Looking ahead to 2025, the agency landscape is evolving fast, with trends like AI, operational shifts, and a focus on workplace culture reshaping the way agencies and consultancies operate. The big question for agency leaders is how to thrive and grow in the face of these changes. 

In our recent Q&A session, Leading Your Agency Into 2025: A Guide for Strategic Planning Through Uncertainty, Parallax’s Head of Customer Success, Grant Hultgren, sat down with Carl Smith, founder of The Bureau, to explore emerging industry trends and how to navigate them.

Table of Contents 

• How will Agencies Adapt & Evolve with Tech Trends?
• Will Specialized Agencies Thrive?
• Will a Human-centric Approach Will be Prioritized Over AI?
• Will Agencies Opt for a More Consultative Approach to Projects?
• How to Get Ahead of the Trends in 2025

How Will Agencies Adapt With Tech Trends?

The notion that “digital agencies are dying” makes headlines year after year, but industry veterans know this claim does not hold much truth. Instead, these orgs are constantly adapting, evolving their craft to embrace new challenges, agency industry trends and technology innovations. 

Like traditional advertising agencies adjusted to the craze of the internet, today’s digital agencies are taking advantage of new tools and advancements within their specialty fields. Tools like AI, automation, and data analytics help enhance their operations while honing in on being the best at and improving on their craft.

Digital agencies aren’t disappearing anytime soon. However, they may be redefining themselves. With every new shift, from emerging technology to changing client expectations, agencies are treating every challenge as a new opportunity for growth. 

Carl says, “When I hear somebody say digital agencies are dying, I think they don’t realize that we’re not dying, we’re evolving. We’re shedding our skins like a snake. We’re going to use all the new tools and big corporations are going to get to a point where they [can’t do it alone] and who are they going to hire? Digital agencies.”

Will Specialized Agencies Thrive?

Specialization is becoming a defining trend in digital agencies as we approach 2025. With growing demand for niche expertise in areas like SEO, digital design, and cybersecurity to name a few, smaller, specialized agencies are distinguishing themselves in a crowded market. 

By focusing on their specific crafts, these agencies offer a unique value proposition with a level of expertise that’s often harder to find in larger, generalist firms. These agencies are also able to adapt more quickly to shifts in the market, and get ahead of emerging trends whereas process changes in larger firms can get more complicated and time consuming. 

Will A Human-centric Approach be Prioritized Over AI?

AI is shaking up the agency industry as of late, offering digital agencies the chance to streamline and support the human insight that clients rely on (but not replace them). Tasks like data analysis and other repetitive tasks can be simplified through AI and automation, saving time and allowing teams to focus on project items that require personalization and context knowledge that AI can’t deliver.

It’s recommended to use AI softwares to compliment tasks and projects rather than rely on it, keeping humans involved in each stage of a project to ensure full alignment with client goals and unique project needs. Doing so ensures that agencies can still utilize the benefits of AI while continuing to build genuine relationships with clients as projects are delivered efficiently and with care.

Will Agencies Opt for a More Consultative Approach to Projects?

Alongside this trend, agencies are shifting towards a consultative, strategic partnership model. At Parallax, we encourage a productized service offering model as a best practice for efficient, scalable operations. However, it’s also important to nurture creativity and adaptability within each client project. This balance offers both predictability in operations, allowing professional service orgs to efficiently forecast and plan ahead while building the foundation for long-term client relationships that thrive on collaboration and shared goals.

Not only does this consultative approach contribute to healthy customer-vendor relationships, but it also gives more opportunity for agency employees to sharpen and build upon their skill sets. As new digital agency trends emerge in 2025, employees are able to explore new avenues to complete a project, nurturing their professional development and allow for exploration of new ways to improve operations. 

How to Get Ahead of the Trends in 2025

Planning for the year to come is hard enough as is – we get it! With new trends arising in software development, agency and consultancy industries, knowing what to prioritize and having an organized plan of attack is crucial to getting ahead in 2025. 

We created a 2025 Strategic Planning Guide for professional service organizations including helpful workbooks and strategies to help lean into the new year with confidence.

Have questions about agency planning for 2025? Send us a note hello@getparallax.com. We’d love to chat!