The Mood Has a New Address.
Agency Core Survey
2025
778 agency leaders.
One word came back more than any other: Uncertain.
Agency Core Survey
2026
579 agency leaders. 400 of their clients.
One finding nobody saw coming.
The Fog Lifted. Nothing Else Did.
For the first time in three years, agency leaders can see what to do. Most still aren’t doing it.
The path is visible.
Most agencies aren’t walking it.
This report is about why.
We Asked Why.
They didn’t blame the market.
We only focus on marketing when it's too late.
Putting out fires every single day.
Time.
Straight up.
We're tired.
We know exactly what we should do. We just can't make ourselves do it.
Different cities. Different sizes. Different segments. Same words.
Three Tribes. One Is Yours.
Confident Differentiators
35Committed. Niche-focused. Executing.
Not the biggest agencies. Not the oldest. The most committed. That commitment is the entire difference.
AI-Opportunity Embracers
33Future-focused. Foundation-light. Running fast.
The most energized about the future. The worst pipeline in the study. The paradox the rest of the industry hasn’t named yet.
Pressured & Uncertain
32Aware. Overwhelmed. Paralyzed.
They see every shift in the market. They cannot bring themselves to act on one. The most diagnosed segment in the study.
Free. Ungated. No email required.
We Asked Your Clients Too.
400 of them. They told us what would make them stay. And what would make them go.
say their agency makes them more likely to succeed.
plan to reduce that agency relationship in the next 12 months.
want a discount when AI gets involved. The rest want better thinking.
Clients aren't replacing agencies with AI. They're replacing the agencies that act like AI could.
Made Possible by the
Community
Agency Core exists because dozens of consultancies, platforms, peer groups, and educators distributed the survey, championed the mission, and brought thoughtful agency leaders into the fold. No selling. No strings. Just research that helps agencies rise, together.
We Can’t Make Your Agency Better.
Only You Can.
We can show you which agencies are getting better, what they’re doing differently, and which group yours actually belongs to. That’s not advice. That’s a mirror. Use it however you want.
The path is clear. The data is here. Now walk it.
Truth Shared.
Not Sold.
Agency Core exists to make accurate, independent insight available to the entire agency community.
The 2026 study continues this commitment to provides an unbiased look at how agencies are operating, deciding, and evolving.