What agency marketing leaders are struggling with in 2025
Earlier this year, I ran a survey to find out the real, everyday challenges being faced by marketing managers, heads and directors in the role.
Honest, raw feedback from people working on the front lines of agency growth.
Completing a short survey, I had responses from over 80 individuals sitting in a variety of roles - different seniorities, experience levels and agency profiles.
The responses, both qual and quant, revealed clear patterns and frustrations that many marketers will instantly recognise.
But more interestingly, it surfaced opportunities: areas where agency teams can adapt, refocus and grow.
Here’s what I found as well as what you can do about it.
Lead generation fatigue
This was the standout challenge across both structured and open-ended responses. And not just “lead gen” in the generic sense - the emotional toll of it too. Nearly half (45% of the people surveyed) said this was their top challenge.
Many described feeling like they’re constantly chasing new business, often with little clarity on who the right audience is, or how to cut through. The pressure to bring in leads is often high, but the support and clarity around targeting or messaging is low.
“We need leads yesterday - but I’m the only marketer here, and the brief is vague at best.”
Agencies have always operated on a model that is reliant on the engine being constantly topped up with fuel but, like most engines, without proper servicing and tuning, it can stall. At worst, blow up.
How to fix it
Whilst bringing in new leads isn’t as simple or as straightforward as it sounds, there are things you can do to make sure you’re doing the best you can.
- Narrow your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) ruthlessly:
Make sure you’re focussing your marketing not only on firmographic profiles (titles, industries etc) but sympathetic to the behavioural aspects - what’s keeping them up at night? How do they buy services like yours? What are they most interested in?
- Audit past wins:
Which clients had fast close cycles and are a great fit? Go back over past successes, see what worked and why and then reverse-engineer that. Tech might change but people and behaviours don’t - so there’ll be common areas that are still highly relevant.
- Enable sales with micro-case studies, not just polished ones:
Focus on real results and feedback, regularly. People buy results and results breed confidence. In b2b, confidence in your ability to deliver is 75% of the battle.
Attribution and proving ROI
The 2nd key highlight was that many marketers feel stuck trying to prove the value of long-term marketing initiatives like SEO, brand and content - 38% mentioned this. Attribution has always been a hotly debated topic in b2b but the absence of a clear tracking process, conversations around ROI often results in defensiveness or defaulting to being overly tactical in order to prove ‘worth’. It’s a difficult cycle, one many marketing managers have shared with me so I’m not surprised to see it as a top challenge.
Some respondents went further and highlighted a mismatch between what stakeholders expect (immediate pipeline) and what marketing can realistically deliver (timeframes / actual quantifiable results..
“The cost of long-term brand-building is under appreciated. When budgets tighten, marketing is the first to go.”
This is an interesting dynamic to manage and usually comes down to the miscommunication between marketers and agency owners as to what ‘marketing’ is actually expected to deliver. One expects a regular supply of immediate, oven ready opportunities whilst the other expects to build brand equity with a defined audience over a longer time period that is somewhat sketchy with how it’s measured. The truth is somewhere in the middle.
How to fix it
- Invest in attribution basics:
Even basic CRM hygiene and campaign tracking can provide clarity. Know what touchpoints are involved in the most successful conversions and build a strategy around those.
- Share success:
Many agency marketing teams don’t share the success. Champion the good things beyond pipeline reporting - customer qual, new content releases, event feedback, work in progress. Marketing shouldn’t be shrouded in a cloak of mystery - make it everyone’s business.
- Set expectations early:
Make sure there’s clear alignment between owners / leadership teams as to what ‘success’ looks like over a short, mid and long term basis. Ensure regular feedback mechanisms are in-place so you’re both managing the other’s expectations. Hopefully, any straying from one or others expectations is picked up early and talked through.
Lack of strategic confidence
Third on the list, interestingly, was that many marketers said they’re only partly confident in their strategy - not fully. Over a 1/3rd of respondents mentioned this. This is often due to either a lack of feedback, low internal alignment or a basic lack of time for strategic thinking (to test, learn and iterate, mainly due to high pressure / busy day to day tactical delivery).
Many respondents are operating in new roles, or building walls whilst yet to set the foundations - sometimes both. This is a combination which never produces the most effective outcome.
“I know the strategy works - but no one internally understands how or why.”
