Inside the Modern B2B Marketing Agency: The Rise of the Multi-Skilled Account Manager

Account management has always been at the heart of agency life. Twenty years ago, much of my time was spent debating whether clients even needed a website. A few years later, websites were a given, but the focus shifted to analytics. Then analytics evolved into CRMs, which soon gave way to Marketing Automation and ABM. And today? AI is the latest technology transforming the role.

I think, if you compare today’s expectations, you’d barely recognise the job. What started as relationship management and status updates has transformed into something far more complex: a hybrid role that straddles creativity, technology, data, and strategy.

In today’s world, the Account Manager (AM) is no longer just the person who answers emails or chases approvals. They’ve become the agency’s problem-solver-in-chief, wearing multiple hats and bridging the gap between departments, clients, and outcomes.

When agencies lived and breathed print campaigns, account managers worked like traditional client service reps. They took briefs, kept projects moving, and ensured deadlines were hit.

Then came the digital boom and I would be advocating for the use of websites. ‘Why do we need a website?’, ‘Who’s going online?’

But, pretty soon, websites replaced brochures, SEO overtook press ads, and AMs needed a grounding in web builds, email campaigns, the language of search, and the importance of analytics. The job became more technical overnight and, if you couldn’t talk confidently about analytics, traffic volumes, bounce rates, and conversion data (funnels weren’t even a thing back then), you risked being left behind.

As digital matured, analytics stopped being a nice-to-have. Clients wanted proof of performance, not just a glossy deck at the end of the month.

AMs had to get comfortable with data. Tools like Google Analytics, Ahrefs, and the full Google SEO suite became part of the daily toolkit. Instead of handing off reports to a data team, AMs needed to interpret the numbers and present them as business impact.

This was the start of key account management evolving into strategic account management. It became less about chasing tasks, more about spotting opportunities that drive client success.

The rise of social media added yet another hat for agencies and, ultimately, AMs. Creating good, timely social content meant increasing the frequency of contact and depth of understanding with clients to uncover stories, content, and ideas we could promote, which meant mediating between creative teams, strategists, and clients who suddenly wanted real-time engagement and ideas that could ‘go viral’.

This era marked the start of the strategic partnership model. Agencies couldn’t just push out assets; they had to work hand in hand with clients to build communities and trust. The Account Manager sat at the centre of that triangle, balancing brand tone, creative freedom, and measurable outcomes on one hand against budget, expectations, and capability on the other.

Now, with automation and AI shaking up the role, the AM is making the shift again.

Agencies like ours use AI for repetitive tasks, Sonar for automation, and Productive as an integrated project management system. These tools free account managers from admin-heavy work so they can focus on what really matters: client experience and trust-building.

But it’s easy to lose sight of what these tools are for – improving outcomes. Whether that means faster delivery, better results, or reduced costs, these tools impact how the agency works. If you’re not careful, they can become the master of your time instead of the other way round. Part of the AM’s job includes orchestrating how departments use them.

AMs should know enough about SEO to challenge a strategy, enough about creative to shape a brief, and enough about automation to push efficiency gains. They’ve become translators between disciplines, ensuring the agency doesn’t just deliver outputs but outcomes.

For agencies, this shift can be a huge advantage. A capable AM reduces silos, prevents miscommunication, and keeps the focus firmly on client success. They can help relieve the pressure on teams when the client pushes back and translates the creative idea into a sensible business case.

Clients don’t always see the late-night data checks, the cross-department problem-solving, the constant need to balance short-term delivery with long-term vision & budget, but they feel the benefits. Benefits that manifest in smoother workflows, stronger partnerships, and measurable business growth.

It’s like good design, you don’t always notice when it’s there, it’s seamless, but you notice when it’s not. Bad design sticks out like a sore thumb.

Looking ahead, the AM role will only get more strategic. As AI gets better at handling execution, account managers will move further into consultative, value-driven partnerships. They’ll be expected to advise on business strategy, not just marketing tactics.

In the UK B2B landscape, this means tomorrow’s Account Manager will act more like a chief client officer – someone who blends creative instinct, technical fluency, and data insight with the ability to build unshakeable trust.

Account management has always been about people. But in today’s agencies, it’s about people plus process, people plus platforms, people plus performance.

The role has evolved from service to strategy, from order-taker to problem-solver. And for agencies willing to embrace this shift, the Account Manager is no longer just the glue that holds everything together – they’re the engine that drives client success forward.