Secrets We’ve Learned from Years Working with Paid Account Reps at Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn and Google

Have you ever wanted to pull back the curtain and see how account reps from the biggest online platforms really do business? After managing over $153 million in combined annual ad spend for our clients, we have a clear insider’s look at the inner workings of the paid search advertising departments at Google, Facebook, and others.

Most marketing executives we connect with make one of two assumptions about account reps from the major ad platforms. The first group thinks ad reps will be helpful and tell them exactly how to optimize their account (Excuse us if we stifle a giggle here). The second group is more skeptical and thinks account reps are just pushing new products on them. Some of these folks have even had their ad accounts destroyed after following the wrong advice.

In reality, ad account representatives offer a mixed bag of services and outcomes. You may expect a dedicated, higher level account rep when you’re spending a significant amount on your ads, it’s just not always the case. You may get some free ad spend or access to new programs and beta tests, but you’re not receiving tell-all access into your platform of choice. It’s important to read between the lines and ensure your rep is actually helping to solve your problems and not just reading off an FAQ script.

The best service we’ve ever gotten from a rep is $30,000 in free ad spend. The worst advice we ever received for a client? “You should make an ad where a car almost hits a deer.? Our response? Where would we even find a model deer? ”

Here’s a behind-the-scenes sneak peek at how these platforms really work — and how to navigate these relationships in order to make the most of your ad results.

Meta & Facebook Account Reps: Strong Troubleshooters with Generic Advice

Meta ads cover several different platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Within each option, there are also several placement opportunities to choose from, like feeds, Marketplace, reels, and stories.

How to Get a Meta or Facebook Ad Account Representative

There’s no clear cut path to getting assigned your own Meta account representative. Most advertisers start off using DIY tools and analytics in Meta Ads Manager. If you have issues, you can contact Facebook Ad Support. But if you want a dedicated ad rep, you have to wait until Meta proactively assigns one to your account. This hinges on a combination of factors, like monthly ad spend and business vertical.

Pros of Working with a Meta Account Rep

One of the biggest advantages of being assigned a Facebook account representative is that they’re usually pretty quick to resolve approval issues. A lot of businesses get their ads disapproved because they’ve been miscategorized. With a Facebook ad account rep, you’ll get help troubleshooting those issues around 60 to 70% of the time.

Another perk is that your Facebook account rep may give out free money to experiment with new strategies, especially if you’ve been spending a decent amount of money on your existing ad campaigns.

Cons of Meta Account Representatives

On the flip side, getting that Meta ad account rep isn’t as beneficial as you might hope. Don’t expect them to tell you to change your bid strategy, or say, “Hey, I saw this in a related account,” because it never happens. They also don’t hand out technical account management advice. In other words, maximizing your ads campaign strategies is still in your hands.

Reader Takeaway: Navigating Meta ads is still pretty DIY even when you’re assigned a dedicated account rep. But if you work with an agency like CNC, you get access to our agency rep, who provides a higher level of support than standard account reps assigned to individual businesses.

Plus, our experience helps us navigate who is a decent rep and who is just wasting our time. We know what to ask and we read between the lines of their recommendations to make sure the ad rep is really offering smart strategies to improve your results. For instance, we give you actual guidance on changing your bid strategy or mixing things up like switching to all broad keywords. We know what works and what will destroy your account

TikTok Account Reps: Hungry and Eager to Take Your Call

TikTok ads let you reach your audience with innovative formats. In-feed and TopView ads are the most straightforward, but you can also get creative with brand takeover ads, branded effects, branded hashtags, and Spark ads.

How to Get a TikTok Ads Representative

Similar to Meta, you have to wait to get assigned a TikTok representative unless you’re an agency. But that doesn’t mean you don’t get any service before you reach that level. In fact, a lot of our clients have had great experiences with the general TikTok ads manager support team.

Pros of TikTok Ads Manager Support

TikTok support representatives are eager to take your call. Unlike some of the more established platforms (we’re looking at you, Google), everyone at TikTok seems motivated and insightful. We also give them bonus points for offering insights on current trends and what they’re seeing work on the platform in real-time. Frankly, you just don’t get that level of strategy from other ad platforms.

From our agency point of view, the customer experience is also pleasant. TikTok ads reps are very responsive, providing same day answers (and often even sooner). They’re also quick to address common client issues, like increasing your company’s daily ad spend limits.

Cons of TikTok Ads Manager Support

The only downside we see with TikTok is that they’re not as aggressive with free ad spend as some of the other platforms — especially Snapchat. You can still get some free money to experiment with, but it’s not as frequent.

Reader Takeaway: In order to get more ad perks from TikTok, you need an agency relationship. For instance, they proactively give us music recommendations and flag copyright issues before they become a problem. We also get exclusive content, like TikTok holiday strategies, guides, and new feature access.

LinkedIn Account Reps: Ready to Build Your Audience

As a B2B platform, LinkedIn has different types of ads to choose from. In addition to videos and single image options, you can also advertise documents, dynamic corner ads, and sponsored direct messages. It’s best for lead gen opportunities, especially if you want to book calls with a specific professional audience.

