This blog was originally published on February 24, 2023 and was updated on July 7, 2026.
So, You Decided to Hire a Marketing Agency
Maybe it’s your first time, or it’s been a while.
We’re digging into what you need to know as you begin to embark on this new dynamic:
- What's the value of working with an agency in 2026, when you can do more in-house thanks to AI?
- Is it the right move for you?
- What are the common challenges and changes to expect when you’re moving from in-house or no marketing at all, to working with an agency?
- How do agencies use AI, and what does that mean for your data?
This guide aims to take the guesswork out of creating a strong and healthy partnership from the moment that contracts are signed, sealed, and delivered.
But First: Why Work with an Agency in 2026?
With AI democratizing access to marketing tools and insights, you might wonder if agencies still provide value. Aren't agencies themselves using AI to make their jobs easier?
The answer is that the best agencies have evolved into intelligence partners who provide judgment at scale, helping you:
-
Filter signal from noise
-
Access cross-industry patterns your in-house team can't see
- Stay ahead of technological change without the procurement headaches
This post will help you understand what that partnership looks like in practice.
What to Expect and How to Support Your Agency
Start by Getting to Know Each Other
Working with an agency is like any other relationship, you start by getting to know each other:
- How to communicate
- Working styles
- What success looks like
- How to achieve success together
It boils down to establishing a partnership grounded in candor so both parties are continuously improving on how you can achieve your shared goals.
Open Lines of Feedback
This is a mutual partnership that should be grounded in transparency and trust so we’re empowered to do our best work together.
Don’t be shy to share feedback on things that can improve. Your agency wants to hear it.
Many agencies will have a feedback system set up, like a quarterly survey. Take the few minutes to complete it so agencies can pivot based on what’s not working and double down on what is.
[TIP] Do you find yourself recreating presentations or reports delivered by your agency? TELL THEM!
Agencies can better adapt to the way you need to circulate these items. We are getting paid to make your job easier, we just need the knowledge from you to do it.
Agencies Want to Connect with Sr. Decision Makers
Get your agency exposure and buy-in from Sr. Decision Makers and other stakeholders in the organization.
We want to ensure that the work we’re doing is fully aligned to expectations up the chain, which could mean delivering different types of reports and pacing to multiple KPIs.
If your agency wants to get in contact with your boss or another leader in the organization, it’s extremely helpful to open those doors so the agency can understand what success looks like at all levels and ultimately help YOU be more successful in your role.
Agencies Want to Show You ROI
We’re not just trying to toot our horns. We want to communicate value to you in the way your company cares about and understand if the work we’re doing is impactful to your bottom line.
The payoff of aligning on value-based metrics (e.g. 1 lead = $X) will literally and figuratively pay dividends throughout the course of the partnership and can make the case for annual marketing budgets so much easier.
I suggest making this a priority at the start of the engagement so we're speaking the same language. This loops back to ensuring your agency has buy-in and aligned expectations up and down the chain of your company.
Expect a Conversation About AI, Soon
If you haven't already, you'll likely have a substantive conversation about AI during onboarding. The conversation should cover topics like:
-
How the agency uses AI
-
What data goes where
-
What that means for your business
Forward-thinking agencies require clients to review and opt into a clear AI policy that outlines how your non-public data may be used within a closed, secure environment to build strategies and generate deeper insights.
Importantly, responsible agencies are not training AI models on client data, but using it to surface better thinking and move faster on your behalf.
Some clients (especially those in heavily regulated industries) may have legal or compliance constraints that affect what they can opt into, and that's completely fine. The conversation itself is the point: it ensures everyone is aligned on what's possible and what the guardrails are.
[TIP] Don't be afraid to ask your agency to walk you through their AI policy in plain language.
What data can go into which tools? How is it stored? Who has access? A good agency will have clear answers.
Be Transparent About Your Company’s Ability to Implement Work
This is a big one.
Especially for client/agency partnerships where your in-house team needs to continuously approve work or sequester development or content writing resources to get things live.
We’ve seen a lot of projects get stuck (read: not able to hit goals) because of an insurmountable backlog. If we understand the pace at which a company is able to fulfill their responsibilities, the entire scope and project can be structured accordingly.
