Working in the advertising, digital or marketing sectors, an account executive ensures the smooth running of campaigns – from communicating the correct information to all members of the team, to facing clients and reporting to the account director.
An account executive should be interested in the client in order to develop strong, meaningful relationships. Timely communication is imperative in order to complete projects on time and on budget.
An unrivalled level of organization is expected so that all campaigns run efficiently, with other team members relying on project organization in order to meet deadlines and understand client expectations.
Often account executives will receive a plan for a campaign from the account director and be expected to monitor it every step of the way, whilst creating an enjoyable work environment and keeping momentum going.
Once an account executive has built up a trustworthy reputation and managed to hone the perfect organizational skills, they can often move forward to become an account director.
Typical activities
- Arranging meetings and liaising with clients to understand their requirements
- Quality control of all work that is submitted to clients
- Disclosing campaign details to the client and all team members
- Monitoring all stages of campaigns to guarantee that they run smoothly
- Writing status reports throughout the duration of the project to keep clients and peers updated
- Ensuring that the project stays within the allocated budget
- Administration tasks that will help to keep campaigns well-managed and organized
- Offering creative ideas to the account manager to develop exciting campaigns and encourage clients to understand the importance of creativity throughout projects
- Keeping oneself stimulated in order to achieve maximum productivity
Skills required
Every agency will be looking for different skill sets, so an account executive needs to have a wide range of abilities. These include:
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
- First class organizational skills
- A pro-active approach to creative projects
- Experience of working as part of a team
- A keen eye for detail and an understanding of budget restraints
- Full awareness of creative processes and techniques – including digital platforms
- Ability to work under pressure whilst maintaining a cool outlook
- A personable and professional character that will allow you to build client rapport
- The confidence to give clients trust in your work
An account executive will mainly be based in an office environment, with time also spent at meetings and briefings.
Looking to hire an account executive or want to be hired? Contact us today to learn how we can help.
