I recently learned from Google Ads that there are currently over 50,000 digital agencies of all sizes worldwide. Some agencies are small, and some are large. When speaking to clients who are in search of a new digital agency partner, there’s one pain point that I hear over and over: ‘With my previous agency, I worked with several account managers due to turnover, and I was constantly having to educate them about my business.’
Account Manager turnover within an agency can lead to challenges and inefficiencies. Here are 12 examples worth noting.
- Loss of Campaign Knowledge and Context: Frequent changes in account managers result in a loss of detailed understanding of previous strategies, tests, and optimization methods. New account managers might be unaware of the context behind previous decisions, which can create a disconnect in campaign strategies and increase the likelihood of repeating past mistakes.
- Inconsistent Communication: Turnover frequently creates communication gaps between the agency and the client, as new managers may need time to grasp the client’s expectations and business objectives fully. Most of the time, this gets lost in the mix. Each transition increases the risk of misinterpreting campaign goals or brand messaging, which can result in ineffective advertising strategies.
- Delays in Optimizations: A new account manager requires time to grasp the intricacies of an account, which can postpone optimization efforts and performance improvements. Most often, a new account manager is not able to adjust to a preferred response time.
- Decline in Client/Agency Trust: Over time, if clients experience issues like frequent changes in account managers, inconsistent communication, or unmet expectations, their trust in the agency’s ability to deliver consistent and effective results diminishes.
- Inefficiencies in Budget Management: Lacking a thorough understanding of an account, new managers may allocate the budget inefficiently, potentially overspending on low-performing areas or overlooking high-potential opportunities.
- Diminished ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): Ineffective budget management and strategic adjustments can lead to a lower return on investment for the ad spend.
- Impact on Creative Consistency: Regular changes in account managers can result in inconsistent brand messaging and alterations to creative direction, weakening the brand’s voice in ads and reducing user engagement.
- Below Average Creative Updates: A new manager may lack insight into previous creative versions, resulting in less effective ad updates or missed opportunities to build on successful creative strategies.
- Reduced Focus on Long-Term Goals/Focus on Immediate Results: New account managers may emphasize quick successes rather than the long-term objectives of campaigns, aiming to showcase their impact quickly.
- Interruption of Testing Strategies: New managers may halt or abandon ongoing A/B tests or long-term experiments, resulting in a lack of valuable data-driven insights for future optimizations.
- Increased Risk of Human Error: When new managers assume control of an account, they might overlook key settings or misconfigure campaign components, potentially causing underperformance or compliance problems.
- Reporting Inaccuracies: During transition periods, reporting errors or inconsistencies can arise as new managers adapt to the reporting tools and metrics specific to the account.
There is no question that an agency evaluation can be strenuous and time-consuming. It may leave you wondering which salesperson is telling the truth. Ask these three simple questions to find the right agency that does not have employee churn:
- What is the average tenure of employees at the agency?
- Will I have the same account manager for this long-term relationship?
- What are some of the reasons my account would be moved to a new account manager?
You need an agency team to give you the attention and time you deserve while communicating in a timely manner. You need consistency in the team that manages your accounts to prevent costly mistakes, loss of campaign knowledge, delays in optimization, and more that can negatively impact your ad accounts.
