Vol 3: Why Agencies Will Thrive in 2025

This Week:

📌 Next-gen agencies will thrive in 2025.
📌 SEO is dead. (eye roll 🙄)
📌 The AI wars heat up.
📌 Charles Darwin riffs on AI.

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FEATURE
Why agencies will thrive in 2025.

Remember when social media was supposed to kill traditional marketing? When marketing automation would make agencies obsolete? When websites like Wix would put web designers out of business?

Instead, these technological shifts created entirely new categories of agencies that thrived by mastering emerging tools and teaching others to leverage them. Smart businesses didn't try to navigate these changes alone – they partnered with agencies that were ahead of the curve.

The tidal wave of AI bearing down on us may be bigger than all of the above, but we’ve been here before.

The truth is, not every agency will make it through this transition. But those that embrace change and evolve into next-generation agencies will find themselves more valuable than ever. Future-forward thinkers are already reimagining what an agency can be in the AI era, and the results are compelling.

1. The New Digital Sherpas

In the same way businesses once needed guides to navigate the wild west of digital marketing, they now need experts to traverse the AI frontier. The most successful agencies will transform into AI orchestration partners, helping clients:

- Identify AI use cases that will deliver tangible value
- Select and integrate the right AI tools (among thousands)
- Train AI models on their brand narrative, positioning & voice
- Build game-changing agents and AI-powered workflows

2. The Human Element Becomes More Valuable, Not Less

As AI commoditizes execution, human intelligence still plays a crucial role:

- Strategic thinking and brand storytelling
- Understanding buyer psychology
- Building trust through authentic connections
- Making nuanced judgment calls that AI can't

Agencies that double down on these uniquely human capabilities while wielding AI as a force multiplier will be invaluable. For businesses, this means access to both cutting-edge AI tech and seasoned human expertise.

3. The Great Business Model Evolution

Smart agencies are already pivoting from selling hours to selling outcomes. The new agency model will be:

- Lean teams augmented by AI, resulting in better value for clients
- Value-based pricing tied to results
- Recurring revenue from AI-powered marketing operations
- High-margin strategic consulting that drives real business growth

For Agencies:

1. Start deep diving into AI tools now. Don't wait for perfection.

2. Identify which services can be enhanced (not replaced) by AI.

3. Shift your pricing model from hourly billing to value-based.

4. Invest in training your team to become AI-first strategists.

5. Document your wins and failures with AI to build valuable IP.

For Businesses:

1. Evaluate your current agency partners' AI readiness.

2. Look for agencies with AI expertise and proven strategic thinking.

3. Align your organization on a clear AI road map.

4. Document SOPs to establish a clear foundation for AI integration.

5. Start small with specific AI use cases to measure impact.

The marketing agencies that thrive won't be the ones fighting against AI – they'll be the ones that harness it to deliver unprecedented value to their clients.

And the businesses that win won't be the ones trying to figure out AI alone – they'll be the ones who partner with next-gen agencies to stay miles ahead of the curve.

AI isn't a comet hurtling toward Earth, threatening extinction. It's more like the dawn of a new era.

Like any dawn, those who rise early will have the advantage.

5 RESOURCES
Listen. Learn. Level up.

Think SEO is dying too? Time for a data-driven reality check. Based on the latest numbers from September 2024, Google processes approximately 8,323,333,333 searches per day. This translates to about 96,335 searches per second or 5,780,093 searches per minute. 

Want to reach customers where they actually are? 

Sharpen your SEO pencil with these essential resources:

📬 NEWSLETTER
SEO for the Rest of Us 
Finally, SEO advice that doesn't require a computer science degree to understand. Brendan Hufford breaks down complex strategies into actually usable tips for mere marketing mortals.

🎧 PODCAST 
Search Engine Journal Show 
For when you need to sound smart about algorithm updates in your next marketing meeting. Weekly episodes that decode SEO without putting you to sleep.

📖 BOOK
"The Art of SEO" 
The SEO bible that's worth its weight in backlinks. Skip the sketchy "SEO secrets" and get real strategies from people who actually know what they're talking about.

📺 YOUTUBE
 Ahrefs 
Watch how the pros do SEO while avoiding those "TOP 10 SECRET HACKS" clickbait videos. Practical tutorials from the team whose software you probably already pay for.

✍️ BLOG
Search Engine Land 
When you need to know what Google's up to before your competitors do. The B2B marketer's go-to source for SEO news minus the speculation and drama.

HEADLINES
In case you missed it.

News we’re following this week:

The AI Wars: Tech's Biggest Players Square Off ↗ 
Big tech is all-in on AI, launching their own internal labs, investing in others, poaching talent from competitors – and the drama in this high-stakes chess match is just beginning.

Google's Gemini 2.0: The Swiss Army Knife of AI ↗
Google's newest release handles everything from chat to image creation. Will it be enough to take the lead in the AI arms race?

OpenAI's 12 Days of Ship-mas: This Week’s Flurry of Releases ↗ 
Just shy of the 2nd anniversary of ChatGPT’s explosive launch in 2022, OpenAI dominates headlines with non-stop announcements of new products, features, and demos.

Gen AI: Corporate America's Favorite "It's Complicated" Relationship ↗ 
Looks like the C-suite is playing the field with generative AI. While 30% are testing the waters, only 6% have put a ring on it by fully integrating AI into core operations. Talk about commitment issues.

Amazon Crashes the AI Party with Six New Models ↗
Not content watching from the sidelines, Amazon brings a whole AI entourage to the dance. Alexa's getting some seriously upgraded company.

QUOTE
Your weekly inspiration.

“It's not the strongest that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change.”

- Charles Darwin

Chuck wasn't thinking about AI when he wrote this, but he might as well have been. The next few years aren't about being the biggest, the smartest, or even the most tech-savvy. They're about being nimble enough to evolve when change comes knocking.

Ironically, it’s the mindset that will fuel the biggest, smartest, most successful brands (and individuals) of tomorrow.

That’s all for this week. If you found this valuable, please share with a friend or colleague! We’re already hard at work on the next issue. Until then…

Cheers,

Carter & The Brand Theory Team

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on marketing…

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