As we navigate the rapidly evolving digital marketing landscape, the question on everyone’s lips is – what does the future hold for digital agencies? Whether you’re a seasoned digital marketer or an agency owner, staying one step ahead is paramount to survival in this fiercely competitive industry. But it’s crucial to understand the past to envision the future.
A Potted History
The dawn of digital agencies can be traced back to the late 90s, amidst the dot-com boom, when businesses first began to understand the power of the internet as a marketing tool. What started as simple brochure websites soon became more complex as the internet’s potential unfolded. SEO, social media, content marketing, and pay-per-click advertising were no longer just buzzwords; they became vital components of a holistic marketing strategy. Digital agencies became the sought-after guides in this vast, uncharted territory, bridging the gap between businesses and the online world.
However, the digital landscape changed at warp speed, like all things technology-driven. The rise of mobile technology, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and the current trend towards personalization and automation have continuously reshaped the industry. This evolution begs the question…
…where are we headed next?
To answer this, we’ve asked the nerds smart people, from agency veterans to forward-thinking disruptors, to compile a comprehensive view of what lies ahead for digital agencies.
What are your thoughts? Let us know on social!
We asked:
1. What does the future look like for digital agencies?
2. How adaptable will agencies have to be?
3. What’s one piece of advice you can give to digital agency owners regarding the future?
Now to the nerds smart people!
Ross Tavendale – MD – Type A Media
1. What does the future look like for digital agencies?
Brighter than ever but more different than ever. Agencies will be expected to do more and more over time for their clients and will be held to higher standards. With the advent of AI, critical thinking and strategy will come to the forefront of all agency USPs as services like copywriting become commoditized, and we all start an AI content arms race.
2. How adaptable will agencies have to be?
I have a neon sign that says, “SEO is Dead”. It was designed to be a metaphorical middle finger to people that prophesied the end of times after every algorithm update, but in a way, the sign is right. Agencies will need to go through a process of death and rebirth faster than ever before and be much more experimental in their approach to helping clients achieve their goals. This means learning new technologies and investing in adapting their process, and making things more productised than ever before.
3. What’s one piece of advice you can give to digital agency owners regarding the future?
I would say the same as I have in the past, “don’t expect different results from doing the same things” and “Don’t be upset at the results you didn’t get from the work you didn’t do”.
There is always some new challenge around the corner. Think laterally and build your marketing, sales, operations and hiring engines. Keep calm and carry on.
Bella Hegarty – OMG Agency Advisor
1. What does the future look like for digital agencies?
The future at the moment is uncertain for agencies; there is a lot of change on the horizon, and it seems like it is happening fast. However, this means that there is a huge amount of opportunity for smaller agencies to be able to compete with the larger firms; I’m seeing the surge of smaller yet mighty agencies thrive through their specialism and unique experience.
2. How adaptable will agencies have to be?
It’s important that agency owners are adaptable and able to make and bounce back from decisions fast in order to be able to keep up with the pace of the ever-changing economy, trends and consumer needs.
3. What’s one piece of advice you can give to digital agency owners regarding the future?
My advice is to ensure that you have the fundamental operations in place to enable yourself to scale, the concrete experience and simplified systems to manage increased capacity and client base to maintain quality and support your next stage in business.
Andy Robson – MD – Squidgy
1. What does the future look like for digital agencies?
Volatile. I think there’s been the largest leap forward in AI in the past 6 months than in the past 15 years. Whether you’re a coder, graphic designer, or content writer – there’s now a solution that can at least deliver 80% of a final product. Right now, I believe agency owners are convincing themselves that AI will never be able to plug that 20% gap that refines an output or deliverable, but I think it’s just a matter of time. For me, as a digital marketing agency owner, with a particular focus on SEO, I think that even Google doesn’t quite know what the next algorithm update will look like because websites are generating content at a rate we’ve never seen before – their initial focus will be on content quality – one that defines content written by a human vs AI. But the question we should be asking ourselves is, what if the content created by AI is actually better… eventually.
2. How adaptable will agencies have to be?
Adaptable, absolutely – but I think we need to be clear on what that means. Coming back to AI, right now as an agency owner we’re focused on effectiveness. Taking a clients monthly resource and outputting the best possible impact we can. We make their money go as far as possible. In that vein if I were to conduct a technical audit manually by checking each page, viewing the source code, checking the number of H1, any broken links, meta data etc that would be an absolute idiotic waste of budget. We have tools to do that for us. We take the output and make meaningful and refined strategic tactics from it. But there’s a different type of resistance to AI. In my view, why should a client pay us 3 hours, when AI could do it in 5 mins with 25 mins of refinement from us. The principle for me is the same. We’re not putting people out of jobs, we have to deliver more than ever.
