Most media plans start with the wrong question: “How much should we spend on Meta or Google?”
That question leads teams to think in channels, not outcomes.
The smarter approach starts with purpose.
Each channel exists to play a specific role in the funnel: creating demand, building intent, or capturing conversion.
Once you define those roles, the mix almost builds itself.
The Goal of a Media Mix
A media mix isn’t about being everywhere.
It’s about ensuring every dollar has a job to do and every job connects to growth.
A strong mix balances three things:
- Coverage: Reaching the right audiences at every stage.
- Efficiency: Spending where returns compound fastest.
- Cohesion: Ensuring messages connect across platforms.
When these three align, you stop optimizing for platforms and start optimizing for performance through them.
Mapping Channels to Funnel Stages
Every platform has a natural strength.
The goal isn’t to force performance where it doesn’t belong, it’s to let each channel play its best role in the system.
Awareness
- Objective: Reach and memorability
- Channels: TV, OOH, YouTube, TikTok, influencers
- Metrics: Reach, recall, brand lift
Consideration
- Objective: Education and preference
- Channels: Non-brand search, mid-funnel social, partnerships
- Metrics: Incremental ROAS, branded search lift
Conversion
- Objective: Efficient acquisition
- Channels: Search, Shopping, Retargeting
- Metrics: CPA, ROAS, revenue
Loyalty
- Objective: Retention and reactivation
- Channels: CRM retargeting, loyalty ads, reactivation campaigns
- Metrics: LTV, repeat rate, MER
This system keeps your plan balanced: upper funnel creates demand, mid-funnel shapes it, and lower funnel monetizes it.
How to Allocate Budget by Funnel
Budget allocation should follow your growth stage and media maturity.
Here’s a general framework as a starting point:
Emerging Brands
- Awareness: 20%
- Consideration: 30%
- Conversion: 45%
- Loyalty: 5%
Scaling Brands
- Awareness: 30%
- Consideration: 35%
- Conversion: 30%
- Loyalty: 5%
Established Brands
- Awareness: 40%
- Consideration: 35%
- Conversion: 20%
- Loyalty: 5%
This isn’t a rule, it’s a model.
The goal is flexibility, not rigidity.
Shift spend based on market conditions, seasonality, and creative performance; but never lose sight of the full system.
When to Diversify Channels
Adding new platforms doesn’t always improve performance, it often spreads resources thin.
Diversification should be driven by one of three triggers:
- Diminishing returns — ROAS flatlines or CPMs rise on your core channel.
- Audience saturation — Reach frequency climbs, new customer % drops.
- New opportunity — Emerging channels match your target audience profile.
The best time to expand is before a channel peaks, not after it plateaus.
How to Evolve the Mix Over Time
As your brand matures, your mix should evolve; not just by channel, but by message.
- Early stage: Focus on performance channels to validate demand.
- Growth stage: Layer awareness to expand audiences.
- Mature stage: Invest in diversification and brand storytelling to protect share.
Each stage builds on the last.
Scaling isn’t about reinventing the system, it’s about expanding its reach and sophistication.
Common Watchouts
- Allocating by last year’s plan. Media evolves too fast for static budgets.
- Overfunding lower funnel. It feels efficient but caps long-term growth.
- Testing too little. Set aside 10–15% of spend for new channels and formats.
- Ignoring cross-channel measurement. MER and incrementality reveal true contribution better than platform ROAS.
Takeaway
A smarter media mix isn’t about mastering every platform, it’s about mastering purpose.
When each channel has a defined role, every dollar compounds efficiency instead of competing for credit.
That’s how brands stop chasing algorithms and start building systems that scale.
