I recently attended a Barclays retail event, and one piece of advice stuck with me: don’t wait until it’s too late to ask for help.
Many struggling businesses are salvageable. But rescue requires an honest look at what’s working, what’s not, and what could ultimately threaten the business.
In a recent review of active UK advertising agencies employing 5-100 people, we found that almost 32% had experienced a recent deterioration in their credit scores. That doesn’t mean they’re all in trouble. But it’s a reminder that the agency sector isn’t immune to financial pressure, and if you’re one of them, there’s plenty more in the same predicament.
We were a victim of the Google Smart Shopping launch in 2018, and went from being number one in Googles top 10 independent agencies in the UK, into administration, in what felt like the blink of an eye. I knew nothing of how administration works or how painful and distressing and expensive it is, followed swiftly by covid. What did surprise me was how many successful business owners contacted me to commiserate, citing their own administration journeys that I had no idea about – and wishing me well. 8 years on, we now have a substantial war chest and track our runway in every board pack, even though we’ve not needed that information for years.
Right now, I think some agency owners need to have that conversation.
If your agency is feeling the squeeze, I’d focus on two things above everything else:
- Retaining your anchor clients
- Generating sales
Start with an audit -But not the kind Google gives you
We’ve currently got an Agency account in our MCC that scores beautifully on Google’s dashboard.
The problem? It can’t scale. ROAS is poor, and advertising spend has dropped dramatically because the agency can’t make the numbers work.
A lovely Google optimisation score isn’t much consolation to a business owner whose sales aren’t growing.
The audits I’m talking about answer the questions clients actually care about:
- Could I spend less and generate the same sales?
- Could I generate more sales from my existing budget?
- Why can’t we scale profitably?
- It’s the Golden Quarter. What can you pull out of the hat to make a meaningful difference?
An audit that identifies additional profitable sales is worth considerably more than one that ticks Google’s boxes.
Could AI make your agency more profitable without putting your clients at risk?
Perhaps you’re carrying too much headcount for the return you’re generating. Perhaps your team spends hours on repetitive campaign management that should have been automated years ago.
Or perhaps you’re looking at AI and wondering which of the hundreds of shiny new tools is worth the investment.
I don’t blame you. Giving an autonomous AI agent broad access to advertising accounts, credentials and budgets without proper controls isn’t innovation. It’s an unnecessary risk.
There’s a world of difference between AI that analyses an account and recommends improvements, and AI that’s allowed to make decisions and execute changes. (To be fair you’d be struggling to find something better than Google to optimise for conversions, but there is the black hole of wasted spend that they don’t deal with.)
Both can be useful. But the second needs clearly defined permissions, approval processes, audit trails and the ability to reverse changes.
And before investing in any AI technology, ask yourself:
What work does it actually replace? What measurable benefit will my clients see? Will it improve profitability? And can I scale without continually recruiting more people? Or will it save me from financial jeopardy?
If you can’t answer those questions, you’re probably buying another expense rather than solving a problem.
We've been building AI since 2017
At Dream Agility, we’ve spent years developing AI and automation for paid advertising, with a focus on commercial outcomes, sensible guardrails and keeping humans in control.
We know the difference between technology that looks impressive in a demonstration and technology that delivers value in a live client account. We tested ours on over $500m of spend before we even launched it.
If you’re worried about retaining important clients, struggling to scale accounts, carrying too much operational cost or wondering how to introduce AI safely, let’s talk.
We’ll take a practical look at your agency, its client accounts, where the money is being made or lost, and where technology could make a genuine difference.
Don’t become another agency casualty because you waited too long to act.
Book an Agency Performance & AI Readiness Audit with Dream Agility.
Let’s look at how to make your agency more profitable, more scalable and better equipped to keep the clients you’ve worked so hard to win.
