All guides, by feature
Media plans
Build media plans or import them from a spreadsheet, then approve, version and archive them.
At a glance
- Where in Orbit
- Sidebar › Workspace › Media plans
- Who can use it
- Everyone at your agency can create, import, edit, duplicate, export and approve plans. Agency Owners, Admins and Managers can also archive, unarchive and delete plans, and restore earlier versions.
What it’s for
A media plan holds a campaign’s plan-level details, such as its client, campaign name, flight dates and status, and its lines: one per placement, with channel, targeting, flight, budget, CPM and impressions, plus creative specs, pixel strategy and UTMs.
Build a plan with New Plan, or drop a spreadsheet on the Upload a media plan tile and Orbit turns it into a Draft plan for you to review. Each save that changes a plan is recorded in its Change Log, so you can restore an earlier version.
Approve Plan sets a plan to Approved and creates its campaign in Command Center, where it’s built and pushed to The Trade Desk. The campaign keeps a copy of the plan’s lines as they were at approval, so later edits to the plan don’t reach it.
Live plans appear in the Dashboard’s Active campaigns card. Plans don’t feed Reports, and saving or approving one doesn’t create pacing targets.
Guides
Questions
Which fields are required on a media plan?
On Plan Overview: Client, Campaign Name and Status. Each line needs a Media Type and a Channel, and a plan needs at least one line. Everything else is optional.
Do I have to fill in every column on a line?
No. Only Media Type and Channel are required. Budget, CPM, flights, audience and the rest can stay empty.
My channel isn’t in the list. What do I pick?
Choose Other and type it in the Specify… box that appears. Media Type works the same way.
Can a Specialist archive or delete a media plan?
No. Specialists can create, import, edit, duplicate, export and approve plans. Only Owners, Admins and Managers can archive, unarchive, delete or restore a version.
Can a Manager delete media plans?
Yes. Managers can archive, unarchive and delete plans and restore versions, the same as Owners and Admins.
Delete a media planArchive, unarchive and delete: who can, and what happens
Who can approve a media plan?
Anyone at your agency. Owners, Admins, Managers and Specialists all see Approve Plan.
Why can’t I delete a plan that’s Live?
Delete shows only on Draft plans and archived ones. Archive the plan first, then delete it.
Delete a media planArchive, unarchive and delete: who can, and what happens
Can I get a deleted plan back?
No. Deleting removes the plan and all its lines, and Orbit has no way to bring it back. Archive plans you might need again.
How do I get an archived plan back?
Open the Archived tab on Media plans and press the Unarchive icon on its card, or open the plan and press Unarchive.
Why can’t I edit an archived plan?
Archived plans can’t be edited, duplicated or approved. Press Unarchive on the plan’s page first.
Archive or unarchive a media planArchive, unarchive and delete: who can, and what happens
If I archive or delete a plan, is its campaign removed too?
No. The campaign stays in Command Center, and campaigns can’t be deleted or archived there.
What files can I import as a media plan?
.xlsx, .xls, .xlsm and .csv files, up to 10 MB each. PDFs aren’t accepted.
Import a media plan from a spreadsheetSpreadsheet imports: what Orbit accepts and shows
What status does an imported plan get?
Draft, with an Imported badge on its card. Check its lines and Client in Edit before you approve it.
Import a media plan from a spreadsheetSpreadsheet imports: what Orbit accepts and shows
What happens if I upload the same file twice?
Orbit shows “Already imported” with the plan it made. Open plan goes to that plan. Import anyway sends the file again, but no new plan is created while the first is still active.
Import a media plan from a spreadsheetSpreadsheet imports: what Orbit accepts and shows
Can my teammates see the files I import?
Yes. Everyone at your agency sees imports while they’re queued or parsing, and any that failed, with their file names.
My import failed. What do I do?
Press Details on the failed card to see why, fix the file and upload it again with the Upload a media plan tile. Press × on the card to dismiss it for everyone at your agency.
Import a media plan from a spreadsheetSpreadsheet imports: what Orbit accepts and shows
What does Confidence mean on an import?
How sure Orbit is that it read the file correctly. It’s green at 70% or more, amber from 50% and red below that. Under 70%, check every line against your file.
