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Advertising media planner
Communications planner, media strategist
Advertising media planners decide which media is best to advertise their client's products or services.
Average salary (a year)
£18000.0
Starter
£50000.0
Experienced
Typical hours (a week)
37.0 to 39.0 hours
a week
Work Hours
evenings
occasionally
How to become
Explore the different ways to get into this role
You can get into this job through:a university course; an apprenticeship; working towards this role; specialist courses run by professional bodies
University
To become an advertising media planner, you'll usually need a foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree in a subject like
advertising and marketing, statistics or operational research, communication and media studies, business or management, psychology
You can apply for graduate roles in advertising agencies like junior media planner if you have a degree.
Some employers combine the roles of media planner and media buyer which means you could get a wide range of experience before specialising in planning.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
  • 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a foundation degree or higher national diploma
  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
More Information
equivalent entry requirements|https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels
student finance for fees and living costs|https://www.gov.uk/student-finance
university courses and entry requirements|https://www.ucas.com/
Apprenticeship
You could start on an advertising and media executive advanced apprenticeship.
If you also get some advertising experience, you can apply for jobs as a media planner.
This usually takes 18 months to complete and is a mix of learning in the workplace and study.
Entry requirements
Employers will set their own entry requirements.
    Work
    You might be able to start in a junior position at a small advertising agency in a position like admin assistant.
    You can then work your way up as your experience in advertising grows.
    Volunteering
    Experience will help you understand advertising and allow you to meet new people who may help you find paid work.
    You could try
    work experience, internships, temporary employment
    You could contact agencies directly to ask about volunteering opportunities. You could also make contacts on social media channels like LinkedIn.
    Other Routes
    You could take the advertising Foundation Certificate to get some of the skills you need to get a paid job in advertising.
    The course is offered by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and is open to anyone with less than one year of experience in an advertising, marketing or communications role.
    More Information
    Career Tips
    It might be useful to get some work experience in a media, marketing, communication or sales role.
    Professional And Industry Bodies
    You could join the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) to find training opportunities for professional development and to make industry contacts.
    Further Information
    What it takes
    Find out what skills you’ll use in this role
    Skills and knowledge
    You'll need:
      Knowledge of media production and communication
      The ability to use your initiative
      To be thorough and pay attention to detail
      To be flexible and open to change
      Customer service skills
      The ability to come up with new ways of doing things
      The ability to sell products and services
      Excellent verbal communication skills
    Digital Skills Level
    to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
    What you will do
    Discover the day-to-day tasks you’ll do in this role
    Day to day tasks
    In this role you could
    research and analyse data to find out how people use different media, create a media plan of how, when and where to advertise, work out costs with a media buyer, present plans and costs to clients and book advertising space, monitor the effectiveness of campaigns, work closely with creative teams, researchers and other media organisations
    Working environment
    You could work in an office or at a client's business.
    Career Path & Progression
    Look at progression in this role and similar opportunities
    With experience you could:get a job as an advertising account manager, become a senior advertising planner or strategic manager, work as a freelance media planner
    Job profile data provided by The National Careers Service.
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