Top 12 Media Planner Skills to Put on Your Resume

In today’s jittery, always-on media world, sharp media planning separates noise from traction. A resume that shows real planning chops — strategy, execution, optimization — signals you can wrangle channels, budgets, and data without blinking, and still ship campaigns that move the needle.

Media Planner Skills

1. Google Analytics
2. Facebook Ads
3. Instagram Marketing
4. Twitter Advertising
5. LinkedIn Campaigns
6. Hootsuite
7. SEMrush
8. Tableau
9. Excel
10. Photoshop
11. Canva
12. Salesforce

1. Google Analytics

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) tracks website and app activity, surfacing user behavior and attribution so media planners can target smarter, spend cleaner, and iterate faster.

Why It's Important

GA4 reveals who’s engaging, how they move, and what converts. With event-based tracking and cross-device views, you can allocate budgets confidently and fine-tune channels without guesswork.

How to Improve Google Analytics Skills

Level up by doing the following:

1. Set up clean measurement: Configure events, parameters, and conversions aligned to business goals. Use consistent UTM naming for every campaign and placement.

2. Build useful audiences: Create segments for lifecycle stages, high-value behaviors, and remarketing pools tied to outcomes.

3. Use Explorations: Dig into funnel, path, and cohort analyses to spot friction and lift opportunities.

4. Map attribution to reality: Compare attribution models and validate with incrementality testing where possible.

5. Automate reporting: Connect GA4 to a dashboard and schedule refreshes so stakeholders see what matters, on time.

6. Keep current: GA4 evolves. Review release notes and practice on real datasets to stay sharp.

Focus on clarity and consistency. Clean data beats clever hacks every time.

How to Display Google Analytics Skills on Your Resume

2. Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads (within Meta Ads Manager) lets planners reach precise audiences across Facebook and the broader Meta ecosystem, with granular targeting and tight feedback loops.

Why It's Important

Massive reach, surgical targeting, creative variety, and measurable outcomes. That mix makes Meta a staple for both prospecting and retargeting.

How to Improve Facebook Ads Skills

Stronger performance comes from disciplined testing and airtight setup:

1. Measurement foundation: Implement Pixel and Conversions API, define high-quality conversion events, and verify signals.

2. Targeting that learns: Start broad with performance goals; layer first-party data and exclusions; build value-based lookalikes off your best customers.

3. Creative that earns attention: Test hooks in the first 2–3 seconds, use vertical video, and tailor assets to placement.

4. Structured testing: Rotate variables methodically (audience, creative, bid, objective). Keep a living playbook of winners.

5. Budget and bidding: Use campaign budget optimization where appropriate; adjust bids to stabilize delivery.

6. Landing experiences: Fast loads, clear value, and minimal friction. Great ads cannot save a clunky page.

7. Optimize from the right metrics: Prioritize cost per incremental result, not vanity engagement.

How to Display Facebook Ads Skills on Your Resume

3. Instagram Marketing

Instagram Marketing blends visuals, short-form video, and community features (Stories, Reels, DMs) to spark awareness, earn attention, and convert interest into action.

Why It's Important

It’s highly visual, endlessly scrollable, and relentlessly social. Perfect for storytelling, product discovery, and creator partnerships that amplify reach.

How to Improve Instagram Marketing Skills

Dial in the craft and the cadence:

1. Set focused goals: Awareness, engagement, or conversion — pick one primary aim per campaign.

2. Know your audience: Pull insights from in-app analytics. Track format and time-of-day patterns.

3. Own the first seconds: Reels with a strong hook outperform. Design for sound-off and caption clarity.

4. Leverage native features: Stories, stickers, polls, Collab posts, and link stickers boost interaction and reach.

5. Hashtags and keywords: Use relevant, varied sets. Refresh periodically to avoid stagnation.

6. Creators and UGC: Partner with creators who match your audience. Repurpose winning assets across placements.

7. Test ads purposefully: Iterate on thumb-stopping creative, landing flow, and objective selection.

8. Measure and adapt: Monitor saves, shares, view-through, and conversion paths — not just likes.

How to Display Instagram Marketing Skills on Your Resume

4. X (Twitter) Advertising

X Ads (formerly Twitter) offers real-time reach with formats spanning Promoted Ads, Video, and Trend placements, powered by interest, keyword, and follower look-alike targeting.

