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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Assistant Media Planner

💰 $45,000 - $65,000

MarketingMediaAdvertisingDigital

🎯 Role Definition

The Assistant Media Planner supports senior planners and media buyers in the end-to-end delivery of paid media campaigns. This role focuses on campaign setup, audience targeting, pacing and optimization, trafficking creative assets, and producing performance reporting. The Assistant Media Planner coordinates with cross-functional teams (creative, analytics, account management and ad operations) to ensure campaigns meet KPIs for reach, frequency, conversion and return on ad spend (ROAS). Candidates should be detail-oriented, analytically curious and comfortable with both tactical execution and strategic thinking in digital and traditional channels.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Media Coordinator / Media Assistant
  • Digital Marketing Coordinator / Paid Social Assistant
  • Marketing or Advertising Intern

Advancement To:

  • Media Planner
  • Paid Media Specialist / Buyer
  • Senior Media Planner / Campaign Manager

Lateral Moves:

  • Ad Operations Specialist
  • Performance Marketing Associate
  • Analytics / Insights Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Assist in the development of integrated media plans across programmatic display, video, connected TV (CTV/OTT), social (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn), search (Google Ads, Bing) and audio channels that align to campaign objectives (awareness, consideration, acquisition, retention) and target KPIs such as CTR, CPA, CPM and ROAS.
  • Build detailed weekly and monthly media pacing models and budget trackers to ensure on-target spend, forecast remaining budget, and proactively flag and remediate under- or overspending campaigns.
  • Set up campaign tactics in ad serving and buying platforms (DV360, The Trade Desk, Google Ads, Meta Business Manager) including line items, flighting, creative specs, audience targeting, frequency caps and bid strategies.
  • Traffick creative assets and third-party tags/ad-server creatives into ad servers (e.g., Google Campaign Manager, Sizmek) and ad platforms; perform creative QA and troubleshooting across desktop, mobile, in-app and CTV inventory.
  • Create, QA and manage insertion orders (IOs), statements of work (SOWs), contracts and trafficking documentation with publishers and programmatic partners; monitor IO fulfillment and resolve discrepancies.
  • Monitor daily campaign performance and execute optimization tactics (bid adjustments, audience refinement, creative rotation, pacing changes, placement whitelists/blacklists) to maximize campaign KPIs and efficiency.
  • Produce timely campaign reporting (daily dashboards, weekly recaps, post-campaign wrap-ups) using Google Sheets, Excel, Looker/Tableau or other BI tools; deliver actionable insights and next-step recommendations to internal teams and clients.
  • Implement and validate conversion tracking, pixels, UTM tagging and event tracking using Google Tag Manager and developer support; ensure data integrity across analytics and ad platforms.
  • Support programmatic strategy by setting up and managing private marketplace (PMP) deals, preferred deals, and programmatic guaranteed buys; liaise with supply-side partners and DSP counterparts.
  • Conduct audience research and segmentation using first- and third-party data sources; translate audience insights into targeting recommendations and creative messaging strategies.
  • Assist with A/B testing and creative experiments (creative formats, copy variants, landing pages, CTAs) and analyze results to inform scaling decisions and creative optimization.
  • Run competitive media and market analysis to identify gaps, channel opportunities and benchmark performance for planning and pitch materials.
  • Support measurement strategy implementation including attribution model considerations, multi-touch attribution analyses and alignment with business/marketing goals.
  • Coordinate with account teams and creative services to manage campaign timelines, ensure on-time delivery of assets, and maintain production calendars for launches, refreshes and seasonal spikes.
  • Reconcile campaign invoices, cost reporting and delivery confirmations with finance and traffic teams; maintain accurate records for audit and billing purposes.
  • Participate in client and internal status calls to present performance highlights, escalate issues, and align on optimization priorities and next steps.
  • Maintain and update audience, placement and creative libraries or playbooks for reuse across accounts; document naming conventions and campaign structures for consistency and scale.
  • Support RFP responses, pitch decks and media plan rationales by contributing research, budget allocations, recommended KPI targets and channel mix justifications.
  • Troubleshoot live campaign issues (delivery drops, creative rendering problems, tracking failures) with technical teams and external partners; escalate and manage incident resolution through to close.
  • Ensure adherence to brand safety, viewability and ad fraud guidelines by implementing pre-bid/pre-bid filters, viewability thresholds and working with verification vendors (Moat, Integral Ad Science, DoubleVerify).
  • Continuously monitor platform updates, new ad formats and industry best practices; recommend tactical or strategic shifts to leverage emerging inventory or targeting capabilities.
  • Support cross-channel audience mapping and data onboarding processes for CRM and data management platforms (DMP/CDP) to enable audience activation and measurement.

