Behind the Scenes of Media & Campaigns: Account Management

We see so many media campaigns everyday, but what appears in front of us is often a result of weeks of strategic planning and collaboration behind the scenes. This semester, I had the pleasure of working as an account management intern for ChatterBlast Media. I was able to see every aspect of a project coming together, and work alongside all of the teams to produce media campaigns for clients. 

I want to take you through the development of a campaign by walking you through the steps. 

To begin, when a client is secured, the account manager sets up a branding proposal to understand the broad goals and collaboration. Then, we schedule a discovery meeting. We conduct preliminary research on the client and their company, to create a list of questions and potential goals for the campaign. Then, we compile notes during the meeting and answer questions. With this information, we format the information into a playbook. This highlights the exact goals, strategies, and tactics we will be using. We also assign creative, ads and analytics, and strategy team members as needed. Account managers outline the specific needs and separate the work under sections in the playbook that is shared with the client for project reference. This includes the links to what the accounting team creates next: a creative brief. This is a specific document for the creative team with all of the relevant information for creative design and direction. Color pallets, fonts, tone and assets are organized here. 

Next, for project management, we begin to map out dates. From my experience, working backwards has been extremely helpful. Deciding the final due date and then creating deadlines for each milestone before that assures we have time to complete each task. Utilizing calendar reminders, and scheduling follow up meetings allows for all of the different teams to share where they are in their work and assures everyone is on the same page. Checking in and adjusting minor goals and timelines along the project is a key focus of account management. 

When all of the assets are created, copy is written, and advertisements are approved it is finally time to see the project come to life. Account managers organize the content and use scheduling platforms to pre plan the content for release on social media. This is a gratifying piece of the project, because you are able to see everything come together. The posts are scheduled and a final approval is granted before the posts go live. Seeing your work be developed, posted and interacted with from just a few questions is a great feeling! 

From my experience as an account management intern this fall semester, I have learned how essential it is to remain organized, maintain communication, and manage the small details while keeping the final goals in sight.