Why It's Important

Moments happen here. With live conversation, timely creative can punch above its weight, while analytics guide fast pivots.

How to Improve Twitter Advertising Skills

Make the most of a fast-feed environment:

1. Start with intent: Map campaigns to awareness, engagement, or conversions. Align optimization to match.

2. Target with purpose: Blend keywords, interests, and custom audiences. Exclude aggressively to reduce waste.

3. Create for speed: Short copy. Bold visuals. Clear CTA. Test multiple angles rapidly.

4. Lean into timing: Tie creative to trends, events, and conversation spikes. Rotate often to avoid fatigue.

5. Measure relentlessly: Use Ads Manager and platform analytics to track cost per result and view-through assists.

6. Iterate: A/B test headlines, formats, and hooks weekly. Keep only what earns its keep.

How to Display Twitter Advertising Skills on Your Resume

5. LinkedIn Campaigns

LinkedIn Campaigns reach professional audiences with Sponsored Content, Message Ads, Conversation Ads, Lead Gen Forms, and more — ideal for B2B journeys and higher-intent buyers.

Why It's Important

Target by role, seniority, industry, skills, and company. When precision matters, LinkedIn shines.

How to Improve LinkedIn Campaigns Skills

Sharpen targeting and creative, then let data steer:

1. Define exact outcomes: Awareness vs. lead gen vs. pipeline acceleration — each requires different formats and metrics.

2. Target tightly: Job title plus function and seniority, or skills plus industry and company size. Exclude employees and competitors.

3. Match format to funnel: Carousel and Video for education; Lead Gen Forms for mid-funnel; Conversation Ads for tailored offers.

4. Polish the offer: Guides, benchmarks, calculators, and event invites outperform vague CTAs.

5. Bid and budget smartly: Start with recommended bids; shift to cost controls once delivery stabilizes.

6. Test and learn: Rotate headlines, creatives, and audiences. Kill underperformers quickly.

7. Optimize the handoff: Sync leads to CRM instantly; route and follow up fast to protect intent.

How to Display LinkedIn Campaigns Skills on Your Resume

6. Hootsuite

Hootsuite centralizes social scheduling, monitoring, engagement, and reporting so planners can manage many accounts without chaos.

Why It's Important

One command center for many channels saves time, enforces consistency, and turns scattered activity into trackable results.

How to Improve Hootsuite Skills

Operate like a pro, not a passerby:

1. Build streams that matter: Monitor mentions, keywords, and competitors. Tag posts for campaigns to clean up reporting.

2. Bulk schedule smartly: Use content calendars and upload in batches. Reserve manual slots for timely moments.

3. Standardize UTMs: Apply link presets so every post is traceable back to campaign and placement.

4. Collaborate cleanly: Set roles, approval flows, and content libraries to avoid misfires.

5. Lean on analytics: Build dashboards by goal and channel. Track saves, shares, CTR, and downstream conversions.

6. Post at the right times: Use performance data to find windows when your audience actually shows up.

How to Display Hootsuite Skills on Your Resume

7. SEMrush

SEMrush is a research and monitoring suite for keywords, competitors, SEO, PPC, and content — a compass for planning across search and beyond.

Why It's Important

You’ll see where demand lives, how rivals win traffic, and which terms, pages, and ads are worth your budget.

How to Improve SEMrush Skills

Turn it from a toolbox into a workflow:

1. Set up Projects: Track site health, position changes, backlinks, and visibility for you and competitors.

2. Mine keywords with intent: Group by funnel stage; map to landing pages; prune anything with weak fit.

3. Own competitive intel: Analyze rival ads, copy, landing pages, and spend patterns to guide your tests.

4. Marry SEO and PPC: Identify terms where paid plus organic lift beats either alone.

5. Build repeatable reports: Automate weekly snapshots for share of voice, ranking shifts, and cost per outcome.

6. Validate with analytics: Compare SEMrush findings against your actual performance data before committing budget.

How to Display SEMrush Skills on Your Resume

8. Tableau

Tableau turns raw numbers into interactive visuals and dashboards, giving planners a fast way to spot patterns and explain results.

Why It's Important

Clear visuals shorten debates. Trends pop, anomalies reveal themselves, and decisions get easier.

