What Does A Digital Marketing Account Manager Do For Clients

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably wondered, “What does a digital marketing account manager do?” or “Why does the marketing account manager position even exist?” Or maybe just, “That looks interesting — I’ll take a look.” Whatever the reason, there’s a lot of good information to help understand this position.

To take a step back, it can be an overwhelming challenge for your company to juggle the digital marketing landscape on its own. Therefore, it’s more important than ever to have an expert in your corner to help the company thrive online. So, let’s go through and understand what the position entails, what they do, and why they do what they do.

What Does A Digital Marketing Account Manager Do

To start, a digital marketing account manager is one who is in charge of the communication, planning, and execution of all digital marketing for a client or customer. The level at which this professional is involved directly with all marketing aspects of the company is up to the client.

Some account managers will work with experts who have their marketing plan completely laid out and only need someone to implement that vision. Other clients are great business owners but have no clue how to do marketing, let alone online. Whatever the case, digital marketing account managers are strategists, communicators, coordinators, and performance trackers all in one.

Core Responsibilities of a Digital Marketing Account Manager

Now that we have a basic overall view of what digital marketers do, we’re going to dive into some of the specifics. The list isn’t all-inclusive, but it gives you an idea of what they can do for your business or online advertising adventure.

Strategy Development

Having an extra set of eyes on your marketing strategy can help in a few ways:

• Confirmation of your current plan of attack
• Suggestions on how to improve
• Reasons why the plan needs an overhaul

Regardless of what stage of strategy development your company is in for digital marketing, an account manager can be the second set of eyes to help you craft a tailored strategy based on your business goals.

If there are current campaigns that are running and just not hitting the desired goals, the manager will be able to align marketing campaigns with short-term and long-term objectives.

For new businesses or businesses new to publishing online, these experts can create the strategy from scratch as they’ll know which vertices would be appropriate to target and use to reach your targeted audience. Often, owners hear information online and think it’s the “silver bullet”. However, with experience, marketers can create a strategy that works.

Client Communication & Relationship Management

Second, marketing managers are in charge of maintaining productive, informative, and effective communication with clients. They are the in-between for the agency that they work for and the point of contact for the company they’ve been hired by. The amount of information shared with each communication and the frequency largely depend on the agency’s policies and the client’s preferences, but consistent communication is key.

On average, clients like to receive information at least weekly. The information that needs to be shared is reporting updates on items of business, reviewing the performance of current marketing initiatives, and giving proactive suggestions on what the client could do to bring in better results, higher stats, and increased revenue.

Project Management

Third, marketing managers are typically hired to manage certain aspects of a marketing campaign, not all of the client’s marketing program. Just some of the types of services to be handled in a project include:

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
2. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
3. Social Media Marketing (SMM)
4. Website Development (Web Dev)
5. Content Marketing
6. Spanish Translations
7. eCommerce

Managers may do some of the day-to-day work of one of the services listed above. However, as is common with marketing agencies, many specialists assist the account managers, especially if the client hired the agency for more than one service.

If the agency is hired to do SEO, the account manager has to coordinate writers, Google Analytics specialists, backlink builders, third-party vendors, and more. If hired to do SMM, there can be specialists for each of the social media platforms. Regardless, the manager needs to direct and coordinate to ensure delivery timelines.

Analytics & Reporting

Fourth, analyzing and giving information to clients is squarely on the manager’s shoulders. The marketing expert doesn’t just email a list of numbers to clients and expect them to interpret what those numbers are. Rather, the manager needs to provide reports in a format that is understandable, clean, and professional.

After the information is provided, an explanation is needed. One effective way to do so is by comparing the results to last month, last year, or when this type of marketing was tried before. Also, if all but a few metrics look promising, it is their job to explain what the action plan is to improve those areas that are lacking. Transversely, if the marketing isn’t working, suggest a new strategy and refocus efforts.

Budget Management

Fifth, as clients invest funds into marketing agencies, the manager ensures the money is spent wisely. If the service doesn’t include other specialists, then managing the funds means doing quality work in whatever service was agreed upon. For working on paid ads, budget management is putting safeguards in place to prevent overspending.

However, if a client has spent money to hire an agency for one service, but the manager knows that their funds would be better spent on another service (or including an additional service), it is their responsibility to advise the client so they can make the best possible decision for their business.