3. What’s one piece of advice you can give to digital agency owners regarding the future?
Be agile. Be open to change. But be moral. and find a balance. As you’ve probably already guessed, AI is the biggest threat facing the digital marketing industry right now. Make no mistake it will change the landscape of our industry forevermore. But find a balance. Do not think that AI reduces the amount of staff you require to output the same level of deliverables each month, end up laying off half your team (or more), keep clients budgets the same and then pocket the difference (there will be those out there who are already making this shift) but use these tools to be more efficient and deliver more bang for your clients buck than ever before.
Josh Peacock – CEO – SEO for Hire
1. What does the future look like for digital agencies?
It’s not a secret that there’s A LOT of digital agencies out there. It’s also not a secret that there’s quite a few out there that aren’t so great. I feel like over the next coming months / years we’re going to see a lot of digital agencies shut down. The ones that are going to make it are the ones who are still pushing investment into marketing, recruitment and training. I think there’s a very bright future for those who do this and adapt to using AI as a tool rather than a force to go to war with.
2. How adaptable will agencies have to be?
Extremely. Being in the recruitment space, we see a lot of agencies going through difficult times right now. The only way forward is to adapt and transition into a forward-thinking agile agency. From a recruitment perspective, if you don’t adapt, you’ll lose your top staff. Something I’ve seen a lot of recently. The old way is tried and tested and, quite frankly, failing. It’s time to adapt.
3. What’s one piece of advice you can give to digital agency owners regarding the future?
Invest in your team. Being in the SEO recruitment space, my team always hears about top SEOs not getting the salary they deserve, the training they ask for, or, quite frankly, not receiving the promised role. Take a step back and analyse the cost of a bad hire vs one that sticks with you for a LONG time. Invest invest invest into your team.
Alpa Shingadia – OMG Agency Advisor
1. What does the future look like for digital agencies?
The world is changing rapidly. The raise of AI is changing how digital marketing is being delivered. Certain skills like copywriting and keyword search etc. can be done cheaply using AI tools. Social media is also changing – will Instagram, Facebook or even LinkedIn remain relevant? The Metaverse and immersive technology may be the killer of social media and advertising as we know it. Agencies will have to think in a more interactive way to help their clients. Many jobs in digital agencies will change and new skills created. The digital agencies who learn to recognise what these roles are will be more successful than those who are slow to change.
2. How adaptable will agencies have to be?
Agencies must be very adaptable; the world is changing and the way consumers and B2B customers behave is also changing. It’s the agencies who learn to adapt in a fast changing world who will be the winners.
3. What’s one piece of advice you can give to digital agency owners regarding the future?
Do not fear change. Constantly learn how technology is disrupting everything, with knowledge you are in a better position to pivot and stay one step ahead.
Anthony Barone – MD Studiohawk UK
1. What does the future look like for digital agencies?
They will need to be more strategy focused. Understanding the business needs and matching it to their DM strategy rather than just spitting out a bunch of tasks they did thinking that’s enough.
2. How adaptable will agencies have to be?
Digital Skills will have to increase, old days are gone, if you can’t talk the talk, businesses will find you out. Communication and proactivity need to be paramount. Not using AI either chatGPT or any other platform / tool will leave them behind.
3. What’s one piece of advice you can give to digital agency owners regarding the future?
Be humble, there will be new tools, methods, people and skills to learn and be aware of, we have to keep learning and improving and can’t rest on their laurels. They need to keep on working and growing and can’t let ego get in the way of being a perennial student and realising that there are better & smarter people out there that we can learn from.
Itai Sadan – CEO and Co-founder – Duda
1. What does the future look like for digital agencies?
I continue to be bullish about the future of digital agencies, especially when it comes to website building. Despite economic uncertainty, we’ve continued to see growth among our agency clients at Duda. Many businesses recognize that a good website is vital for cost-effective customer acquisition. After all, websites are where SMBs get their free organic traffic, and will be one of the last things they will ever give up.
We’re seeing SMBs continue to invest in their online presence and turn their websites into revenue-generating assets. They’re doing this by selling products and services and incorporating transactional elements into their websites like eCommerce, scheduling/booking, payments, subscriptions, and more.
At the same time, AI is reshaping how SMBs operate. Fortunately, I don’t believe AI will replace agencies. While generative AI tools make certain tasks easier, the digital landscape is becoming increasingly complex. To succeed, businesses need a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. This can only be provided by professional agencies that understand their clients’ businesses and can integrate the right tools into a cohesive strategy, offering the best chance for success.