How to Improve Tableau Skills

Design for comprehension, not decoration:

1. Master the basics: Joins, blends, filters, calculated fields, and formatting. Simplicity beats clutter.

2. Tell a story: Build dashboards that move from overview to detail-on-demand. Keep KPIs front and center.

3. Standardize data: Clean taxonomy for channels, campaigns, and UTMs. Good inputs, great outputs.

4. Use parameters: Let stakeholders slice by audience, geo, or funnel stage without new builds.

5. Adopt design heuristics: Consistent scales, restrained color, meaningful labels, and minimal chartjunk.

6. Automate refresh: Schedule extracts and document data lineage so trust stays intact.

How to Display Tableau Skills on Your Resume

9. Excel

Excel is the planner’s pocketknife — budgets, pacing, forecasts, scenario modeling, and quick diagnostics live here.

Why It's Important

When tools break or data lags, Excel still runs. It’s flexible, fast, and universal.

How to Improve Excel Skills

Build speed and reliability:

1. Advanced formulas: Nail INDEX/MATCH, XLOOKUP, SUMIFS, COUNTIFS, IFERROR, and array logic for sturdy models.

2. PivotTables: Summarize large datasets, slice by channel and audience, and drill into outliers quickly.

3. Power Query: Automate imports and transforms from multiple sources; no more manual cleanup.

4. Power Pivot and DAX: Create data models and measures for robust dashboards.

5. Data visualization: Clean charts, sparklines, and conditional formatting that highlight what matters.

6. Macros and shortcuts: Automate repetitive work; move faster with keyboard muscle memory.

How to Display Excel Skills on Your Resume

10. Photoshop

Photoshop edits, refines, and builds visuals — from ad concepts to quick resizes — so campaigns look sharp across placements.

Why It's Important

Strong creative lifts results. Being able to tweak, test, and tailor images on the fly keeps campaigns moving.

How to Improve Photoshop Skills

Work nondestructively and think systems:

1. Layers and masks: Organize, name, and use masks to edit without damage.

2. Selections that stick: Practice Select and Mask, channels, and pen tool for clean cutouts.

3. Color and tone: Curves, levels, and selective color to maintain brand consistency.

4. Smart Objects: Reuse and resize assets without quality loss; build reusable templates.

5. Typography: Pair fonts wisely, manage kerning/leading, and align to grid for legibility.

6. Shortcuts and actions: Speed up common tasks, from exports to batch processing.

How to Display Photoshop Skills on Your Resume

11. Canva

Canva makes quick-turn design approachable with templates, brand kits, and easy exports for every platform under the sun.

Why It's Important

Speed matters. When you need on-brand visuals yesterday, Canva delivers without bottlenecking designers.

How to Improve Canva Skills

Treat it like a production system:

1. Build a brand kit: Colors, fonts, and logo variants locked in to maintain consistency.

2. Template everything: Ads, stories, presentations, and report covers — reduce rework.

3. Organize assets: Folders, naming conventions, and versioning keep teams sane.

4. Design for placement: Create platform-specific sizes; mind safe zones and text ratios.

5. Collaborate with guardrails: Use comments and approval flows; restrict edits on brand elements.

6. Export correctly: Right formats, compression, and color profiles for crisp delivery.

How to Display Canva Skills on Your Resume

12. Salesforce

Salesforce is the CRM backbone tying campaigns, leads, opportunities, and revenue together — the source of truth for performance.

Why It's Important

It aligns marketing with sales, automates handoffs, and powers end-to-end attribution so budgets follow results.

How to Improve Salesforce Skills

Make it work for you, not the other way around:

1. Automate with Flow: Replace legacy Process Builder with Flows for routing, alerts, and lifecycle updates.

2. Clean, consistent data: Standardize fields for campaigns, sources, and UTMs; enforce validation rules.

3. CRM Analytics: Build dashboards for pipeline by source, velocity, conversion rates, and ROI.

4. Sales alignment: Define SLAs for lead follow-up, qualification, and feedback loops on lead quality.

5. App integrations: Connect ad platforms and marketing tools so every touch is captured.

6. Customize views and reports: Give each role the slices they need — no more hunting for metrics.

How to Display Salesforce Skills on Your Resume