Secondary Functions

  • Maintain internal standard operating procedures (SOPs) and playbooks for campaign setup, trafficking, QA and reporting.
  • Assist with onboarding new clients or campaigns: gather creative requirements, data access, and platform permissions.
  • Help train junior staff and interns on campaign tools, reporting templates, and media process workflows.
  • Contribute to post-campaign analyses and learnings documentation to support continuous improvement and knowledge sharing.
  • Coordinate with vendor partners on beta tests and product trials; document results and feasibility for client adoption.
  • Support ad-hoc analytics requests and ad-hoc competitive or channel-specific deep dives for strategy meetings.
  • Help prepare monthly invoices, delivery reconciliations and support the finance team during audits.
  • Archive campaign assets and maintain asset libraries with proper version control and naming conventions.
  • Support scheduling of internal sprint planning or cross-functional meetings to ensure campaign milestones are tracked.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Proficiency with programmatic DSPs and ad platforms: Google Display & Video 360 (DV360), The Trade Desk, MediaMath (or equivalent).
  • Hands-on experience with social ad platforms and managers: Meta Business Manager (Facebook/Instagram), TikTok Ads Manager, LinkedIn Campaign Manager.
  • Strong working knowledge of Google Ads (Search & Display) and search campaign fundamentals (keywords, match types, bidding).
  • Ad serving and trafficking experience with Campaign Manager / ad servers, including creative tag setup, rendering troubleshooting and verification tags.
  • Advanced Excel and Google Sheets skills: pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, conditional formatting and basic macros.
  • Familiarity with analytics and reporting tools: Google Analytics/GA4, Looker, Tableau, Data Studio/Looker Studio, or similar BI tools.
  • Understanding of digital measurement & tracking: pixels, UTM parameters, Google Tag Manager, server-side tracking fundamentals and conversion attribution.
  • Knowledge of media metrics and pricing models: CPM, CPC, CPA, CPP, CTR, viewability, GRP and reach/frequency planning.
  • Basic SQL skills for campaign-level data pulls and audience extraction (preferred but not always required).
  • Experience with verification, brand safety and ad fraud tools: DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Science, Moat (or equivalent).
  • Familiarity with CRM/data onboarding and DMP/CDP concepts for audience activation and first-party data usage.
  • Experience creating visual, executive-level reports and slide decks using PowerPoint, Keynote or Google Slides.
  • Understanding of publisher direct buys, IO management, PMP deals and programmatic deal types.

Soft Skills

  • Strong analytical mindset with an ability to translate data into clear optimization recommendations and business outcomes.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills for presenting performance to clients and internal stakeholders.
  • High attention to detail and discipline in QA processes to prevent trafficking and billing errors.
  • Project management and time management skills to juggle multiple campaigns and deadlines simultaneously.
  • Collaborative team player who liaises effectively with creative, analytics, operations and account teams.
  • Problem-solving orientation with the ability to quickly triage and resolve live campaign issues.
  • Client-facing professionalism and the ability to support client relationships and meetings.
  • Adaptability and eagerness to learn new platforms, ad formats and industry best practices.
  • Prioritization skills and the ability to make data-driven tradeoffs when resources are limited.
  • Curiosity and continuous improvement mindset to test new ideas and iterate on campaign strategies.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Advertising, Communications, Business, Media Studies, Data Analytics, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor’s or Master’s in Marketing, Advertising, Business Analytics, or related disciplines. Certifications such as Google Ads, DV360, The Trade Desk, Facebook Blueprint or IAB digital advertising certifications are a strong plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Marketing
  • Advertising
  • Communications
  • Media Studies
  • Business or Economics
  • Data Analytics / Statistics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 1–3 years of hands-on experience in media planning, digital media buying, ad operations, or a related marketing/advertising role. Internship experience with relevant responsibilities may be considered.

Preferred:

  • 2–4 years working across paid digital channels with demonstrable experience in campaign setup, trafficking, optimization and reporting.
  • Experience with both direct-sold and programmatic buys, familiarity with cross-channel measurement and experience supporting client-facing presentations and strategic recommendations.
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