Advertising account executives manage client accounts, launch advertising campaigns, and handle budgets. They work closely with clients and agencies, conducting research and developing plans for campaigns. Strong communication, leadership, and organizational skills are required, as well as a bachelor’s degree in advertising, business administration, liberal arts, or marketing.
An advertising account executive is responsible for managing client accounts. He launches advertising campaigns for a client and handles the advertising budget. Advertising account executives usually work for advertising agencies, but sometimes they work in advertising departments of large companies. They usually work closely with the client’s or company’s publicity manager. Another responsibility is to ensure that customer needs are met.
The client is the company that hires the agency to produce an advertising campaign. The advertising account executive acts as the liaison between the client and the agency. He or she must develop a plan for the client, but before that happens, preliminary research must be completed. Some of this research includes deciding and understanding the market to target and developing a concept for the campaign, and he may also study competing companies’ advertising plans.
Upon completion of preliminary research, the advertising account executive develops a plan for the client. The plan usually includes budget and schedule information, including how much the campaign will cost and when the advertising will run. The plan may also include sales projections as a result of the campaign, as well as information about where the ad will appear; for example, television, radio, newspapers and magazines are several options. After the plan and campaign are developed, the advertising account executive must sell the idea to the client.
It is important that the executive maintains constant contact with his clients. It is typical for executives to contact their customers at least once a day. Also, traveling to meet with clients is not uncommon in this job. While account executives are generally not part of the creative team – in other words, they don’t write the campaign themselves – they do work with the creative team to communicate the client’s needs.
Sometimes previous sales or marketing experience is enough to land a job as an advertising account executive, but it has become more common for advertising agencies to look for someone with at least a bachelor’s degree. This degree can be in many areas including advertising, business administration, liberal arts or marketing. Often it is the degree itself that is important rather than what discipline it is in. Some companies may require a Masters in Business Administration.
Some of the skills required for this job include strong leadership, communication and organization skills. Executives must work with clients and present ideas, so strong interpersonal skills as well as a professional appearance and demeanor are also required. The ability to meet deadlines is also important.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
