The Many Faces of a Marketing Account Manager

Every great marketing and communications project needs someone at the helm, directing the process and acting as liaison between the team and the client. That person is the account manager.

According to the Advertising Educational Foundation, these duties include:

• Understanding the client’s brand, target audience, and desired message
• Having thorough knowledge of all departments including accounting, social media, public relations, art, digital development, video production and media
• Acting as the client’s representative at the agency, clearly communicating the client’s vision to the team
• Acting as the agency’s representative with the client, passing on creative recommendations
• Managing time and money spent on project
• Analyzing the final product to make sure it meets the goals of both the agency and the client
• Work with accounting to ensure that the client is billed correctly and handle any disputes if they arise

GEM’s own Senior Account Manager, Joe Lane explains, “The main role of the account manager is managing client expectations and needs, while ensuring that the team is doing what the client is looking for and in a timely manner.”

Having these responsibilities can be demanding. The role requires excellent skills in the following areas:

• Organization
• Communication, verbal and written
• Interpersonal
• Analysis
• Ability to work well under pressure
• Attention to detail and deadlines
• Patience

Of course, dealing with clients comes with its own set of challenges. For one thing, the client doesn’t always know what they want or may have trouble communicating it. And sometimes when they do, the marketing team, based on experience, recognizes that the ideas won’t work and the account manager has to pass that message back to the client along with recommendations.

Overall, it is the account manager that works with both sides to come up with deliverables that will meet the client’s needs in the most effective way. The ending result and the way the process was handled will be a determining factor in whether or not the client will use that agency again. The account manager also must ensure that the process for projects are efficient and meet all deadlines. And while this can be challenging enough having to manage your own departments, it becomes even more so when relying on an outside contact for information, materials and approvals.

Now multiply that list of duties by the amount of projects that the account manager is responsible for and you’ll have a pretty good idea of how he or she spends the work day. You will also recognize how important it is to have an account manager who can successfully manage and deliver for your clients.

Does this all sound overwhelming? It doesn’t have to be. If you are ready to pass on your projects to an expert account manager and marketing team with award-winning success, and take a lot of pressure off yourself, contact GEM to find out what we can do for your company.

Tags

Scroll, or tap/click a list item to filter posts by that tag.

• Analysis
• Strategy
• Account Managers
• Advertising
• Marketing