One of our long-standing client partners shed some light on this topic:
“Setting expectations about pace and cadence is always a challenge. Agencies want to produce and publish work quickly to demonstrate value, and that speed isn’t always possible on the client side. On the other hand, no client wants their agency partners sitting around waiting on them to publish things. It can be a tough balance to strike, and I think we continue to improve on it even now after years of working together.”
Introduce Your Agency Partners
You should open the door for agencies to commingle (especially if they'll be collaborating on projects). The benefits of this are:
- Less work for you as the middle-person
- Opportunity to share/uncover insights to make each others’ work more beneficial
- Getting a full picture of all marketing efforts
[TIP] Schedule at least one annual planning meeting with all parties.
Ensure everyone is briefed in the same way and can find meaningful collaboration points.
[BONUS TIP] Need to develop a marketing plan?
Ask your agencies to do the heavy lifting!
Benefits of Working with an Agency
Access to a Team of Experts at Your Fingertips
When you partner with an agency, you'll have a small group of folks working on your business; but you also gain access to the knowledge of the agency as a whole.
Collectively, we’ve worked with hundreds, if not thousands, of clients who have probably experienced similar business challenges. Those learnings are constantly discussed and applied to your business in ways that an internal team simply can't replicate.
When you're looking at problems from the inside, you're working from a narrow vantage point. An agency gives you the benefit of hundreds of client touch points and a team with diverse industry experience. And with AI tools, it's easier than ever to apply those cross-client insights in more automated, systematic ways.
[TIP] Great ideas don't always scale to all clients.
This a secret of every growing digital marketing agency, including Seer.
Look for an agency that works to solve that problem.
Continuity You Can Count On, Even When Teams Change
One of the less-talked-about benefits of an agency relationship is what happens when people change. Transitions (on the agency side or yours) used to mean significant ramp-up time and lost institutional knowledge. That's changing.
Agencies investing in the right infrastructure now maintain a living repository of everything relevant to your account:
-
Brand materials
-
Call transcripts
-
Written communications
- Strategic context
When a team member transitions, that knowledge doesn't walk out the door with them. It's consolidated and accessible, so new folks can get up to speed faster and your momentum doesn't stall.
Think of this as continuity-as-a-service: the investment in an agency relationship includes the systems and people that keep your institutional knowledge intact and evolving over time.
Expand Your Marketing Technology and Access to the Latest Data and Tools
Just like you have a tech stack that enables your marketing operations and data visibility, so do agencies. And these tools and platforms are likely different from yours.
Some agencies have proprietary tools that focus on automation or data-driven insights. They also invest in technology to power their work so you don't have to (think: competitive intelligence platforms, enterprise analytics tools, data aggregators, and more).
But here's what's often overlooked: agencies are also better positioned to stay current. What worked three to five years ago may no longer justify the investment, and agencies can make those calls without the organizational red tape that often slows tool adoption inside larger companies.
For example, agencies are now working with enterprise AI licenses in closed, secure environments to develop custom tools and workflows that directly benefit client work. You get access to that capability without having to procure, manage, or maintain it yourself.
[TIP] Ask your agency about their current tool stack, and how it's evolved recently.
An agency that's actively iterating is one that's staying ahead on your behalf.
Proprietary AI and Institutional Knowledge at Scale
Modern agencies now deploy proprietary AI systems that create continuity you can't achieve with your in-house team. These systems provide a multitude of benefits, including:
-
Ingesting your brand materials, call transcripts, communications, and strategy documents into a living repository
-
Allowing new team members to get up to speed faster (complete project history is accessible and analyzable)
-
Identifying patterns and solutions across client accounts
What this means for you: You'll be asked to opt into an AI governance policy during onboarding. This is now standard practice and enables a higher level of service.
Important note on AI governance: Not every organization can participate in AI-enabled services due to legal, compliance, or data privacy requirements. A good agency will be transparent about this upfront and offer alternative approaches for clients who need to opt out. If your organization has specific data handling requirements, discuss them during the onboarding process. Agencies would rather design the right approach from the start than retrofit solutions later.
Faster Channel Activation and Results
The agency investments in marketing technology and proprietary tools help increase the speed to reaching your performance goals.
Unless you have an expansive in-house team with a dedicated focus, there is an inherent opportunity cost to not working with an agency when considering the time it takes to bring something to market.
Consider this when validating the investment in an agency: are you leaving leads on the table because you can’t activate fast enough? What if an agency can start to move the needle in half the time?
