“Media strategists and media planners today must possess a diverse skill set that includes a strong understanding of marketing principles, and creative curiosity to develop innovative campaigns,” says Ana Carrapichano, founder and CEO of Mediology. “They should be well versed in both online and offline media channels, allowing them to craft integrated strategies that effectively reach target audiences across various platforms.”
Seeing the bigger and smaller picture
For media strategists, a holistic grasp of the overall communication strategy is important, says Carrapichano. This view helps align media initiatives with broader business objectives. Both strategists and planners must also pay meticulous attention to detail, as accuracy is essential for budget management and optimising media spend to ensure strong returns.
Beyond technical skills, Carrapichano adds that these roles require “good team players and great networkers” who value business partnerships. Strong presentation skills are also key for conveying complex strategies clearly and persuasively.
Strength in data and analytics
Stacey Bossenger, managing director at Ad Talent Africa, says that her clients typically seek a combination of analytical, creative, and strategic skills from media planners and strategists. “Both roles require staying current with media trends, emerging technologies, and changing audience behaviour to remain competitive in the industry,” she says.
There are also role-specific skill sets. “With media strategists, besides strategic thinking, [my clients] look for expertise in analysing market trends, [a] strong understanding of digital and traditional media platforms, including programmatic advertising, social media, and mobile marketing, [and] competency in using data and analytics to assess campaign management performance,” Bossenger explains.
“With media planners, they require analytical skills to analyse audience data, competitive media landscapes and campaign performance metrics; attention to detail; budget management; media-buying knowledge; and in-depth knowledge of traditional and digital media channels,” says Bossenger. Clients also look for familiarity with media-planning tools like Google Ad Manager, Nielsen, Comscore, and others for tracking and reporting.
Don’t forget the presentation skills
Viv Gordon, managing director and consultant at VGP Recruitment, shares similar insights. “Media strategists need to have the ability to plan comprehensive media strategies that are in keeping with the broader marketing objectives, and be able to work with omni-channels or cross-channels,” she says. “For this, they need to have the ability to conduct market research and [access] consumer insights, and — most importantly — pull insights from data. Strategy has to be developed innovatively and creatively, depending on the brands.” Strong presentation skills are also key, she says, so that the planners can effectively communicate their findings to clients and C-suite executives.
For media planners, Gordon highlights the ability to interpret data from media platforms, research reports, and audience measurement tools like Nielsen and Google Analytics. Planners should analyse audience demographics, psychographics, and consumer behaviours. Regular interaction with media owners is essential to gather these insights. They also need to interact with media owners on a “very regular basis” to glean the above. Planners are “the numbers people”, and also “negotiators”, she says. “They have to have great people and presentation skills, as they work closely with clients, creative teams, and the media owners.”
New grads need to hit the ground running
“One of the developmental areas that has come up consistently for years now from all employers, and is always considered critical and highly problematic, is work readiness and business etiquette,” says Andrew Allison, chief commercial officer at Red & Yellow Creative School of Business. “Interns and grads are often unable to ‘hit the ground running’. Naturally, all employers should anticipate that there will be an onboarding period for new starters, and that this will likely be a bit longer and require closer management with first-time employees,” he explains. “We hear that the biggest gaps are in areas like professional communication, time management, proactivity, creative and lateral thinking, and basic skills in conducting oneself politely and professionally in the workplace.”
Allison suggests these gaps can be addressed at the formal education stage, in how subjects are taught. Practical assessments, workplace simulations and industry expert sessions would evaluate both student output and professional conduct.
360-degree mindset
When it comes to more specific skills and abilities, Allison says that agencies report a bias in their staff towards the specific field in which the agency operates, e.g. creative, digital, or media — and that this is often due to a lack of understanding in how the broader MAC (marketing, advertising, communication) ecosystem operates.
“Media professionals with a stronger foundation in marketing strategy, and a solid understanding of how all the various agency types and disciplines work together at an integrated, 360-degree level will do more impactful work and deliver better for their clients,” Allison explains. “For this reason, it’s important that media planners, strategists and professionals have a deep understanding not only of their own domains, but also of the domains of the others that they work with.”
The mad skills wishlist
Wayne Wilson, chief operating officer for tech and media at RAPT Creative, says that agency leaders expect media planners and strategists to bring a mix of “hard-hitting expertise, forward-thinking creativity, and adaptability” to the table. What really sets the bar, he says, is the following list of attributes in a candidate:
- Data-savvy and results-driven
- Tech-first approach
- Big-picture thinking meets bold execution
- Communication that cuts through
- Ability to “get it done”, flawlessly
- Industry know-how
- Agility and adaptability
“For schools and agencies to foster the next generation of media planners and strategists who can truly thrive, they need to prioritise hands-on experience, dynamic learning, and an agile mindset,” says Wilson. They can achieve that through real-world projects, “analytics courses that go deep”, storytelling with data, the cultivation of a digital-first mentality, cross-functional collaboration, plenty of pitch practice, crisis-management drills and adaptive-thinking exercises, and real-time trend tracking, among other focus areas, he says.
It’s also important that aspiring planners and strategists “get comfortable with chaos”, adds Wilson. “Schools and agencies should create safe spaces for students to push boundaries and try new things,” he says. “Real growth comes from stepping outside of the comfort zone, and innovation thrives when risks are taken.”
Carey Finn is a contributing writer to MarkLives MEDIA and MarkLives.com.
