Advertising Account Executives
The advertising account executive coordinates and oversees everything related to a client’s advertising account and acts as the primary liaison between the agency and the client. Account executives are also responsible for building and maintaining professional relationships among clients and coworkers to ensure the successful completion of major ad campaigns and the assurance of continued business with clients. Advertising account executives and related workers hold 646,000 jobs in the United States.
Advertising Account Executives Job Description
Account executives track the day-to-day progress of the overall advertising campaigns of their clients. Together with a staff commonly consisting of a creative director, an art director, a copywriter, researchers, and production specialists, the account executive monitors all client accounts from beginning to end.
Before an advertising campaign is actually launched, a lot of preparatory work is needed. Account executives must familiarize themselves with their clients’ products and services, target markets, goals, competitors, and preferred media. Together with the agency team, the account executive conducts research and holds initial meetings with clients. Then the team, coordinated by the account executive, uses this information to analyze market potential and presents recommendations to the client.
After an advertising strategy has been determined and all terms have been agreed upon, the agency’s creative staff goes to work, developing ideas and producing various ads to present to the client. During this time, the account executive works with media buyers (who purchase radio and television time and publication space for advertising) in order to develop a schedule for the project and make sure that the costs involved are within the client’s budget.
When the client has approved the ad campaign, production can begin. In addition to supervising and coordinating the work of copywriters, editors, graphic artists, production specialists, and other employees on the agency team, the account executive must also write reports and draft business correspondence, follow up on all client meetings, interact with outside vendors, and ensure that all pieces of the advertising campaign clearly communicate the desired message. In sum, the account executive is responsible for making sure that the client is satisfied. This may require making modifications to the campaign, revising cost estimates and events schedules, and redirecting the efforts of the creative staff.
In addition to their daily responsibilities of tracking and handling clients’ advertising campaigns, account executives must also develop and bring in new business, keep up-to-date on current advertising trends, evaluate the effectiveness of advertising programs, and track sales figures.
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