Can I export a media plan to PDF or CSV?
No. Orbit exports Excel only, with Export Excel on the plan’s page. There’s no export from the Media plans list.
Does the Excel export include UTMs and creative specs?
No. It has the plan’s advertiser, campaign, dates and budget, and each line’s media type, channel, KPI, flight, geo, funnel stage, audience, CPM, impressions and budget. UTMs, pixel strategy, creative specs, notes and status aren’t exported.
How is a plan’s total budget calculated?
Each line’s own budget, plus each shared budget counted once. Lines on a shared budget have no budget of their own.
How is Forecast CPM worked out?
Total budget ÷ forecast impressions × 1,000, across all the plan’s lines. That’s why the plan page labels it “blended”.
Why did Impressions fill in by themselves?
Orbit works them out as Budget ÷ CPM × 1,000 when both are filled in. Type your own number and Orbit stops changing it.
Why did my creative specs change when I changed the channel?
Changing a line’s Channel replaces its Ad Format, Ad Sizes and Creative Specs with that channel’s defaults. Set the channel first, then edit the specs.
Can I reorder lines on a plan?
No. Add Line adds a line at the end, and Duplicate line puts a copy right below the original.
Can I change a plan’s number?
No. Orbit gives each plan a number such as MP-2026-014, counting up per agency each year.
Is my half-finished new plan saved?
Only in this browser. Orbit keeps one unsaved new plan as you type, and Media plans shows a Local Draft banner with Continue Editing. Another browser won’t have it, and clearing your browser data loses it.
What happens when I approve a plan?
Its status becomes Approved, and Orbit creates its campaign in Command Center with a copy of its lines, starts the build, notifies everyone at your agency and opens the campaign.
I edited a plan after approving it. Does its campaign update?
No. The campaign keeps the lines and client the plan had when it was approved. Make changes in the campaign’s Build instead.
Can I set a plan’s status to Approved myself?
No. Approved isn’t in the Status list. Press Approve Plan on the plan’s page, which also creates its campaign.
What does Changes Requested mean?
A client pressed Request Changes on the plan in their portal. You can’t choose this status yourself, and Approve Plan still works.
What’s the difference between Draft and Planning?
Both are statuses you pick. Draft is where new, duplicated and imported plans start, and it’s the only status where Delete shows on a plan that isn’t archived. Planning changes nothing else.
What do the figures at the top of Media plans count?
Total Plans counts your active plans, Live Now those set to Live, Total Budget adds up their budgets, and Pending Approval counts those set to Pending Approval. Archived plans aren’t included.
What does a plan’s Change Log record?
Each save that changes something: its version number, the fields changed, and who saved it and when. Approving and archiving aren’t recorded.
Does restoring a version change the plan’s status?
Yes. A restore brings back everything in that version, status included. Orbit saves the current plan first, so you can restore it back.
Restore an earlier version of a media planChange Log: versions and restoring
Can a Specialist restore an earlier version?
No. Only Agency Owners, Admins and Managers can restore versions.
Restore an earlier version of a media planChange Log: versions and restoring
What does Duplicate copy?
The client, lines, shared budgets, notes, and MSA and invoice IDs. The copy gets a new plan number, starts as Draft, has “(Copy)” added to its name and has no dates.
Can I undo a duplicate?
An Owner, Admin or Manager can press Cancel on the new copy and choose Discard plan, which deletes it. The Draft copy can also be deleted from its page.
Does approving a plan set up pacing?
No. Saving or approving a plan doesn’t create pacing targets. Set them up in Pacing; targets you add there aren’t linked to a plan.
Do media plans feed into Reports?
No. Reports don’t read media plans.
Do media plans show on the Dashboard?
Yes. Up to five plans with the status Live are listed in the Dashboard’s Active campaigns card, and plans set to Pending Approval raise an alert there.
