What is a media mix and the most effective types [HubSpot Blog Data]
I realized that to truly connect with customers, it is essential to be present wherever they are, whether on social media, email, websites, or even traditional mediums like television and radio. This is where a solid media mix comes into play.
By using multiple channels strategically, I can deliver messages more effectively, ensuring they reach the right people at the right time.
But how does this help you plan better campaigns? And why has it become such an essential part of modern marketing strategies? I’ll explain how a strong media mix works, share some compelling stats, and highlight an example of a brand that’s successfully taking its campaigns to the next level.
Table of contents
What is a media mix?
A media mix is a marketing term for the combination of channels that a company uses to achieve its marketing objectives. These can include billboards, emails, websites and social media. Businesses can refer to their marketing mix when thinking about how to achieve the goals of their future marketing campaigns.
A media mix is another term for an overview of the channels on which businesses choose to execute their marketing strategies. Ultimately, media mix optimization is the process of analyzing the performance of these channels.
Think about the last campaign you saw from one of your favorite brands. What did they do differently that really stood out to you? By integrating a media mix into your annual planning, you can refine what resonates with your audience.
Media Mixing Example
Theory is great, but it’s important to see this approach in action. I immediately think of a makeup brand The lip bar‘s recent campaign features their limited edition HBCU lip gloss collection.
To build anticipation and drive demand for this limited product line, The Lip Bar launched a multi-channel campaign that reached audiences both online and offline.
First, the website.
When you land on the brand’s homepage, you’ll see an image of the CEO with the phrase “Introducing the HBCU Lip Gloss Collection.” Limited edition clear lip glosses inspired by our HBCU girlies.
Clicking on the image will take you to a landing page that displays the full lip gloss collection and explains the concept behind this limited edition.
The second digital channel used by the brand for this campaign is YouTube, publishing a 59 second video celebrating HBCU culture combined with lip gloss.
Offline, I love how the brand also showed up at the FAMU ball and opened a pop-up store. They advertised on Instagram to get people to their in-person event.
So what is the conclusion to be drawn here? The benefit of using a media mix is leveraging different strategies to see which tactics work and lead to better conversions.
I think The Lip Bar’s recent campaign is a great example of how a brand can leverage channels differently to achieve the same marketing goal.
Media mix statistics in 2025
Things have changed significantly in recent years, particularly due to the advent of AI. So how do marketers approach different channels and campaigns? The situation is evolving, so I will share the latest news.
Likewise, our extensive internal research reveals the following:
Media Mixing Optimization
Now that you know what a media mix is, how do you find the right mix for your brand and product?
This is where media mix optimization comes into play. Based on data from your previous campaigns and audience research, you will be able to identify the best channels to reach your audience and then send your message across these different media.
I think it’s important to optimize your media mix because it will allow you to invest more time and money into marketing strategies that are best suited to your audience.
When optimizing a marketing media mix, it means looking at the analytics and ROI of various marketing strategies. This can range from engagement data from social media platforms to views on the latest ad.
Enter media mix modeling. If media mix optimization is the “what,” modeling is the “how.” Each template can (and should) be different, depending on your marketing and broader business goal.
Media mix modeling
Media mix modeling, also known as marketing mix modeling, is an analysis technique used to measure the impact of a campaign and determine how each channel (and certain elements) contribute to conversions. The results of media mix modeling allow marketers to discover what drives conversions in order to create campaigns with high ROI.
Media mix models can be used to analyze the relationship between a dependent variable and an independent variable.
For example, let’s say my business has a question like: “How did paying for a sponsored tweet affect overall blog traffic?” » My company’s media mix model must then accurately describe how a dependent variable – like overall blog traffic – relates to an independent variable, like investing in X.
For businesses still deciding whether media mix optimization is a good idea for them, I’ve put together some key tips to guide you when creating a media mix model. Let’s explore them next.
Tips for optimizing your media mix
1. Collect personal data.
Here you need to find and focus on analytics that will help provide an accurate picture of how customers interact with your media mix.
The analysis software is comprehensive and offers a range of tools to use. If you ask me, there is no reason to rely on anything other than the HubSpot Marketing Center.
I also advise against having too many metrics; this can be confusing and lead to inaccurate data. Therefore, the best plan is to have an idea of the steps you need to take so that they are correct from the start.
A normal media mix optimization process can take anywhere from a few months to a year. So, collecting the right information from the beginning helps to obtain the most accurate information overall.
2. Have a robust reporting process.
When using a media mix, you often combine online and offline strategies. With this in mind, it can be more difficult to measure the impact of a billboard compared to paid social advertising.
This means you’ll need to think outside the box when evaluating your media mix. For example, even if an online ad has clear conversion rates, a billboard may require creative follow-up.
Maybe you can track increased brand search volume or better brand recall.
This requires having a robust reporting process that takes into account the events you will track, both online and offline.
3. Choose the right platform.
Marketing teams that use CMS or analytics software already have a head start. Software like this is essential for optimizing a media mix, as it can give you numbers that would otherwise take some time to figure out manually.
A brand can analyze its media mix through the use of platforms that collect real-time engagement data and compile this data into tracking reports.
I recommend looking for a platform that can give a holistic view of results across the board, so results remain consistent. It’s also a good idea to choose software that specializes in the marketing channels you’re using at the time.
Since optimization involves measuring a lot of different data at once, stick to as few systems as possible.
For businesses looking for a CMS, Content Center is a great, easy-to-use option for brands of all sizes.
4. Analyze the data.
I’ve talked a lot about the type of data and analysis that needs to be done in media mix optimization, but another important factor is the ability to interpret and understand that data.
It’s no secret: in the world of marketing, there are many processes and acronyms floating around. While it can be intimidating to first understand them and what they mean, it’s important to know what data is being collected and how to use it to your advantage.
For example, if a marketing team had particularly high click-to-open rates for weekly newsletters, that’s useful information to infer that the next campaign could greatly benefit from an email marketing deployment. Alternatively, if a marketing team has no idea what a click-to-open rate is, these numbers won’t be useful – just a little confusing.
Reading data to understand its usefulness is just as important as collecting it.
5. Consider public perception.
Knowing how the public perceives your brand can help fill in some interpretation gaps during the modeling process. In the media mix model, consider how to take customer opinion into account. This way the numbers will have customer reviews to define them.
I suggest you do this in several ways:
Monitor brand mentions. To better understand the perception of your brand, monitor mentions of your brand on social networks. Take note of the positives, negatives and questions.
NPS survey. You can also create a survey to find out what your customers think about your business and its services and use a net promoter score (NPS).
An NPS asks customers how likely they are to recommend a business to a friend. Knowing this will help determine how a business performs among the competition in the marketplace. This will also help with future marketing efforts.
Follow relevant metrics. Keeping the rhythm of your metric like brand awareness, brand loyalty and customer satisfaction can help you assess how your the brand does in the public eye and where you could improve.
These methods ultimately give the reins of media mix optimization to the client.
Takeaways
My biggest takeaway is that in 2025 you will need to advertise across a variety of media. The days of simple, centralized advertising are over. But to effectively deliver your message to your target audience, you need to optimize your media mix with real data to know where your audience is and how to reach them.
Taking the time to optimize your strategy will ultimately save you time and direct your resources to the right channels.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in February 2020 and has been updated for completeness.
