Plan settings

This page lists the settings of the first three steps of the New plan wizard in Media Forecaster: Timeline, Goal, and Budget. For the Media step and the Review & run step, see Media and run settings.

In a label on this page, a word in braces is a value that depends on the plan.

Wizard steps

The New plan wizard has five steps.

Step	What the step sets
Timeline	Select the models, the reference period, and the planning period.
Goal	Select one goal, set a target if the goal needs one, and select the plan type.
Budget	Set the budget and the spend flexibility.
Media	Select the channels, tactics, and campaigns, and set a limit on any row.
Review & run	Check the summary, name the plan, set the visibility, and run the plan.

Timeline step

Reference period

The reference period sets which media is eligible and the current spend of each row. The reference period does not limit what the models know. The models train on the full history of the account.

Option	Period
Most recent	The most recent modeled period. On the Review & run step, the label is Most recent modeled period.
Same time last year	The same dates one year earlier. On the Review & run step, the label is Last year same period.
Custom	A preset or a quarter that you select. On the Review & run step, the label is Custom reference period.

With Custom, a daily plan offers Last 7 days, Last 14 days, Last 30 days, and Last 90 days. A weekly plan offers Last week, Last 4 weeks, and Last 12 weeks. Both offer the four most recent completed quarters.

Planning period and models

Setting	Limit
Models	At least one model. The wizard shows Pick at least one model. on the step. The message At least one model must be selected. shows when a plan is sent with no model.
Cadence	Days when every selected model is daily. Weeks when one or more selected models are weekly.
Planning period start	14 days before today, or later. The calendar disables earlier dates. The quick length options start today, or at the next week boundary on a plan in weeks.
Days already past	When the planning period starts before today, the days that are past use the spend that was recorded on those days. The plan covers the days that remain. One day or more always remains to plan.
Days that lock	A past day locks only after its spend is loaded. A weekly plan locks full weeks only.
Planning period years	The current year and the next two years.
Planning period end	On or after the start date, and today or later.
Default planning period	Daily plans: 30 days, from today. Weekly plans: 4 weeks, from the next week boundary.
Shortest feasible windows	30, 60, 90, 120, and 180 days.
Custom reference quarters	The four most recent completed quarters.

Shortest feasible appears only on an Optimization plan that uses Solve for it. With Shortest feasible, Media Forecaster tests each window and keeps the shortest window that reaches the target.

Planning period that starts before today

A planning period can start as many as 14 days before today. The quick length options start today, or at the next week boundary on a plan in weeks, so a start date in the past comes from Custom… or from a quarter that started in the last 14 days.

A past day is locked only when its recorded spend has loaded. The most recent days can stay in the planned part of the period, because the load of recorded spend is a day or two late. A plan in weeks locks whole weeks only. For a locked day, the baseline and the optimized plan use the spend that was recorded on that day. The optimizer plans the days that remain with the budget that is left.

Four of the five steps then show a note about the locked days. The Media step has no note.

Timeline: a note below the period starts with the number of days since the start date. The note gives the dates that use the recorded spend and the first date that the plan covers. When no past day has recorded spend that is loaded, the note states that nothing locks yet and that the whole period is planned.
Goal: for a goal with an outcome target, a note gives the modeled outcome that the locked days delivered. The plan counts that outcome toward the target.
Budget: with Set a ceiling, a note subtracts the recorded spend of the locked days from the budget and gives the amount that is left to plan. The note does not show with Solve for it.
Review & run: the second stage has a sentence with the locked dates, the recorded spend, and the first planned date.

The outcome of a locked day is the modeled outcome of that day. For a day that the models do not cover yet, the product estimates the outcome from the recent modeled return of each campaign. The help next to the note on the Goal step gives the share of the outcome that is an estimate.

Goal step

Goal families

Goal family	What the plan does
Grow on a fixed budget	The plan spends the whole budget and maximizes the outcome.
Hit a target	The plan reaches the target that you set for the least spend.
Hold efficiency	The plan spends as much as possible while the efficiency ratio stays at the target that you set.

Each goal card carries the name of a modeled metric with the prefix MMM. The goals in the list depend on the active models of the account.