How it works
Explainer: Media plan statuses
A plan’s status says where it is in its life. You pick Draft, Planning, Pending Approval, Live, Completed or Paused yourself. Approved and Changes Requested are set only by an approval.
| Status | How it’s set | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | The default for new, duplicated and imported plans. | The only status where Delete shows on a plan that isn’t archived. |
| Planning | You pick it. | Nothing else. |
| Pending Approval | You pick it. | Counts in Pending Approval on the Media plans page, and raises a pending-approval alert on the Dashboard. |
| Approved | Approve Plan, or a client approving it in their portal. | Creates the plan’s campaign in Command Center. The button reads Plan Approved. |
| Changes Requested | A client presses Request Changes in their portal. | Approve Plan is still available. |
| Live | You pick it. | Counts in Live Now and shows in the Dashboard’s Active campaigns. Plan Launched replaces Approve Plan. |
| Paused | You pick it. | Plan Launched replaces Approve Plan. |
| Completed | You pick it. | Plan Launched replaces Approve Plan. |
- Pick a status under Status on the Plan Overview tab.
- Approved and Changes Requested aren’t in the Status list, so you can’t choose them yourself.
- Approve a plan before you set it to Live, Paused or Completed. Only approving creates its campaign, and those three statuses hide Approve Plan.
- Restoring an earlier version brings back that version’s status too.
Explainer: Plan and line fields: what’s required
A plan needs a Client, a Campaign Name, a Status and at least one line. Each line needs a Media Type and a Channel. Everything else is optional.
The Plan Details grid has one row per line, with these columns: Line Name, Media Type, Channel, Funnel Stage, Campaign Objective, KPI Metric, KPI Goal, Audience, Tactic, Geo, Flight Start, Flight End, Budget ($), CPM ($) and Impressions.
Ad formats and sizes, creative specs, pixel strategy, metadata and UTMs are on the Creative Specs, Pixel Strategy and UTMs tabs, with one card per line.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Client | Yes | Carries through to the campaign and to The Trade Desk routing. |
| Campaign Name | Yes | The plan’s title. |
| Status | Yes | Starts as Draft. |
| Start Date, End Date | No | A duplicated plan starts with these empty. |
| MSA ID, Invoice ID | No | Your own references. |
| Notes | No | Shown on the plan’s page. |
| Media Type and Channel, on each line | Yes | Choose Other to type your own. |
| Every other line field | No | Such as Budget ($), CPM ($), Audience and Geo. |
- Media Type options: Programmatic, Social, Search and Other. Channel options: Display, Video, Social, CTV, Audio, OOH, Search, Native and Other. Other opens a Specify… box.
- Funnel Stage: Awareness, Consideration, Conversion or Retention. KPI Metric: CTR, CPA, CPL, ROAS, CPM or CPC.
- Changing a line’s Channel replaces its Ad Format, Ad Sizes and Creative Specs with that channel’s defaults. Display, for example, fills in 300x250, 728x90, 160x600, 300x600, 320x50 and 320x480.
- Each plan gets a number such as MP-2026-014, counted per agency and year. You can’t change it.
- Press Enter to move to the next field. Duplicate line puts a copy right below a line, and Remove line deletes one. The last line can’t be removed, and lines can’t be reordered.
Explainer: Shared budgets and how plan figures are worked out
A shared budget is one amount that funds several lines without splitting it between them. A plan’s total budget adds each line’s own budget to each shared budget, counted once.
Use a shared budget when a plan gives one figure for several placements with no split, such as “Meta — all tactics”. Add it on Plan Details with Add shared budget, then switch each line it funds from Own budget to the shared budget. Those lines show “Funded by” and its name, and have no budget of their own.
| Figure | How it’s worked out |
|---|---|
| Total budget | Each line’s own budget, plus each shared budget once. |
| Forecast imps. | Every line’s impressions added up. |
| Forecast CPM | Total budget ÷ forecast impressions × 1,000. |
| Flight | The number of days from the plan’s start date to its end date. |
| A line’s Impressions | Budget ÷ CPM × 1,000, until you type your own number. |
| Total Budget on the Media plans page | The budgets of all active plans added up. |
- A shared budget must be more than zero and fund at least one line.
- A line on a shared budget can’t have its own budget too. Picking the shared budget clears it.
- A shared budget can’t be split between its lines. To split an amount, give each line its own budget.
