media-buy-plan

name	media-buy-plan
description	Plans paid media budgets across channels with allocation strategy, expected ROAS, and testing roadmap. Use when managing ad spend across multiple platforms.
allowed-tools	Read Write Glob
metadata	{"author":"matthewhitcham","version":"1.0"}

Media Buy Plan

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

• Allocate advertising budget across multiple paid channels
• Build a media buying strategy with expected ROAS and KPI targets
• Create a testing roadmap for new channels and campaigns
• Plan monthly and quarterly ad spend with performance milestones

DO NOT use this skill for organic marketing strategy, individual ad campaign setup, or creative production. This is for strategic budget allocation and media planning across paid channels.

---

Core Principle

EVERY DOLLAR OF AD SPEND MUST HAVE A JOB — WHETHER IT IS TESTING A NEW CHANNEL, SCALING A PROVEN ONE, OR RETARGETING WARM AUDIENCES, NO BUDGET SHOULD BE SPENT WITHOUT A CLEAR EXPECTED OUTCOME AND MEASUREMENT PLAN.

---

Phase 1: Brief

Required Inputs

Input	What to Ask	Default
Total monthly ad budget	"What is your total monthly advertising budget?"	No default — must be provided
Business model	"How do you make money? (e-commerce, services, SaaS, info products)"	No default — must be provided
Average order value / deal size	"What is the average sale value?"	No default — must be provided
Target CPA	"How much can you afford to spend to acquire a customer?"	Derived from margins
Current channels	"Where are you advertising now? What results?"	None / starting from scratch
Customer LTV	"What is a customer worth over their lifetime?"	Single purchase value
Goals	"What are your monthly revenue or lead goals from ads?"	No default — must be provided

GATE: Confirm the brief before building the media plan.

---

Phase 2: Channel Strategy

Channel Selection Matrix

## Channel Evaluation

| Channel | Audience Fit | Cost | Complexity | Recommended? |
|---------|-------------|------|-----------|-------------|
| Meta (Facebook/IG) | [High/Med/Low] | [CPC range] | Medium | [Yes/No/Test] |
| Google Search | [High/Med/Low] | [CPC range] | Medium | [Yes/No/Test] |
| Google Display | [Med/Low] | [CPC range] | Low | [Yes/No/Test] |
| YouTube | [High/Med/Low] | [CPV range] | High | [Yes/No/Test] |
| TikTok | [High/Med/Low] | [CPC range] | Medium | [Yes/No/Test] |
| LinkedIn | [High/Med/Low] | [CPC range] | High cost | [Yes/No/Test] |
| Pinterest | [High/Med/Low] | [CPC range] | Low | [Yes/No/Test] |

Budget Allocation Framework

## Budget Allocation: $[X]/month

**Proven channels (60-70% of budget):**
Channels with positive ROAS get the majority of spend.
- [Channel 1]: $[X]/month ([X]% of budget)
- [Channel 2]: $[X]/month ([X]% of budget)

**Testing channels (15-20% of budget):**
New channels or audiences being validated.
- [Channel 3]: $[X]/month ([X]% of budget)

**Retargeting (15-20% of budget):**
Warm audience campaigns across all platforms.
- Meta retargeting: $[X]/month
- Google retargeting: $[X]/month

**Reserve (5-10%):**
Held for scaling opportunities or seasonal pushes.
- $[X]/month set aside

Target Economics

## Unit Economics for Ad Spend

Average order value (AOV): $[X]
Cost of goods / fulfillment: $[X]
Gross margin per sale: $[X] ([X]%)
Maximum CPA (breakeven): $[X]
Target CPA (profitable): $[X] (leaves [X]% profit)
Target ROAS: [X]x (revenue / ad spend)

Customer LTV: $[X]
LTV-based max CPA: $[X] (if willing to break even on first sale)

GATE: Approve the channel strategy and budget allocation before building the roadmap.

