In Ogilvy on Advertising, David Ogilvy states the Account Manager needs to do more than be a liaison between the agency and customer.
The Account Manager should contribute added value to the partnership such as by creating big ideas to sell the customer’s product or becoming an expert marketing advisor.
This post will provide five techniques used in Advertising Account Management that a Customer Success Manager may find helpful for delivering more value in their customer partnerships.
Let’s review.
- Live the Client’s Brand
In “The Art of Client Service” Robert Solomon says living the client’s brand is essential since it helps the Account Manager uncover insights to help the client grow their business. Solomon says this expertise can also help prevent churn as the client appreciates the history and deep knowledge you bring to the account.
2. Be on Strategy
Account Managers typically develop a Creative Brief to guide the strategy of each piece of advertising. The Creative Brief helps the agency and client agree on the purpose of the advertising. The brief acts as a check on the work confirming each piece of advertising is focused on the customer’s business goals.
3. Implement Management Tools
Advertising Account Managers are often responsible for overseeing advertising campaign development including timing and budgets. They often use the following tools to help manage deliverables:
- A status report to keep customers informed of current initiatives and next steps
- A conference report that recaps key points and next steps from customer and agency discussions
- Meeting agendas to ensure the team focuses on important points in a discussion
- Budget recaps to help the client track spend of their advertising budget
- Campaign plans to review details of major initiatives through the year
These management tools help the Account Manager and client stay aligned on project status and future plans.
4. Provide a Dedicated Team
Advertising Account Management is often structured with roles from an Assistant Account Manager to a Vice President of the account with positions such as Senior Account Manager or Account Director in between.
This structure helps the agency service the client by applying a team of resources to support the customer’s needs. Straightforward tasks can be handled at an entry level role while higher level strategy can be overseen by Director or VP level.
The customer has a range of resources that understands their business and can support the implementation of their advertising program.
5. Deliver Big Ideas
An Account Manager that lives the client’s brand and knows their strategy has source information to draw on to brainstorm new ways to help the customer. The Account Manager can collaborate with internal teams and the client to create new ideas to help separate the customer in the marketplace.
David Ogilvy believed the main role of the Account Manager is to extract the best possible work from the agency to help the client. Implementing Advertising Account Management principles can provide additional ways CSMs can bring more value to clients.