How to fix it
- Ensure your KPIs / OKRs reflect what you’re trying to achieve:
A lot of the time, a lock of confidence in strategy comes down to a mis-match between strategy and how that strategy is measured. If your tracking metrics are not representative of what you’re trying to achieve, you’re not going to have data that helps you understand if things are working or not, this leads to confusion and lack of confidence.
- Simplify things:
Can everyone explain your strategy in one sentence? Is it clear and concise or wrapped up in complexity? The best strategies I’ve seen are always the ones that are simple, not overly complex and understood by everyone without the need for a 52 page slide deck.
- Share early results:
Don’t wait for perfect metrics - marketing takes time to build. Instead, show signals and momentum as proof points and use those to inform decisions. You don’t want to wait 12 months before seeing if the strategy is right - adopt agile thinking into your marketing approach and continuous adaptations and improvements based on regular feedback loops.
Skills gaps and tool limitations
From SEO and CRM tools to short-form writing and lead intelligence - many respondents expressed a desire for more support, training, or bandwidth in their roles. 30% highlighted this as a key issue in their overall development.
This isn’t a knowledge gap, per se, it’s a capacity issue. Most know what needs doing, but don’t have the time or space to learn or implement new systems.
“I want to use HubSpot properly, but I’m already overrun with execution and we don’t have the budget available for proper training.”
It often boils down to budget, especially in smaller agencies where margins are tighter, cashflow is stretched and there’s limited headroom for investment in training and development. A common problem in many agencies, irrespective of what the culture or careers page says and the data reflected this.
How to fix it
- Choose one skill per quarter to develop:
Not ten. One. Go narrow and deep and don’t try to do too much. We know time is tight, we’re under pressure, under-resourced so don’t make things even harder by trying to learn everything all at once.
- Use micro-learning:
If budget is a challenge, there’s always numerous free resources or training guides available. Reading content, watching videos and listening to podcasts can bring a wealth of perspective, insight and learnings and are usually free. A simple post on LinkedIn asking for recommendations for books, videos or guides on a particular topic will usually yield many links.
- Ask for support:
If you’re a solo marketer, look for communities or peer support groups where other individuals in similar positions support each other. Look for a mentor, someone to help guide you. These are usually free and 99% of people will be more than willing to help support someone in their development.
Struggle to stand out
Differentiation was a quiet but critical theme in the data, and whilst a lower percentage in the results (just over a quarter at 28%), it was a common qualitative topic throughout. In an incredibly saturated market, many agencies look and sound the same. Marketers know this - and are hungry to carve out a unique voice, positioning or offer.
But building a distinctive POV is hard, especially when internal content creation is slow or agency leadership is perhaps more risk-averse.
“We do great work, but our brand doesn’t say anything memorable, we’re not really saying anything different and everyone is nervous to do anything different”
Creating a point of difference is one of the most powerful things an agency marketer can do but there’s a distinct nervousness to do it.
How to fix it
- Be bold:
Stop being afraid to be different. Look at what everyone else is saying. Balance that with what you do or think differently to everyone else and build around it. If it feels uncomfortable to be different, you’re probably on the right track. Discomfort comes from difference. Difference is your strategic advantage so get comfortable with it and embrace it.
- Lead by perspective or opinion:
Most agencies fail to differentiate because they’re using the wrong components to try and stand out. Your service offering is never likely to be unique because it’s not defensible or different to anyone else. However, carve out a perspective on your ICP or an opinion on their industry - that’s yours, it can’t be copied and it provides the perfect foundations to build an entire marketing strategy on.
- Involve the leadership team:
Sometimes, more often than not in fact, it’s on us to be more open and collaborative with the wider team. Run proactive strategy and insight sessions, bring ideas, challenge the norms. As marketers, it’s up to us to help bring wider perspectives and narratives. In my experience, approaching it like this usually gets people more excited and makes them more willing to change things up.
Final thoughts: The hidden cost of being “Just one marketer”
A strong consistency in this data? Capacity. Many agency marketers are running solo or with minimal support. They’re expected to be strategists, copywriters, CRM police, analysts, business developers and brand protectors - all at once.
If you’re feeling like you’re barely holding it together, you’re not underperforming. You’re overburdened.
The solution isn’t more hustle and increased anxiety. It’s focus, support and clarity.
Use this data as permission to:
- Push back on unrealistic lead gen asks.
- Simplify your marketing strategy.
- Ask for tools and training that helps you develop
And remember: You’re not alone in it all - but you can be the one to lead the fix in your agency.