[TIP] Do a landscape analysis of your team’s capabilities and bandwidth.
Are there gaps that, if filled, could get you closer to achieving your goals or answering a lingering business question?
What value do you place on that?
Agencies should be an extension of your team and are primed to help you fill gaps, whether long term or short term.
Amplify Your Team’s Expertise and Acumen
Working with an agency who specializes in a subject matter can improve the overarching expertise and marketing acumen of your team.
Many agencies offer in-house training sessions for your teams (think: SEO 101, GA4 Training, GEO training, AI literacy workshops, and more).
But outside of formal training, your agency should be constantly teaching you something new with their pulse on managed marketing channels, the methodologies behind strategy development, and how industry changes impact your business.
What About AI? Will It Replace Agencies?
At this point you might be wondering why you need an agency at all, if AI is handling so much work.
The answer is that AI amplifies agency value rather than replacing it. Judgment at scale is the new differentiator.
Yes, agencies use AI to handle time-consuming analysis, audits, and reports. But the real value lies in knowing what's worth paying attention to amid constant technological change.
When every vendor is promoting "game-changing" AI features, agencies help you distinguish noise from legitimate opportunities.
An agency working across many clients can:
-
Test emerging opportunities in real conditions (like advertising within AI-driven platforms, for example)
-
Observe what actually drives ROI
-
Give you a clear-eyed assessment of what's worth investing in versus what to watch and wait on
Challenges of Working with an Agency (and How to Mitigate Them)
Knowledge Transfer at the Start of the Project
Be prepared to answer a ton of questions and over-communicate to ensure your new agency is set up for success.
It might take time at the start but the payoff will be invaluable as your agency becomes and extension of your team.
Do you have customer personas, marketing plans, brand trackers? Send them all, even if they don’t feel relevant to the project at face value.
[TIP] Have internal trainings for new hires at your company?
Your agency might find value in them as well.
Team Changes
Agencies are fast-paced, which means that people grow quickly and sometimes explore other roles. The point of contact you're working with when you start the project could be different several months down the road.
Be open to new team members and perspectives. Fresh eyes on problems can often unlock solutions. And know that strong agencies have more robust processes in place to manage these transitions. A well-built knowledge infrastructure means a new team member is walking into the project with context.
[TIP] Don’t be afraid to share feedback or suggestions during these transition periods so the agency understands what type of talent to staff on your project.
Technology Adoption
You will likely need to learn or adapt to new technologies surrounding communication, file delivery, and project management.
Ask your agency for training when needed. Similarly, don’t be afraid to ask your agency to adapt to technologies you use if that will create more efficiencies. A good agency's project management team exists to help make work streams work for both parties, including integrating with a client’s system rather than defaulting to their own.
The Fine Print: What Might Surprise You?
You Will Likely Not Have a Dedicated Team
Depending on the contract size and structure of your partnership, your team members will likely be doing similar work for a handful of client partners.
This doesn’t mean you’re not important; it means you benefit from people who are constantly cycling learnings across accounts and industries.
Your Agency Will Try to Sell You on Something, But It’s with Purpose
Your agency shouldn’t be selling you on new services for the sake of increasing contract size. They should be trying to help you achieve your goals and solve your business challenges.
If you don’t understand the value of something you’re being sold, ask directly. If your agency doesn’t have a good answer, they’re doing it wrong.
You Will Make (Most) Team Members Nervous at Some Point
One of our biggest goals is to build personal relationships with clients that enhance our professional relationships.
If team members are asking about your pets or weekend, it’s not just for small talk, it’s helping us understand you as a human beyond someone who pays us for a service. Knowing one another on a personal level mitigates the anxiety that can come with having a difficult conversation.
Making the Most Out of Your Agency Relationship
I'll leave you with some thoughts from another client partner of ours who said it well:
“A successful agency relationship feels like the agency is a true partner. They don’t just work on a project and that’s it, but they are able to look at everything holistically. I can bounce thoughts and ideas off them, very open & clear communication, feels like we are in this together. And the agency has my back and isn’t just focused on short-term success but long term partnership.”
Our goal at Seer is to do exactly that: create a true partnership.
We want to do our best to work together to create that magic, but it doesn’t come without speed bumps. As long as both parties assume positive intent, those “tough” conversations become easy, and before you know it we're celebrating years of success together.
Want more posts like this? Subscribe to the Seer Newsletter:
.png)