Careers

What Do They Do?

Account Managers are at the heart of what makes commercial radio tick, as they bring revenue into the station.  It’s a fast paced, dynamic and often highly creative role.

There are broadly three main areas that Account Managers work in:

• Direct sales (sometimes called Business Solutions) where Account Managers are selling advertising space direct to businesses – this is usually in the form of a standard 30 second advertising “spot” on air.
• Agency sales where Account Managers handle relationships with the big advertising agencies to negotiate larger multi-site campaigns;
• Sponsorship and Promotions (S&P – sometimes called Creative Solutions) which bridges the gap between programming and commercial for a more embedded commercial experience; from creating bespoke ideas for on air competitions, securing show or feature sponsorships, creating digital strategies for social/online and managing outdoor events such as Roadshows and Outside Broadcasts.

An Account Manager’s daily tasks may include:

• Responding to briefs - summarising the station/s, target audience/s, client suitability, budget etc.
• Creating and sending a suggested solution back to the agency or client. The Account Manager might also try to upsell certain stations/products of our own if appropriate to the brief – so there’s likely to be some back and forth here as everyone is after a good deal.
• Managing the organisation and admin surrounding signed off ad campaigns.
• Providing reports and revenue pipelines to the wider sales team and presenting a run-down of upcoming campaigns in team meetings.
• Monitoring clients’ campaigns to ensure that they are hitting all the relevant targets

Who Do They Work With?

• An Account Manager will work within a larger sales team and will report into a Group Head of Sales.
• An Account Manager selling traditional airtime will work closely with the Planning and Inventory Team, communicating with them to ensure there is space to schedule the ads within our radio stations’ logs.
• Account Managers working in Agency Sales will devote time to maintaining relationships with their agency contacts and proactively sell product through presentations or client meetings.
• Account Managers working in Creative Solutions will likely work with a focussed team of Creative Executives including a Commercial Web Editor and the Programming Department on the creating and implementing of ideas.

What Skills Do I Need?

• Account Managers are confident, enthusiastic, and have strong interpersonal They build relationships quickly, and understand what makes people tick.
• Account Managers need to be confident communicators with strong pitching skills, as they need to respond to briefs and sell ideas to Agencies and Direct clients.
• Account Managers are creative and commercially minded – able to understand what makes engaging radio content and evaluating/thinking of ways that makes this content attractive to clients.
• Account Managers need the ability to multitask with a level head in a fast paced work environment.
• Account Managers are diligent, have good attention to detail and strong numeracy skills for the planning processes.

How Do I Get This Job?

There are no specific qualifications needed for this role, but you must have strong and demonstratable enthusiasm for radio, with experience in radio, media or sales coordination definitely being a plus.

You must be able to understand and thrive within the Commercial side of the business along with understanding the editorial importance of every aspect you work on. Routes in might include being part of a street team, broadcasting on-air, working in Programming, or producing for Commercial Production.