Marketing account managers are responsible for the development and implementation of marketing programs for specific accounts. They use marketing for many aspects of business, sports, entertainment, and politics. The marketing account manager provides a positive angle or concept to the public regarding the account through various media and other tools.
Increased revenue through sales, support, and participation is the end goal of marketing managers. Typically, they have a team of employees, each charged with a specific task geared toward the end goal. Managers supervise the employees and oversee the big picture. Problems and decisions generally fall on the shoulders of the marketing account manager.
Job duties are specific to the field. For example, a sports team marketing account manager will send out press releases, arrange press conferences, handle promotional requests, and field negative media issues such as questions about a team captain getting arrested for drinking and driving. He or she might arrange for team members to coach for a day at a local sports camp or sign balls and hand them out at a children's hospital to promote public goodwill. While each member of the team has duties to perform, the marketing account manager directs the program and is responsible for the results.
A political marketing account manager coordinates with the candidate's speech writers to make sure the candidate's talking points are geared toward the next audience. He or she will also coordinate press releases that ensure they dovetail with recent legislation and cast the candidate in the most positive light possible. While some of these duties may be handled by staff members, the ultimate responsibility falls to the account manager.
The ability to forecast is essential to succeed as a marketing account manager. He or she must successfully anticipate future ideas, needs, and reactions and be prepared ahead of time to address them. This can mean ordering enough product to last through an event or handling passport documentation so the client can tour other nations. Knowing what is coming next and planning for it is the primary responsibility of any marketing account manager.
A marketing degree from a university is usually required. Coursework should include economics, advertising, business management, and business law. Marketing management seminars are constants in the life of a marketing account manager, as he or she must strive to stay abreast of the latest marketing trends.