PPC Specialists are constantly in demand as the paid search landscape is so vast and continues to grow. With the increase in demand comes a discussion of how many accounts one individual specialist should manage at any given time. Thus, we asked the team their thoughts by posing this question:
How many accounts should one PPC Specialist be managing at one time? Why?
Strategical Planning And Tactical Execution
This is a tough question to answer. If an account manager has a very large account, 1 account might be sufficient if it’s strategically important to the agency or organization. I think for mid size accounts (up to $50K per month spend) 3 should be the max. This allows time for strategical planning and tactical execution while still providing enough care to each individual account.
— Jeff Baum, Associate Director of Paid Search
Determine The Account Manager
Spoiler alert: it depends! You have to take in to consideration quite a few things when determining any individual account manager’s bandwidth tipping point. More experienced specialists can (and do) take on a larger volume of accounts more easily, purely due to having more practice. That said, even the most experienced manager will hit an overload point. The second factor is number of accounts versus total spend of those accounts. Managing 10 accounts with $20K budgets each is not the same (neither better or worse) as managing 2 accounts spending $100K a piece. I think a good average is probably 4 – 7 accounts per manager, but again – not without considering the specifics to each of those 4 – 7.
— Kayla Kurtz, Senior Digital Advisor
Strike A Balance
It depends on the size and spend of each account. I think a good balance is 2 or 3 high spending and/or large accounts and a couple of smaller, more task based accounts. If an account manager has a lot of large accounts, it’s going to be trickier to manage and devote enough time to each account. That being said, if an account manager has a lot of small accounts and no large ones, the majority of time is spent on task based accounts (bid changes, etc) and not overall strategy. In order for an account manager to grow and become better, the strategy piece is very important.
— Rachael Law, Account Manager
It’s About Innovation
In order to effectively manage and innovate, I would say that no one PPC Specialist should have any more than 5 – 8 accounts. In a world of PPC that changes daily, there needs to be constant building, testing, and iteration to maintain and improve performance. Even the smaller accounts need plenty of attention if they are to grow. Put another way, every account needs a solid strategy which takes time and effort. Too many accounts per one specialist can result in individual accounts suffering.
— Matt Umbro, Senior Account Manager, Community
