In today’s fast-paced world, where capturing consumer attention is paramount, mid-size digital and marketing agencies are navigating a complex landscape. Striking a balance between the nimbleness of smaller firms and the vast resources of industry giants requires a blend of creativity, innovation, and strategic execution.
That’s why Celarity’s Marketing Director, Jamie Duong, sat down with Aaron Komo, Director of Growth at The Social Lights, and Aiyanna Klaphake, Marketing Director at Marketing Architects, to dig deeper into what it’s really like to work for a mid-size agency. From what agencies look for in early to mid-level candidates and how they’re dealing with the impacts of AI to the biggest challenges facing mid-size agencies now and in the years to come, this conversation is packed with insights!
Marketing Agency Life Today
Jamie: Let’s set the stage a little. I’ve seen recent estimates put the number of agencies in the US and Canada at just over 45,000. In 2018, ⅔ of those agencies had 10 or fewer employees, but headcount growth has grown and has been pretty consistent in that growth over the past 6 years. Still, over 90% of these agencies have fewer than 50 employees.
That’s the world we find ourselves in today; the vast majority of agencies are smaller to mid-size shops, which means there are many small but mighty teams doing a lot of work. That’s also why I’m so excited to hear both of your perspectives today, and it brings me to my first question.
Q: How has working in a marketing agency changed since you first began, and is there anything about the industry that someone might be surprised to learn?
Aaron: What has certainly changed is my most-used apps. Some of them didn’t even exist 10 years ago in the social space. But if I had to name one thing today, I think it’s how we’re working.
It wasn’t too long ago when we’d go into a conference room and sit around a speaker phone, which now seems like another world. With hybrid work environments, we have so many tools designed to keep us in constant communication and manage multiple work streams, but they often leave us more siloed. For me, that has brought a greater need for awareness and intentionality.
Aiyanna: I’ve been working at Marketing Architects for years now, and in that time, it has felt like four different companies. And I don’t think that’s just Marketing Architects. That’s the nature of agency life and of advertising.
Marketing trends are constantly changing, and client expectations are changing with them. How do you communicate with clients, and what are their expectations in a remote or hybrid work environment? More specifically, as an All-Inclusive TV agency, we are constantly thinking of how to keep our clients ahead of the game as audiences juggle linear and streaming viewing options.
Marketing Agency Hiring Trends
Jamie: I’ll preface my next question with some background context: US advertising and agency employment has been growing, reaching employment numbers not seen for well over 20 years. However, in May, the industry lost 2,200 jobs, which is the first dip in quite a while. That puts us in a place where we’re not in hypergrowth mode like the last few years, with some of the larger agencies right-sizing their teams this year, but there is still growth in the marketing agency world.
Q: What does your marketing agency look for in candidates for early- to mid-level positions?
Aiyanna: There’s so much change all the time, so we look for people who thrive in that environment. And then, especially for those early in their career, being a generalist is a huge plus. Someone who can do a little bit of everything or at least knows a little about multiple areas of marketing is incredibly marketable in more junior positions. Lastly, willingness to learn is absolutely paramount.
Aaron: Four years ago, I probably would’ve answered this differently, but I personally lean less on the traditional academic experiences and now focus on trying to understand potential candidates. How do they learn? How do they search? What keeps them curious? How do they foster collaboration with others? Cognitive skills are easier to teach, but character skills give me a greater sense of how they would approach strategic or creative work and, ultimately, what it’s like to work with them.
Marketing Agency Work Trends
Jamie: I touched on this earlier, but the industry has grown quite a bit and had a very recent, potentially temporary contraction. I’ve seen reports that global ad revenue is expected to grow by nearly 8% this year, which is up quite a bit from the 5% that was predicted in December, and U.S. ad revenue is expected to grow by nearly 6%, all of which are very encouraging.
But here at Celarity, we’re hearing from our marketing agency clients that there have been big changes to how they work this past year or so. Things like clients wanting to move from retained to more project-based work or more clients bringing creative projects in-house.
Q: What are you both seeing and experiencing, and how do you pitch the value of your ecosystem to clients?
Aaron: Ten years ago, in social media, the question we were trying to answer was: Why social media? Why should you be on Instagram? Why should you use Twitter for more than just customer service? Now, clients are much more interested in best-in-class, innovative, and new social approaches. That has shifted our pitch from social as a concept to social as a journey.
What hasn’t changed is the desire for virality. There’s no exact science to that, obviously, but I’ve had the privilege of working on viral campaigns, and that certainly makes the work much more fun.
Aiyanna: As an all-inclusive television agency, we work on national and local linear television, streaming, and connected television advertising. Our clients also need to be successful beyond media and need a holistic marketing strategy partner. We realized that bundling strategy services, creative services, and analytics into our work saves our clients the time, effort, and energy of sourcing all of those partners themselves.