---

Phase 3: Media Plan Roadmap

Monthly Media Plan

## Month 1: Foundation

**Goal:** Establish baseline performance on primary channels
**Budget:** $[X]

| Channel | Budget | Campaign Type | Audience | Target CPA |
|---------|--------|--------------|----------|-----------|
| Meta | $[X] | Conversion | Interest-based cold | $[X] |
| Meta | $[X] | Retargeting | Website visitors | $[X] |
| Google Search | $[X] | Search | High-intent keywords | $[X] |

**Success criteria:** Positive ROAS on at least one campaign

---

## Month 2: Optimize and Test

**Goal:** Scale winners, kill losers, test one new channel
**Budget:** $[X]

- Scale: Increase budget 30% on campaigns with target CPA
- Kill: Pause campaigns with 2x+ target CPA after adequate spend
- Test: Launch [new channel] with $[X] test budget

---

## Month 3: Scale

**Goal:** Double down on proven channels, expand audiences
**Budget:** $[X] (increase if Month 2 was profitable)

- Proven: [X]% of budget to best-performing campaigns
- Expand: New audiences on proven channels (lookalikes, new interests)
- Retargeting: Increase retargeting budget as site traffic grows

Quarterly Review Framework

Every 90 days, assess:

1. Which channels hit target ROAS?
2. Which channels should be paused or scaled?
3. What new channels should be tested next quarter?
4. Is the budget allocation still optimal?

---

Phase 4: Polish

1. Performance Dashboard

## Weekly Tracking

| Channel | Spend | Revenue | ROAS | CPA | Conversions | CTR |
|---------|-------|---------|------|-----|------------|-----|
| Meta (cold) | $[X] | $[X] | [X]x | $[X] | [X] | [X]% |
| Meta (retarget) | $[X] | $[X] | [X]x | $[X] | [X] | [X]% |
| Google Search | $[X] | $[X] | [X]x | $[X] | [X] | [X]% |
| **Total** | **$[X]** | **$[X]** | **[X]x** | **$[X]** | **[X]** | |

2. Decision Rules

## When to Scale
- ROAS above target for 7+ consecutive days
- Increase budget by 20-30% (not more)
- Monitor for 3-4 days before increasing again

## When to Pause
- CPA exceeds 2x target after $50+ spend per ad set
- ROAS below 1x for 14+ days despite optimization
- CTR below 0.5% on social or below 2% on search

## When to Test New Channels
- Current channels are profitable and scaling
- Have $500+/month available for testing
- Target audience is active on the new platform

3. Seasonal Adjustments

Note seasonal trends:

• Q4 (holiday): CPMs rise 30-50%. Increase budget or shift to retargeting.
• January: CPMs drop. Good time to test new channels.
• Industry-specific events: plan budget spikes around launches, conferences, or seasonal demand.

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Anti-Patterns

• Spreading budget too thin — $100/month across 5 channels means none of them get enough data to optimize. Focus on 1-2 channels first.
• No testing budget — spending 100% on proven channels means you never discover what else works. Always allocate 15-20% for testing.
• Scaling too fast — doubling budget overnight resets the algorithm's learning. Increase 20-30% at a time.
• No CPA target — spending without a defined cost-per-acquisition target makes it impossible to know if ads are working.
• Ignoring attribution — understand how you're measuring results. Last-click vs. multi-touch attribution can tell very different stories.
• Emotional budget decisions — "This channel feels right" is not a strategy. Let the data decide where money goes.

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Recovery

• Very small budget (under $500/month): Pick ONE channel. Meta for B2C, Google Search for high-intent B2B. All budget on one platform until profitable.
• Spending with no ROAS tracking: Set up conversion tracking immediately. Without it, you're flying blind.
• All channels unprofitable: Check the offer and landing page before blaming the ads. If the funnel doesn't convert organic traffic either, ads won't fix it.
• No historical data: Start with industry benchmark CPAs and ROAS targets. Adjust based on your actual data within the first 30 days.
• Budget cuts required: Cut testing and reserve first. Protect the highest-ROAS campaigns. Reduce retargeting last (it's your most efficient spend).