Agencies Know They’re Different. Prospects Can’t Tell. | Agency Core 2026

About this session

Agencies know they’re different. Prospects can’t always tell.

In this Agency Core webinar (recorded October 19, 2026), Susan Baier (Audience Audit) and Brian Gerstner (White Label IQ) share findings from Agency Core 2026, a study of 434 agency leaders, paired with The Agency Edge 2026, a study of 400 marketing decision-makers who hire agencies. Agency positioning expert Tom Martin (Converse Digital) joins the discussion.

What the data shows:
• 48% of agency leaders say their agency has a unique positioning or niche, but only 35% say their marketing clearly communicates it.
• 83% of clients say their own organization needs marketing that strongly differentiates it from competitors.
• Clients are more likely to believe an agency’s niche expertise when the agency shares original research or is named as an expert by people they trust (74% each) than when it relies on its own claims (53%).
• “Confident Differentiators” struggle far less with pipeline, fee pressure, and retention than “AI-Opportunity Embracers” or “Pressured & Uncertain” agencies.

We also cover why AI has become table stakes rather than a differentiator, why clients say they’d replace an agency that fails to challenge their thinking, what “helpful before the sale” looks like in practice, and why gated content is invisible to AI search.