Managing your clients as an agency on Microsoft Advertising

Managing your clients as an agency on Microsoft Advertising

Do you currently manage or plan to manage other people's Microsoft Advertising accounts? If the answer is "yes," then you can directly link to your client's Microsoft Advertising account. This recommended process will help make this a seamless experience for you and your client.

The agency-client process

Once you and your client develop an agreement, which might include signing a contract, the recommended process for managing a client's account in Microsoft Advertising looks like this:

Your agency signs up for Microsoft Advertising
Your client signs up for Microsoft Advertising
In Microsoft Advertising, you send the client a link request
The client accepts the request
You start managing their account

When clients accept your request to manage their account, you become a direct manager on the account. You gain the necessary permissions to perform all campaign management tasks on behalf of your client, including setting budgets, creating ads, and updating keyword bids. The client will still have access to view and edit their campaigns. The responsibility for paying the bills (the bill-to customer) can belong to you or can remain with the client.

Request permission to manage a client's account

Before you send the request to your client, there are a few things you should know:

• You will need the client's account number. For instructions on helping your client find their account number, see How to have an agency manage your Microsoft Advertising account.
• If you elect to pay the bills:
  • You assume responsibility for all of the account's advertising charges, including any charges that are in progress when the client approves your linking request.
  • You will need to have a valid payment method on file before you send the request.
  • If you are trying to fund a prepay account and your client is in a country/region with tax requirements, we might be required to deduct tax from the prepay amount. Here are tax requirements for each country/region.
• If your client has a monthly invoice account: You can create and manage insertion orders on your client's behalf even if you are not the bill-to customer. You will need to be a Super Admin or Standard User to do so.

To request permission to manage a client's account:

We'll send an email to account owner (as well as any other direct managers), notifying them of the request. The owner has 30 days to accept the request. After 30 days, the request is automatically declined.

For information on the linking process from the client's side, see How to have an agency manage your Microsoft Advertising account.

How do I stop managing a client's account?

1. Select Accounts.
2. Select the Accounts Summary tab.
3. Select the Management tab.
4. Select the linked account.
5. Select Unlink from account.
6. Enter the Start date, which is the date you want to stop managing the account.
7. Select Unlink.

Note: If you unlink from a postpay threshold or a monthly invoice account where you are the bill-to customer responsible for billing, the account will be paused for up to 3 hours. No ads will serve while outstanding charges are settled. So before you unlink, we encourage you to work with the account owner to coordinate the downtime and to identify who will serve as the new bill-to customer on the account.

For more information about managing linked accounts, see Linking to an existing account.

Do I need a separate account for each client?

Yes. If you manage accounts for multiple clients, each client needs to sign up for their own account first. Then, you send a request to each client. Keep in mind that in Microsoft Advertising, you sign up as a customer and can have multiple accounts. For more info on how Microsoft Advertising is structured, see How should I organize my accounts and campaigns?

Can all of the clients be managed under one user name?

Yes. If you have access to the client's account, you can sign in with your user name and manage all your clients' accounts. To learn about the different user roles, see How do I give someone access to my Microsoft Advertising account?

Is there a limit to the number of accounts I can fund per credit card?

Currently, you can fund up to 20 accounts with one credit card.

Can an agency manage another agency?

Yes. Through account linking, anyone can link to any Microsoft Advertising account. This means that an agency can link to a client's account. A client can link to an agency's account. An agency can link to another agency's account. And, multiple agencies can link to one client's account.

The only limit is that only five direct managers can be linked to an account.

Can I link to a client who is being managed by another agency?

Yes. The only limit is that only five direct managers can be linked to an account.

Can I create an account for my client?

Although you can create an account for a client, we recommend that you follow the process described in this article of linking to and unlinking from a client's account. This process does require the client to set up the account, but it gives them more flexibility and control if they choose to end the relationship later on.

Does Microsoft Advertising have any resources that it can offer my agency?

If you are an agency, channel partner, or technology partner that already uses Microsoft Advertising, you may qualify for the Microsoft Advertising Partner Program. The program provides support, service, and solutions to Microsoft Advertising partners so that they can help their clients achieve better results on Microsoft Advertising.

To learn more about the Microsoft Advertising Partner Program, visit the Bing Partner sign-up page.