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The Agency Field Guide: A report for growing agencies

Discover growth challenges agencies face and how to navigate them.

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Inside the Agency Field Guide

In partnership with Ipsos, we surveyed over 300 marketers to uncover the top challenges and ideas shaping today’s agency landscape. Inside this comprehensive report, you’ll discover how your peers are adapting to change—and inspiration for the road ahead.

Download for:

  • A stylized magnifying glass icon that represents feedback intake.

    Feedback from 300 marketing agencies

    See how surveyed agencies say they’re scaling, automating, and moving from vendors to strategic partners.

  • Icon with mountains and a sunrise that represents the agency marketing landscape.

    Facing 5 challenges

    This report reveals 5 core challenges agencies say they’re facing, and unpacks the tools and ideas behind those tackling them successfully.

  • An icon with a compass that represents general guidance for today’s agency challenges.

    Field Guide for agencies

    Learn how to navigate today’s marketing hurdles with data-backed insights from surveyed industry peers.

  • An icon with a notepad and pencil that represents field notes tailored for agencies.

    Field Notes by agencies

    Get tips and reflections that can help address each challenge so you can grow your agency your own way.

The 5 agency challenges

Retention is a growth engine

While lead generation can be challenging, learning how to find and retain the right clients can help drive sustainable growth.

85% of surveyed agencies say lead generation is a major obstacle, shown with a chart-style graphic.
75% of surveyed agencies say they’re hiring specialists who focus on client acquisition, shown with a chart-style graphic.

New client acquisition and marketing automation

Agencies report hiring specialized teams focused on new client acquisition. They also report using automation tools to help improve their agency’s service delivery pace.

Explore marketing automation flows and segmentation tools to help streamline your agency’s workflow.

Staying power through specialization

Today’s standout agencies aren’t just special, they’re specialists.

Build in-depth knowledge of a category or practice area to help your agency land the right clients, raise your earning potential, and grow.

76% of surveyed agencies say developing a niche or speciality is crucial for growth, shown with a chart-style graphic.
84% of surveyed agencies say planning budgets amidst economic uncertainty is a challenge, shown with a chart-style graphic.

Let the data drive the dollars

Use data to focus your budget on what works:


  • Review your agency’s offerings, tools, and campaign performance
  • Invest in channels that drive clear outcomes and client impact
  • Use dashboards to track performance and share wins

Investing in AI to help drive growth for your agency

AI can help streamline your client workflow, so 
you can focus on strategy and planning.

Explore AI marketing tools built to help agencies like yours tackle the manual parts 
of your clients’ marketing.

83% of surveyed marketers believe AI will either revolutionize or change how they work, shown with a chart-style graphic.

Ready to scale the peak of marketing success?

Download now

Disclaimers:

  1. All statistics and quotes are from an online survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Intuit Mailchimp from February 2025. The survey included over 300 respondents who work in service based verticals, from a mix of B2B and expert panels, excluding e-commerce with (1-30 employees) across various industries.
  2. Availability of features and functionality varies by plan type. For details, view Mailchimp’s plans and pricing.
  3. Customer Journey Builder (CJB) was rebranded to Marketing Automation Flows (MAF) effective as of June 10, 2025. Any references to “Automation Flows” refers to the same features previously available under CJB. Rest assured that the functionality and features you have come to know and rely on in CJB remain the same in MAF, which continues to be available on paid plans. Features and functionality vary by plan type. For details, view Mailchimp plans and pricing.