As an agency owner, you know it’s impossible to manage your clients, your team, and your business, all at the same time, without something slipping through the cracks.
Yes, you can have it all—but you can’t do it all by yourself. And that’s why you need an Account Manager.
Why Your Agency Needs An Account Manager
Before we dive into how to hire an Account Manager, it’s important to understand why you need one in the first place.
Your digital marketing agency thrives on creativity, innovation, and results, but let’s face it: You’re drowning in emails, meetings, and project timelines. You know your clients feel neglected, yet finding the time to get out of the day-to-day and give them the attention they deserve feels impossible. Your sales pipeline is full, but you simply can’t add another client to the roster because you don’t have a spare minute for a coffee, let alone another round of onboarding.
Think of an Account Manager as the bridge between your client’s unique vision and your agency’s strategic ideas. They’re the backbone of your client experience, and they always have their finger on the pulse. From client onboarding to meetings, communication, and campaign reporting, an Account Manager thrives on timelines, budgets, and client happiness. The best part? They manage the day-to-day so you can get back to doing what you do best—whether that’s operations, strategy, sales, or even taking a very well-deserved vacation.
The truth is that every agency needs an Account Manager, but hiring one is NOT easy.
At DOT & Company, we attract over 600 Account Management applicants every month! Only 1 or 2 of these amazing humans make it through our entire hiring process each month, achieving true unicorn status and what we refer to lovingly as ‘DOT vibes.’ ✨
In the following Mini Course, I’m spilling our secret sauce and diving into the details of our tried and true hiring process. With over 30 fully remote Account Managers based all over the world, we know a thing or two about how to find the best talent!
Attracting Your Unicorn 🦄
In this digital age, does anyone do anything without checking it out on social media first?
Just like you might scroll through accounts and reviews before trying a new restaurant or seeing a movie, potential candidates will do their homework before applying to your agency. This is why you need to ensure that your agency’s social media profiles shine bright with your culture and values. Just look at our LinkedIn and Instagram, for example!
When it comes to posting the job, Indeed is a game-changer for finding top-tier agency talent. Last month, for example, 94% of our total applicants listed Indeed when asked how they heard about our agency. We also love platforms like LinkedIn, Flexjobs, OnTop, and SheWorks for job posting!
⭐️Pro Tip: Here’s how we post our Client Account Manager role on fan-favorite tool, Indeed.
Truthfully, attracting your own unicorn requires so much more than a handy job posting tool. As a digital marketer, you already know it’s all about layers! Hiring an Account Manager is no different. It’s critical to ensure that you’re reaching potential unicorns using a multi-layered approach–from organic social and job posting sites all the way to LinkedIn, Meta, and even TikTok ads.
Over here at DOT, all of those layers lead candidates back to this page on our website!
Finding The Right Experience 🎯
Sure, Account Management experience seems straightforward, but it can be hard to pinpoint an avatar that fits perfectly into your team. Depending on your agency’s bread and butter, a wide range of experience could be helpful!
At the very minimum, it’s important to get a feel for the following in a candidate’s application:
Digital marketing experience,
Agency experience, and,
Salary and start date expectations.
Of course, any digital marketing experience is a bonus, but understanding how many years of experience they have will also be helpful for onboarding.
⭐️Pro Tip: Don’t forget to introduce your agency in the Job Description! Here’s a sneak peek at DOT & Company’s Client Account Manager Job Description.
Wondering how to prove if applicants can walk the walk and talk the talk? Sprinkle a few digital marketing questions into the application! Try to position the questions in a way that only someone with digital marketing experience could answer, so you can quickly weed out anyone who isn’t qualified. Here are some examples of questions that we’ve used in the past:
Your client asks you to explain what the CTR means on the report you just sent them. How can you describe this metric in a way that your client can easily digest?
What would be the first three steps you would take when onboarding an SEO client for your agency?
Your client is concerned about the BOF metrics in their lead generation campaign. Please explain which BOF metrics are the ones to keep the closest eye on in a thriving lead gen campaign.
Our DOT & Co. Account Managers consider themselves to be digital marketers first. This means we simply don’t hire anyone without at least a few years of digital experience–and this experience needs to go deeper than simply understanding digital marketing. Why? Agency life is fast-paced. Being a creative problem-solver means staying on top of trends and foreseeing client questions or potential issues before they arise. This level of experience gives our Account Managers a competitive edge in their agencies, helps build trust with their clients, and boosts day-to-day efficiency.
My background, for example, is in media buying. This experience is immensely helpful in my day-to-day role for a ton of reasons. My clients can feel that they’re in good hands. Not only do I understand the ads strategy I’m presenting, but I can quickly answer any questions that a client may have while we’re on a call. This positions my relationship with my client in a way that’s strategic and effective.
When an Account Manager has a proven track record, their digital marketing experience shines through and a new level of trust between your clients and your agency is unlocked!
Ensuring Superstar Quality ⭐️
So, you’ve attracted a pool of candidates and a handful have made it through the application. Now what?!
Enter: The Client Account Manager Assessment
This is your chance to dig into their experience and personality at a deeper level. As an agency owner, you don’t have time to micromanage anyone, and neither do we (nor do we want to)! To prevent this, we ask our candidates to complete an Assessment in just a few days so they can prove that they are not only invested in our agency but also in remote life. Self-starters only, am I right?
The Assessment should include a written component as well as a verbal component. We use Loom for the spoken element, so we can see their personality and passion for the role shine through! Remember, your Account Manager will be chatting with your clients on a daily basis, so confidence, personality, and experience are all key!
⭐️Pro Tip: Here is the first loom we request from our applicants, asking them to share 3 reasons why DOT & Company is the ideal agency for them. Here is the second loom, where we ask them to share 3 reasons why they’re the perfect Account Manager for our team. We use the looms to share more details about the role and to gather more details from the applicants.
Reviewing the Assessments is not a quick task, but it’s critical to the hiring process. In fact, we have an entire Hiring Team that’s dedicated to reviewing all applications and Assessments to ensure the candidates who trickle through always meet our ‘DOT vibes.’
Grading The “Face-To-Face” 🎥
Last, but certainly not least, it’s time for the interview. Our process includes at least 2 interviews to provide a round of gut checks.
Here’s some food for thought for the interview:
How are they showing up to the call? Did they make it out of their PJs and brush their hair?
Do they speak in a way that’s professional, yet friendly? Remember, this person will be the face of your agency!
Can they speak to client results and KPIs? This piece is critical for establishing trust with your clients.
And, before you make your final decision, ask yourself these questions:
Do I want to put this person in front of my clients?
Would I want to grab a (virtual, of course!) coffee with this person outside of work?
If the answer to both questions is a resounding yes, congratulations! You found your unicorn!
If the answer is no, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.
It’s that simple. If you aren’t comfortable putting this person in front of your clients and they won’t mesh with your agency culture, it’s 👏not 👏the perfect fit.
But don’t give up! Someone out there, is.
Wrap Up
When your clients have a dedicated Account Manager to rely on, you’re not just the agency; You’re a cherished partner. But hiring an Account Manager is not an easy system or an overnight operation–it's a pivotal decision that can shape the future of your client experience.
We’re biased, we know, but at DOT & Company, we think the Account Manager is the most important role inside any agency. Armed with the insights from this Mini Course, it’s time to get out there and hire an Account Manager to take care of your clients, so you can take care of business!
⭐️Pro Tip: If you’re looking for a team to tackle this process for you, you’re in the right place! BOOK A CALL to learn about how DOT & Company can help you find (and train!) your very own unicorn Client Account Manager.
