TL;DR Our next opening for an agency consulting project is in late September. Please get in touch early if you're interested in a Revgen Review or a Custom Strategy Project. The AM/PM confusion has spread all the way to McCann as they restructure to replace their AMs with PMs. Unfortunately for them, AMs and PMs serve two different but complementary roles. AMs drive growth while PMs drive margin. The core purpose of an account manager is to oversee the client relationship. The core purpose of...
25 days ago • 4 min read
Special Survey Edition This is a special edition of our newsletter. We'll be back next week with our standard deep dive into a new agency topic. Today, we're doing a study on how digital agency teams evaluate web hosts, and we'd appreciate your perspective. As a thank you, we'll send the full analysis and a $25 gift card to everyone who submits a valid response. Research Invitation I'd like to invite you to participate in our research. It takes about 5min on average. We're hoping to learn...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
TL;DR NEW SURVEY: Web Host Sentiment open through 5/30. Agency leaders are slightly optimistic about their agency's outlook for the rest of the year. Many leaders view 1H25 as a low point, so it’ll be pretty easy for the second half to be better. Web development services face polarized demand depending significantly on client industry health and exposure. We saw high demand for strategy services (digital and marketing strategy). The weakest services were content marketing, social media...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
TL;DR We're live with a new agency pulse check survey. We just published our latest (free) Digital Agency Industry Report, which serves as our primer on the industry. The key takeaway is that the industry has matured, and this changes how leaders need to approach it. A new episode of Agency Mythbusters is out! Register for my session at AmpUp where I'll run through the top trends reshaping digital agencies. New Survey: How's everyone feeling? Will the second half of the year be better or...
2 months ago • 2 min read
TL;DR Referrals are one of the most powerful and cost-effective growth channels for digital agencies. There are four main sources: Current clients, Partners / adjacent businesses, Past clients, & Personal and professional contacts Ask for referrals at the point of peak happiness, when industry changes occur, or when tech changes. Different roles will be responsible for referrals at different-sized agencies, but make sure that SOMEONE is owning it. Use simple, confident language and tailor...
3 months ago • 8 min read
TL;DR I'm speaking at a few spots this month, and it'd be great to see some of you there! There are three core account growth frameworks: Cross-selling (sell adjacent services into current accounts) Upselling (sell a higher-tier version of the same service) Expansion selling (sell the same service with a greater scope) Cross-selling works great for full-service agencies with mid-market or enterprise clients who have broader needs and budgets. Expansion selling is critical when working with...
3 months ago • 7 min read
TL;DR We're live with this year's State of Digital Services Report! Agency growth stabilized in 2024; Studio and Small shops grew modestly, Medium and Large agencies contracted slightly. Agencies expanding or shifting service mixes achieved significantly stronger growth. Specialists (84% of agencies) continued to outperform generalists in revenue and margins. Increasing rates drove higher revenue growth and profitability; reducing fees led to a 6% revenue decline. Agencies serving larger...
4 months ago • 2 min read
TL;DR Promethean’s Consulting Capacity: We’re booked for agency consulting clients through the second quarter. If you’d like help in 3Q, please book an intro call early. Effective account retention is a cheat code for agency growth. Four components to effective account retention include: Doing good (enough) work. Communicating the value you deliver. Being enjoyable to work with. Make your clients look good. Key activities that make those components easier include: Track account health....
4 months ago • 5 min read
TL;DR Last call: State of Digital Services closes Thursday, 2/20. If you want to participate, make sure your data is in by EOD Thursday. Uncertainty Is Back: Business leaders aren’t at 2020-level anxieties, but the overall outlook has grown shakier compared to a year ago. Reduced Growth Spend: When clients feel uncertain, they downsize investments in agency-led growth initiatives like marketing, web design, and dev projects. AI Concerns: AI is fueling uncertainty about service offerings...
5 months ago • 4 min read