2. How adaptable will agencies have to be?
As always, agencies need to be highly adaptable to navigate the dynamic digital landscape, fueled by both tech advancements and evolving client demands. For example, in our State of Website Building Report where we surveyed over 400 digital agencies, “building more complex, feature-rich websites” (23%) and “higher conversion rates” (20%) topped the list of biggest growth opportunities. This is consistent with a shift we’re seeing in how successful agencies approach building client sites: they’re adapting to meet increased client demand for more advanced, transactional, and feature-rich websites that drive revenue and generate growth.
Another example is leveraging AI to stay ahead of the curve. Successful agencies are incorporating AI into their workflows, using AI to help with content generation, ideation, research and development, and more. AI enables agencies to 10X their output, increase their productivity and efficiency, and ultimately offer higher quality deliverables to their clients at better margins.
3. What’s one piece of advice you can give to digital agency owners regarding the future?
My advice to digital agency owners regarding the future is to embrace AI while honing in on their unique value proposition. Focus on offering comprehensive digital marketing strategies tailored to clients’ specific needs, while leveraging AI tools to enhance efficiency, speed, and quality. Agencies that leverage AI in the right way are able to have more in-depth conversations with their clients and provide clients with higher quality deliverables without necessarily increasing the cost to the client.
With AI, there are also great opportunities for agencies to provide new services to existing clients, or go after markets that were previously prohibitive due to the high cost to serve them. For example, an agency that predominantly serves medium-to-large business can now more easily scale downmarket to capture SMB clients.
As they say, at the end of the day, it’s not AI that is going to replace you, it’s someone else using AI better than you!
Anna Marsden – OMG Agency Advisor
1. What does the future look like for digital agencies?
There are always rapid significant changes, opportunities and risks in the ever-changing digital agency world! Social media platforms evolve with new features and formats regularly which brings demand from clients who want to “be all over it” before their competitors to reach their target (and ever increasingly informed) audiences. The most important part of this, is not the ever-changing social media platforms but the increased demand from clients in new digital areas.
2. How adaptable will agencies have to be?
VERY. The life-blood of a great agency is it’s adaptability to the ever-evolving digital landscape and client demand. Client demand is dynamic and shifts quickly. So agencies must monitor and prepare for the change in client habits, and expectations to tailor their strategies accordingly.
3. What’s one piece of advice you can give to digital agency owners regarding the future?
The digital landscape evolves rapidly, and new technologies, strategies, and trends emerge frequently. To stay relevant and competitive, digital agency owners need to foster a culture of continuous learning within their organizations. Encourage your team to stay updated on industry advancements, attend conferences, participate in training programs, and engage in professional development activities. By investing in ongoing learning, you can ensure that your agency remains at the forefront of the industry. (As a trainer, I would say this!)
Charlie Clark – MD – Minty Digital
1. What does the future look like for digital agencies?
It’s an interesting time for sure, but the agencies with a clearly defined service and niche will be the ones that prosper. There is way too much competition to be a generalist nowadays (freelance or agency) and the only way you’ll cut through the noise is by having a cleary defined offering that adds value to your target audience. Also, if you’re competing on price then forget it. Technology speeding up processes, the rise in freelancers and talent from developing countries will make it impossible and you’re much better off being an expert and charge a premium for your service.
2. How adaptable will agencies have to be?
Very adaptable, as they should always should be. Although the fundamentals and objectives for a lot of our jobs are still likely to remain the same, you need to be constantly in the loop with latest technologies and how they can improve your workflows. In the SEO world now we’re seeing AI tools that can reduce processes for services such as Link Building by over 90%, so if you’re not utilising these opportunities you’re going to be left in the past!
3. What’s one piece of advice you can give to digital agency owners regarding the future?
Don’t react so quickly to the latest ‘shiny object’, but be aware of them and keep an eye on how they progress before integrating them into your business. We’re already seeing with AI after the initial hype that it’s not going to completely take over things such as content creation just yet, and the value is more in where it can support us rather than where it can take over roles (for now). Although tools such as AI are going to clearly have an impact on how we do our day to day business, you need to be not taking your eye off the ball and still focus on what you do best.
Dave Betts – OMG Agency Advisor
1. What does the future look like for digital agencies?
As with all businesses, the faster technology advances, the faster we have to adapt and change. Being resilient relies on adaptability, and the need to UNLEARN as much as learn new things regularly. Guarding against becoming emotionally attached to a way of working or a specific outcome is essential. The ability to die to something/idea/philosophy and birth something new is at the forefront of survival. What am I unlearning today?