- Lines on a shared budget don’t work out impressions from budget and CPM. Type them in.
- Removing a shared budget puts its lines back on their own budgets, which start empty.
Explainer: What approving a plan does
Approve Plan sets the plan to Approved and creates its campaign in Command Center, with a copy of the plan’s lines as they are at that moment.
- The plan’s status becomes Approved, and Orbit records who approved it and when.
- Its campaign is created in Command Center with a copy of the plan’s lines, and the campaign’s planning and build start straight away.
- Everyone at your agency gets a “Campaign workspace created” notification.
- You’re taken to the new campaign in Command Center.
- There’s no confirmation step, so check the plan before you press it.
- The campaign keeps the lines and client the plan had at approval. Edits to the plan afterwards don’t reach it.
- Set the plan’s Client before you approve. Pushing the campaign to The Trade Desk needs one.
- Approve Plan isn’t shown on archived plans, or once a plan is Approved, Live, Paused or Completed.
Explainer: Change Log: versions and restoring
Each time you save changes to a plan, Orbit keeps a copy of the plan as it was right before that save. Restore puts the plan back to that copy.
The Change Log is on the plan’s page, and on the History tab when you edit the plan. Each row shows a version number such as v3, the fields that save changed, and who saved it and when.
Restoring a row returns the plan to how it was before that row’s change, so that change and every later one are undone. First, Orbit saves the current plan as a new version noted “Restored from version 3”, so you can undo the restore the same way.
- Only saves that change something are recorded. Saving with no changes adds nothing.
- Approving and archiving a plan aren’t recorded as versions.
- A restore brings back everything in that version: client, campaign name, status, dates, notes, MSA and invoice IDs, lines and shared budgets.
- Only Agency Owners, Admins and Managers can restore a version.
Limits: Archive, unarchive and delete: who can, and what happens
Archiving hides a plan from your active list and keeps everything, so you can bring it back. Deleting removes a plan and its lines for good. Agency Owners, Admins and Managers can do both; Specialists can’t.
| Action | Owner and Admin | Manager | Specialist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Create, import and edit | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Duplicate | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Approve | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Export to Excel | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Archive and unarchive | Yes | Yes | No |
| Delete | Yes | Yes | No |
| Restore an earlier version | Yes | Yes | No |
- An archived plan moves to the Archived tab with an “Archived” badge and the date. It keeps its status. You can open and export it, but Edit, Duplicate and Approve Plan are hidden until you unarchive it.
- Unarchiving returns the plan to the Active tab.
- Delete shows only on Draft plans and archived plans. To delete a plan in any other status, archive it first.
- Deleting removes the plan and all its lines. Orbit has no way to bring a deleted plan back.
- Archiving or deleting a plan doesn’t remove its campaign from Command Center.
Limits: Spreadsheet imports: what Orbit accepts and shows
Upload one .xlsx, .xls, .xlsm or .csv file up to 10 MB. Orbit reads it and creates a Draft plan with an Imported badge for you to review.
| Badge | What it means |
|---|---|
| Queued | The file is uploaded and waiting to be read. |
| Parsing… | Orbit is reading the file into a Draft plan. |
| Ready | The Draft plan is created. Its plan card takes the import card’s place. |
| Failed | Orbit couldn’t read the file. Details shows why. |
| Archived | The file was imported before, and that Draft has since been archived. |
| Removed | The file was imported before, and that Draft has since been deleted. |
- One file at a time. If you drop several, only the first is uploaded. PDFs aren’t accepted.
- Everyone at your agency sees imports that are queued, parsing or failed, with their file names.
- The page shows your agency’s 10 most recent imports. A failed import shows only if it’s the latest attempt for that file name.
- Uploading the exact same file again while its plan is still active opens “Already imported”. Import anyway sends it again, but no new plan is created while the first one is active.
- If the plan from an earlier import was archived or deleted, importing the same file again creates a new Draft.
- Details on an import card shows the result: Lines read, Confidence (green at 70% or more, amber from 50%, red below), Budget reconciled (“Yes”, or how far off the total is) and any Unmapped columns.
- The person who uploaded gets a notification when the import finishes or fails. Selecting it opens the plan.