Other Trends & Challenges for Marketing Agencies
Jamie: Now, I want to zoom out a little and talk about bigger trends and challenges for agencies. When it comes to traditional media, you’ve got the streaming wars and seemingly endless options there. On the digital front, there’s the move from third-party cookies to first-party cookies. On social media, Reddit has moved into the paid social space, and there’s a potential TikTok ban. Lots going on!
Q: What industry trends are you both watching closely, and what industry challenges take up the most real estate in your day-to-day?
Aiyanna: Being on the marketing side of the agency and focusing on new client business, I’m very aware of how the buying cycle is changing for B2B right now. Leaders are making up their minds about who they want to work with far sooner in the buying process than in years past. That has put much more of a focus on brand awareness, which hasn’t always been a top priority for small to midsize agencies.
Aaron: One thing my team has talked about in the last couple of weeks is how TikTok is trying to test long-form video content up to 60 minutes in length. What might the implications be for creativity, and what would a creative strategy for that look like? It’s really cool to be able to see a platform evolve and grow in real-time, and adapting alongside it is truly the fun part.
Implications of AI for Marketing Agencies
Jamie: Let’s move to the very buzzy topic of AI. I continue seeing headlines about all of the ways that AI will cannibalize at least some chunk of roles and jobs in the marketing and creative space. Which is scary, right? As a marketer myself, I find those headlines eerie. But then I pull back, and I think about my actual experience and what that can tell me.
As someone who works with many marketing leaders, I just do not see a rush to replace marketers with AI. It’s possible that some of these companies aren’t hiring entry-level positions or immediately backfilling vacated positions on teams because of AI. But I keep thinking, two-plus years into the dawn of generative AI, that the promised impact just doesn’t seem realized.
Q: As leaders in the marketing agency world and marketers yourself, what has your experience with AI been? Is it something you’re using, that your company is investing in, that you’re making hiring decisions around?
Aaron: As a social media-first company, we are always thinking about the future. Our purpose is to create brighter futures, and we certainly envision a future with AI.
To us, that means we run towards it and find ways to incorporate it into our practice. We encouraged our team very early on to incorporate it into their toolset. Use it to diversify your perspective if you’re trying to understand a new target audience. Or use it to act as a certain kind of consumer and see what insights you can gain from it.
I’m also excited by the potential to build proprietary tools down the line, both on behalf of our clients and our agency.
Aiyanna: At Marketing Architects, one of our values is Technology First, so we are definitely leaning into AI. Our focus is on learning the tools and ensuring our team’s comfort level and familiarity. AI isn’t something we can ignore, so how can we leverage it to take on more of the mundane work and let our creative team focus on what they do best: be creative!
Getting Involved in the Marketing Agency World
Q: What are ways you both have been able to plug into the agency scene a bit more, locally or nationally?
Aiyanna: LinkedIn is incredibly important and, honestly, something I’ve underutilized. I’ve really put a personal focus on networking with peers and learning from content creators on the platform, and I highly recommend being active there.
Also, as someone based in Minneapolis, I know that the Twin Cities has many great, smaller workshops and event series that are incredible for networking with peers in the agency space. A big shoutout to the Social Media Breakfast series – I try to make it to as many of those events as I can.
Aaron: I second Social Media Breakfast. I have also found a great community with The BrandLab, whose mission is to change the face and voice of the marketing industry. I really value the learning opportunities that I get from their events.
I have also found that many tools and platforms are creating programming for themselves, whether it be panels or meetups. It’s always a nice way to meet people who are like-minded and use similar tools.
Lastly, with a heavy social bias, creator influencer meetups are wonderful. Things like store grand openings are great places to meet and engage with people in that community. You’ll be surrounded by movers and shakers, people who get energy from other people, which is a great way to make connections.
Final Thoughts
Aiyanna: The only other thing I’d mention that’s at the top of my mind right now is marketing strategies for agencies itself. It’s becoming more and more apparent how important that is and how marketing agencies can’t ignore that work. It’s really hard to trust an agency to do your marketing if their own marketing looks terrible.
Aaron: The last thing I’ll touch on, especially for those looking for their next opportunity, is the topic of selling yourself. I know personal branding can feel like a bit of a ick, but I try to think about it through the lens of what comes naturally to me, what gives me energy on a low-energy day. Ultimately, what you’re trying to find is how you will consistently and authentically show up for others and yourself in a work environment. And so that’s where I’d start.
*This Q&A has been edited for clarity and length.
30+ Years of Helping Marketing Agencies Thrive
With more than 30 years of experience helping leaders navigate the complexities of midsize marketing and digital agencies, Celarity understands the unique challenges you face in balancing growth and managing talent.
If you ever feel the pressure to find and retain top talent or manage your freelance bench, remember that Celarity is here to help. Our CreativResourcing team can handle the heavy lifting, giving you access to top full-time and freelance talent quickly and efficiently. This allows you to focus on what truly matters – driving creativity, innovation, and strategic execution within your agency.
