Q: dedicated account managers - Advantages / Disadvantages? (9)
General question; I signed up for a traffic source and was given a manager. They also have a self serve platform. But i was told at first I should go through a manager. I have never gone through this approach, but I was just wondering from other's experience.
1. What are some of the advantages of having a manager?
- For exmaple, can they approve campaign faster? provide feedback on why it was rejected and you can makes changes quickly and re-submit ...etc
- can I negotiate cheaper traffic with them if my campaign are failing?
- DO they have more campaign optimization filters on their end?
2. How do I make the best of having a manager?
3. Anything else I should know...?
as far as i see it there are vast more positive than negative in having a dedicated account manager.
for example Human contact, questions you might have have a dedicated contact - campaigns not being approved, campaigns not getting traffic, traffic isn't converting....
it doesnt mean you will get answers to all your questions but at least you have someone to ask.
use your manager to get as much info as possible.
what Geo's have best quality, what verticals are more successful, negotiate prices (obviously after generating traffic first and see results).
Anything else I should know...?
try to make him your friend. or try to create a close relationship with him!
that can only help 
I don't really see any downside ...
This largely depends on the traffic source, I have managers with a few sources and its usually one of the following 3 scenarios :
- source where all traffic is managed - here you cant do shit without a manager
- sources where majority of traffic is sold as flat deals, some is also available as self serve but to really make any use of that source, the flat deals are kinda mandatory - with a network like this, you can get some campaigns going without a manager, but to really get rolling you will need one
- sources where the same traffic is available in self serve and flat deals - here the manager only helps me to get information faster, get rejected campaigns re-approved faster and some tips on where there is larger activity - with a network like this, I can do pretty much the same with or without the manager but it certainly helps to get things done faster.
Generally speaking, having a manager should always help you at least a little bit
As someone who has worked as an AM, I'm not sure it's necessarily always a good thing. This will also be specific to the company you're working with I'm sure.
1. What are some of the advantages of having a manager?
- For exmaple, can they approve campaign faster? provide feedback on why it was rejected and you can makes changes quickly and re-submit ...etc
You might get preferential campaign approval if you have good rapport with your account manager and you have a decent spend. Probably not going to prioritize someone who isn't spending. In some cases your AM might give you feedback, but I'd generally try to go to the support team instead. So many nuances in compliance that having an AM who is not personally approving/rejecting ads is just going to slow the whole thing down for you, the AM, and the compliance team. I'd ask your AM if there's a better way to get more direct feedback. For instance, on Go2mobi, it's definitely easier if compliance related questions go to the support team as they have much more compliance experience than we do as AMs. That being said, we'll be able to give you broadstrokes feedback prior to launching your campaigns, and will likely go to bat to get "grey hat" campaigns/creatives approved. Again, this will be dependent on spend potential
- can I negotiate cheaper traffic with them if my campaign are failing?
A good AM will be monitoring this on the backend, if they're even privy to margins...not always the case
- DO they have more campaign optimization filters on their end?
On occasion. They will generally be beta features though.
2. How do I make the best of having a manager?
- Try to develop a relationship and grow beyond a strict business relationship. My favourite people to work with are the ones that I can joke around with and not have to worry about being too professional with. You'll probably get better treatment if you have a better relationship
- Listen to them, but don't take their word as gospel. I would like to think that you should be talking to your affiliate manager, and bouncing your campaigns off the traffic source manager to see what they think would be the best fit for their traffic. Ultimately trust your own judgment though.
3. Anything else I should know...?
Be weary of AMs who are willing to give anything specific away about someone else's campaigns. If they're giving you that info, they're likely giving your info away to others as well. We don't give any creatives, LPs, or specific offers away. We might mention, in general terms, that say, sweepstakes are working well in NA, but won't give away anything specific.
All in all, I think that it's generally a good thing!
Originally Posted by Go2mobi
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Originally Posted by matuloo
)) Originally Posted by Go2mobi
I think there is a distinction to be made here:
1) Account manager who gives you direct support
2) Account manager who is a direct roadblock involved in your campaign deployment process
In 1) this person is a point of contact and this is completely advantageous. Networking, connections, who-you-know... needless to say everyone should know this is only going to help.
In 2) this person may manage campaigns for you, be in charge of setting stuff up with your requested settings, reporting back to you, approving things, etc. If they are in any way taking your hands of the steering wheel, this is most likely an annoying disadvantage as you are likely now relying on someone who is less experienced/savvy than you, has no access to your campaign back-end, tracking, etc. Not the ideal situation unless you are running some solid stuff that you know works and you have to cop the managed aspect to get access to premium traffic.
Put it this way, if you are forced to have someone take your hand off the steering wheel, it better be traffic that's worth it -- otherwise you could just have your own trained employee holding the reigns.
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