2. How adaptable will agencies have to be?
Following on from the first point, the speed in making decisions will need to increase and this ability comes from a strong sense of internal values but a flexible approach to outcomes. Developing a critical thinking approach to decision-making safeguards against short-term thinking. How connected are you to your values? When there is a burning YES inside it is easy to say NO.
3. What’s one piece of advice you can give to digital agency owners regarding the future?
Fight fire with Vision! This advice has stuck with me for years. Keep the WHY and the WHERE clear. When the WHY is big enough the HOW is usually not a problem. Keep connecting with your team with the WHY.
Kobi Gamliel – Head of Agency Growth – Wix
1. What does the future look like for digital agencies?
To understand the future of digital agencies, we need to understand better the trends and challenges: remote work, privacy concerns, talent resources and the need for constant creativity.
To make it happen, an agency needs to be agile to recruit talented people in any place and adaptive to new working habits. They must aim for hyper-personalization of data and niche audiences to support super smart and needle-pin campaigns. Above all they need to feed themselves with creativity from different cultures and content worlds to be ready for the future of agencies.
2. How adaptable will agencies have to be?
I always say that adaptive methodology is key to agency success. Where we see new trends coming fast and the need to embrace innovation and technology, being adaptive is more important than being creative.
3. What’s one piece of advice you can give to digital agency owners regarding the future?
My biggest advice is to ensure you have one person in the agency that focuses on adaptive trends, no matter which trends there are – products, tech, workflows or structure. Once you have one employee whose main focus is to deliver adaptiveness to the agency life, this is how you win the game of agencies.
Bibi Raven – Founder of Bibi Buzz
1. What does the future look like for digital agencies?
It’s going to be a tricky phase for digital agencies. AI makes it easier to produce and manage ‘average quality’ marketing content at scale. So there will be more competition from in-house teams and non-domestic agencies. Recession will reduce spending. New data regulations will make it more difficult to analyse your work.
2. How adaptable will agencies have to be?
Your agency should definitely learn how to use AI to reduce the use of resources. But you also need more humanity and less machines. Most AI used for marketing is based on existing patterns. Use your wonderfully weird brain to come up with more leftfield ideas.
3. What’s one piece of advice you can give to digital agency owners regarding the future?
If you want to keep winning clients, hone in on creativity, authenticity and a unique voice. Not just for their projects but for your brand as well. Because the market will be flooded by agencies that are just droning on, powered by AI.
Freia Muehlenbein – OMG Agency Advisor
1. What does the future look like for digital agencies?
The market is maturing and crowded, which means there are a great number of agencies that can technically deliver very similar digital marketing work for brands. Potential clients are now increasingly selecting agencies based on factors like the quality of the client services team, the strategic approach, the ability to create sophisticated and automated cross-platform reports, trust, chemistry, and more. Your ability to innovate and automate, guide clients through trends such as AI, and act as a trusted advisor are becoming just as important as the technical ability to deliver good channel work. Digital agencies need to step up their game in these areas and demonstrate to new and existing clients that they’re not just a supplier of channel work, but thought leaders and strategic advisors.
2. How adaptable will agencies have to be?
Digital agencies have always had to and always will have to change and adapt. It’s the nature of digital. Our industry changes faster than most, so we’re all in the business of changing constantly. Many agencies fail to adapt to changing client requirements and digital trends because they’re unable to effectively implement strategic and operational change. Agencies that are set up well to adapt to change have always performed the best. A track record of effective change and leading digital innovation are also quickly becoming agency selection criteria for brands. Unfortunately, remaining stagnant isn’t an option in our industry. And that would be boring anyway, wouldn’t it?
3. What’s one piece of advice you can give to digital agency owners regarding the future?
I’d encourage all digital agencies to review how good they are at changing how they do things. If you have a poor track record of implementing change, then I would recommend addressing this as soon as you can. Formalise your strategic plan for the agency and establish a solid plan to take your strategic goals out of the boardroom and into the agency. Set your objectives, create a plan for implementation, set clear ownership, hold each other accountable, and be disciplined in progressing your agreed actions. If you don’t feel like you have the skills to do this, then there are plenty of advisors and consultants out there who will help you make this happen in your agency. If you are unsure how to change operationally e.g. what roles you need, how to pitch better, how to create better processes, which systems to introduce etc. then there are tons of niche agency experts out there who will provide the clarity you need.