Plan type

Plan type	When to use it
Optimization	Reallocates budget across your live campaigns. Best for the next few weeks.
Forecast	Plans on your channels and tactics. Best for longer horizons.

Target limits

Setting	Limit
Target	Required for a goal in the Hit a target or Hold efficiency family. Greater than zero.
Suggested target	10% better than the no-change forecast.
Target slider	The scale is the percentage that the target is better than the no-change forecast, from 50% worse to 200% better. For a cost-per goal, a lower cost is better, so the target can be at most 90% below the no-change forecast.
Typed target	From 100% worse to 100,000% better than the no-change forecast. For a cost-per goal, a lower cost is better, so the target can be at most 90% below the no-change forecast.
Plan type default by length	Media Forecaster suggests Forecast for a planning period of 42 days or more, and questions Forecast for a planning period under 14 days.

Budget step

Parts of the Budget step

Part	What it is
Marketing budget	The budget of the plan. The budget starts at the spend of the reference period, scaled to the length of the planning period. A typed amount replaces it. For a goal with a target, the label is Max budget. With Solve for it, which a goal in the Hit a target family has, the label is Required spend.
Adjust	A slider and a percentage field. They scale the budget up or down from the reference spend, or from the typed amount. The slider shows no numbers at its ends. The field shows the percentage.
Reference spend	The line below the budget field. The line shows the reference spend for each day, the length of the planning period, the total, and the dates of the reference period. The line ends with Change period.
Spend flexibility	The control that sets how far the optimizer can move each row from its baseline. See Spend flexibility.

Budget source

A goal in the Hit a target family has two budget sources, on an Optimization plan and on a Forecast plan. A goal in the Hold efficiency family has a target and no budget source control.

Option	Effect
Set a ceiling	You set the maximum budget. The plan spends up to that amount.
Solve for it	The models find the spend that the target needs. Available on Optimization plans and on Forecast plans.

Budget limits

Setting	Limit
Marketing budget	Greater than zero.
Adjust, slider	From 50% below to 300% above the baseline. The range grows if you type a larger value.
Adjust, typed value	From 99% below to 1,000% above the baseline.
Solve for it on a Forecast plan	A Forecast plan solves for the spend over the dates that you select. Shortest feasible is for Optimization plans only.

Spend flexibility

Spend flexibility sets how far the optimizer can move each row from its baseline. The band is a multiple of the baseline, where 1× is the baseline.

Option	Band	Effect
Fixed	1× to 1×	Each row keeps its share of the current mix. Only the total changes with the budget.
Low	0.8× to 1.2×	Each row stays within 20% of its baseline.
Medium	0.5× to 1.5×	Each row can go from half of its baseline to one and a half times its baseline. This option is the default.
High	0× to 2×	Each row can be cut to zero or doubled.
Unconstrained	0× to 5×	Each row can go from zero to five times its baseline. Above 2×, the plan relies on extrapolated curves.
Custom	You set the minimum and the maximum	You set the band. The scale runs from 0× to 5×.

Setting	Limit
Custom band	The minimum cannot be negative. The minimum cannot exceed the maximum.
Custom band scale	0× to 5× of the baseline.
Default option	Medium (0.5× to 1.5×).
Unit	Campaign on an Optimization plan. Tactic or channel on a Forecast plan.

Messages

The table lists the messages for the dates of a plan and for a planning period that starts before today. A message with the badge On our side is a problem that Prescient must correct.

Message	When it shows	What to do
A plan can start at most 14 days in the past. The message also gives the earliest start date.	The start date is more than 14 days before today.	Select a later start date.
This period has already ended. A plan has to run through today or later.	The end date is before today.	Select a later end date.
The budget is already spent	The recorded spend of the locked days is the full budget or more.	Raise the budget, or start the plan later.
The days already past met the target	The locked days delivered the target.	Raise the target, or start the plan later.
Couldn’t read the spend so far	The product could not read the recorded spend of the locked days. The issue has the badge On our side.	Run the check again, or start the plan today.

Media Forecaster: the guides and the concepts of the product area.
Create and run a plan: the steps to make a plan with these settings.
How plans are built: what the reference period, the baseline, and the optimized plan are.