, channel roles, and any constraints that must be respected.
- 4Add or update one row per channel, campaign group, audience segment, or flight that needs a distinct budget and review decision.
- 5Reconcile the plan by checking total spend, budget share, flight timing, target metric, owner, status, assumptions, dependencies, and review notes.
- 6Refresh the assumptions document with the budget logic, channel rationale, risks, unresolved choices, and decisions needed before approval.
- 7Reuse the same table and assumptions document on future manual or monthly reviews so the plan accumulates decisions instead of spawning another spreadsheet.
Frequently asked questions
What does this replace?
It replaces the minimum useful version of a media planning spreadsheet: channel rows, budget allocation, flighting, goals, assumptions, owners, statuses, and review notes. It does not replace every feature of an ad platform or finance planning system.
Does it require Google Ads, Meta Ads, or another connector?
No. The minimum workflow runs from Juno's default table, document, and scheduling capabilities. If the team later wants platform-specific performance inputs, that should be treated as a separate reporting or budget reallocation workflow.
What inputs should I have ready?
Bring the planning period, total budget, business goal, priority channels, target markets, known launch dates, and any budget constraints. Prior performance, benchmarks, or campaign briefs make the plan stronger, but missing context can be marked as an assumption or review item.
How often should the plan be reviewed?
Use a one-time run for a single planning pass. Choose monthly when the plan supports a standing budget or campaign planning meeting and needs stale assumptions, owner gaps, and budget changes reviewed regularly.
