What is a media plan builder?
A media plan builder turns a few high-level decisions - objective, budget, market, channels and audience strategy - into a structured plan you can act on: how to split budget across channels, where to weight the funnel, what to run on each channel, and what could go wrong. It replaces the blank spreadsheet with a sensible default you can refine.
This tool is deliberately lightweight. It gives a directional plan, not a forecast. For the full picture - projected outcomes, prediction intervals and budget scenarios - see how to create a media plan and media planning without spreadsheets.
How the tool works
Choose your business type and objective, enter a monthly budget, currency and planning period, pick a market, tick the channels you are considering, set a funnel focus and select your audience strategy. The builder then weights each selected channel by how well it fits your objective, funnel emphasis and business type, reserves a slice for testing, and returns a recommended budget allocation with a funnel split, tactics, creative requirements and risk notes. Everything updates instantly as you change inputs, and you can export the result or copy a shareable link.
Why forecasting matters
A static channel split assumes every pound works as hard as the last. In reality, channels saturate: as spend rises, each additional pound tends to return less. A directional plan is a good place to start, but it cannot tell you how far you can scale a channel before returns fade, or what a budget change will actually deliver.
That is what forecasting adds. ElenIQ models the relationship between spend and outcomes - including saturation and diminishing returns - so you can pressure-test a plan before committing budget. Try the marginal ROAS calculator and the budget allocation simulator, or read about ad spend forecasting.
Frequently asked questions
What should a paid media plan include?
A useful paid media plan sets out the objective, the budget and planning period, the channel mix and budget split, the funnel emphasis (upper, mid or lower), the audiences to target, the creative each channel needs, and the main risks. The ElenIQ media plan builder produces all of these as a directional starting point.
How do you split budget across paid media channels?
Start from the objective and funnel emphasis, then weight channels by how well each fits that stage and your business type - and ideally by the marginal return of the next pound in each. This builder applies a simple version of that logic and reserves a slice for testing, so no single channel is funded purely out of habit.
What channels should be included in a media plan?
It depends on objective, audience and budget. High-intent search and retargeting tend to anchor lower-funnel plans; Meta, TikTok, YouTube and programmatic build demand higher up; LinkedIn suits B2B. The builder recommends a mix from the channels you select rather than spreading budget evenly across everything.
How do you forecast a media plan?
Forecasting models the relationship between spend and outcomes - accounting for saturation and diminishing returns - to project revenue, leads, ROAS or CPL before budget is committed. This free tool gives a directional split, not a forecast; ElenIQ adds forecast-led projections, prediction intervals and scenario planning on top.
Can I export the media plan?
Yes. You can download the plan as a PDF, copy a plain-text summary to your clipboard, or copy a shareable link that reopens the builder with your exact inputs. Email and spreadsheet exports are planned for later.
Related
- Media planning - what a plan should contain and how to build one.
- Scenario planning - modelling best, base and worst case before you commit.
- Budget allocation - splitting budget by marginal return rather than habit.