As an Account Planner, my objective is:
To maintain day-to-day contact between the agency and the client; managing and owning the strategy for my assigned accounts; fostering and growing assigned accounts; and ensuring overall client satisfaction.
This is a Hybrid local position. This job requires you to be in the Peoria, IL office Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday with the option to work from home Monday and Friday.
The outcomes I need to produce for clients are:
- A focus on three areas of the client account: Strategy; Orchestration/Management, and Sales
- Strategy
- Become a subject matter expert for assigned accounts, requiring continual work to understand project reference, ongoing study of the industry, client’s business, product offerings and customer base
- Complete stakeholder research (with support from the agency insights & analytics teams and other strategy resources) and produce a summary of key insights
- Build strategic deliverables including proposals, presentations, insights summaries and communication plans using the appropriate Simantel strategy
- Orchestration/Management
- Facilitate (through Simantel’s workshop model or otherwise) meetings and discussions internally, and with the client teams, around how Simantel can support strategic and creative solutions to solve business and marketing objectives
- Play a critical role in connectivity across the digital activation service lines (media, analytics, marketing automation and development) to ensure we are leveraging the best cross-channel experiences for our clients
- Work with agency Management Team to effectively forecast client budgets; plan and estimate project scopes; and support the Management Team’s communication internally, and with the client, on budget approvals & status of budget management (pre-, during, and post-project)
- Sales
- Support business development, both organic and new, as requested by agency leadership and biz dev team
- Learn all Simantel service line offerings and recognize/identify opportunities to speak to those service lines and capabilities to enhance existing/new projects
- Strategy
The outcomes I need to produce for the agency are:
- Maintaining a consultative role with clients to enhance Simantel’s strategic partnership
- Identifying where Simantel’s offerings align to the clients’ marketing-communication and branding needs with a goal to organically grow accounts
To produce these outcomes, I need to:
- Use effective storytelling to convey ideas, provide sound rationale, and help to consistently balance both the client and target audience needs across efforts
- Identify insights, collaborate on ideas, and connect dots throughout the lifecycle of an account
- Possess an underlying core skill of relationship building to successfully manage client and internal teams
The skills and abilities I require are:
- 4-year college or university degree or equivalent experience in marketing or business (or similar concentration)
- 3+ years of relevant experience (marketing, sales, or similar concentration)
- Previous agency experience (or other related environment) in account management (considered a plus)
- Excellent relationship-building and collaboration skills that leads to effective conversations internally and with clients
- Ability to work proactively and to take initiative to identify client needs and opportunities
- Strong communication skills, both written and oral and the ability to effectively present and facilitate meetings
- Strategic-thinking and creative problem-solving with the ability to organize information quickly and set direction
- Capable of successfully managing multiple clients/projects at the same time
To produce these outcomes, I have decision-making authority over the following:
- Strategic direction for assigned accounts
- Daily client communication and overall client relationship
- Budgetary management for client projects
- Level of involvement of core team members throughout the life-cycle of a project
Leading indicators of my success are:
- Establishment of strong relationships and effective communication with both clients and internal team members
- Ability to manage and drive multiple projects and clients/client relationships
- Successfully managing assigned accounts independently and act as the account SME
- Proven ability to drive consultative conversations with clients
Long-term indicators of my success are:
- Success in driving large-scale strategic client initiatives and campaigns
- Organic growth of assigned client base
- Ability to serve as a mentor to new or more junior-level account team members
By applying to Simantel and uploading your resume, you are opting-in to receive communications from Simantel regarding your application.
An introduction to our benefits can be found towards the bottom of this page here.
Simantel offers an attractive compensation package, which includes competitive salary, 401(k) plan, PTO, flexible work arrangements, holiday pay and a comprehensive benefits program.
We are an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce. We encourage anyone interested to apply and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.
Simantel is not currently hiring individuals for this position who require sponsorship under U.S. immigration laws to be lawfully employed.
What We Do
Over forty years of roll-up-your-sleeves-in-it-to-win-it-down-and-dirty-cool-as-hell B2B marketing. Our work has taken us around the world while being happily located in the heart of America. With a team of 80+ professionals Simantel uses insight to create inspired ideas that ultimately engage customers in meaningful (and profitable) relationships with our clients. We do it online and off, nationally and globally and do it for some of the hardest working brands out there.
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