Marketing agencies are a key part of the local advertising and commerce ecosystem. But how are they evolving and what’s the state of the union today. CallRail’s Rob Wade delivers insights straight from the source: a recent first-party agency survey.

Key Takeaways

Here are a few key messages or insights that we gleaned from this session.

• Last year was a banner year for marketing agencies. 83 percent met their client growth goals.
• 83 percent were satisfied with their market position, and 89 percent predict strong growth for the foreseeable future. The latter is admittedly an aspirational measure (from a traditionally optimistic lot), but notable.
• Headcount grew by 55 percent, which is notable given the great resignation. They accomplished this by recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding remotely (a job that can be done remotely).
• Given the great resignation, retention is a big priority, including education and training programs.
• Equally important is client retention. Numbers are strong but retention is getting harder with 53 percent believing it will be more challenging in 2022.
• It’s harder and harder to find new clients, so retaining existing clients gets an additional point of emphasis (insert old adage about the cost to retain a customer versus acquiring new ones).
• Speaking of which 82 percent of agencies see client acquisition as their biggest challenge.
• The top acquisition channels is social media events and referrals.
• The top agency services have shifted in 2021. Social media marketing took the top spot from paid search (previously the 5th most popular service).
• Moving forward, agencies predict that they will spend less time in meetings, offer more specialized/differentiated services like call tracking, spend less time on reporting using automation, manage client relationships differently, and more comprehensive services to retain clients.

2022 Outlook for Marketing Agencies

2021 was a rollercoaster for many businesses, including marketing agencies. To better understand how marketing agencies are adapting to business challenges and what they anticipate facing in 2022, CallRail conducted a survey of almost 600 U.S.-based marketing professionals. In this session we will discuss key report findings, new challenges, and why agencies should adopt the latest marketing trends to meet changing client expectations.

Rob Wade, Head of Brand Activation – CallRail