How to Get a LinkedIn Ads Account Representative

Most businesses start off working independently within the LinkedIn Campaign Manager. If you have issues, you can contact customer support via online chat or webform. Eventually, you may get your own dedicated LinkedIn Ads account representative, but it’s invite-only.

Pros of a LinkedIn Ad Account Representative

LinkedIn’s ad reps feel authentic in that they want to build an audience for you and with you. We like that they give actionable information on campaigns like sponsored InMail. On top of that, they’re good at audience suggestions, including creating basic prospecting audiences and overlaying lookalikes. You can also test multiple audiences at one time.

Cons of LinkedIn Ads Customer Support

Despite the quality customer service, there are a few things we don’t love about LinkedIn ad support. First, the primary recommendation is webinars, which isn’t the best strategy for every business out there. They can also focus too heavily on brand awareness recommendations; and frankly, it’s a waste of money. We’ve also seen high levels of audience overlap on LinkedIn, so it’s important to focus on your prospecting methods.

Reader Takeaway: Working with a strategic agency partner helps you analyze LinkedIn’s recommendations, because we’ve found they can be quite pie-in-the-sky at times. You don’t want to rely solely on an ad rep who is drinking the LinkedIn Kool Aid without fully having your business’s best interests at heart.

Another bonus you get with an ads agency like CNC is that we know how to get credits back if a new campaign fails. It’s certainly possible to do this on your own, but you need to know how to ask — and how to follow up.

Google Ad Reps: Helpful with a Healthy Dose of Sales

Google sales and support representatives feel like a cross between a true account rep and a salesperson. The job is often outsourced to third parties, especially if you’re at a lower level of spending. Because Google is so ubiquitous, there is an almost overwhelming selection of options for ad campaigns, like search, display, video, shopping, and Performance Max — just to name a few.

How to Get a Google Account Representative

There’s no set process to get your own Google ads account manager. It typically depends on the size of your budget, and even then we’ve seen businesses spending large amounts who still don’t receive the invite for a dedicated account rep. But if you need specific support, you can submit a request to talk to a Google ads specialist associated with the platform.

Pros of Working with a Google Ad Representative

Ultimately, we find Google ads account representatives to be helpful. They aren’t quite as quick to respond as TikTok or even LinkedIn, but you still hear back within a reasonable amount of time. Google is also always innovating with their ad tools and resources. While the new products usually take time to perfect, we like that commitment to improving performance and analytics over time.

Cons of Google Ads Account Managers

So here’s where things start to go south when working with Google ads reps. They really want to sell you on something, regardless of what’s best for your business. We’ve seen them recommend spending $100,000 in YouTube ads for “brand awareness.” In fact, they place a really heavy focus on brand awareness in general, which may not be the right strategy for every business, especially if you need leads immediately.

It also feels like Google ad reps are often trying to push the feature of the quarter. That leads us to believe they may be incentivized to make certain sales.

Reader Takeaway: Companies need to figure out best practices for themselves so they don’t overspend on the wrong product with Google. We’re good at recommending what’s a bad idea to avoid completely, or what may be a decent idea that should be tested on a small scale.

We also track success rates when Google launches a new product like Performance Max. It takes time to work through the bugs and identify fraud risks and right now, we’d put it at just a 20% success rate. It’s not unusual; in fact, this used to be the case with TCPA bidding; it started around 20 to 25% success and jumped to 90%. So Performance Max will likely do better in the future, but we help businesses figure out how to get results now.

Benefits of Agency Relationships when working with Paid Search Reps

Ad reps can be helpful, but each platform has its pros and cons. On top of that, the level of risk associated with taking their advice at face value ranges anywhere from overspending on the wrong strategy to completely destroying your ads account.

That’s where Clicks and Clients comes in.

We Find the Hidden Value

Working with CNC removes time and energy from your in-house marketing team who normally handles ad account relationships. There is value hidden in those conversations with reps, but you need to read between the lines. And with our agency relationships at each platform, we get you access to the best reps who have the most authority to get decisions moving.

We Advocate for Our Clients via each Platform’s Representatives

Not all campaigns are successful, especially when trying out something new or when there’s a technical glitch on the platform. You don’t have to simply accept the loss; instead, you can work to get that money back in the form of a credit. But these platforms don’t hand out free money too easily. You have to spend the time advocating for that credit, which can be time consuming. CNC does this on your behalf (and we’re pretty good at it).

For example, we push for credits when service interruptions occur. And while we tell clients to plan on getting nothing, we do oftentimes make progress — it’s just usually long after the disruption occurs. It takes a lot of follow up, which many internal marketing departments simply can’t handle. But paired with all of the strategy and execution we bring to the table, it’s an extra perk our clients love.

Take a Test Run with CNC

Curious how CNC can help maximize your latest ads campaign? We’ll give you $500 in media to test an idea. Just book a 15-minute kickoff call and give us your account access to get started.