Forget Big Agencies: The Future Belongs to Micro Agencies

As a micro agency owner, it can feel like you’re out here making things up as you go. There’s no micro agency manual, and when you look at big, traditional agencies, you realize those rules just don’t apply.

We don’t have the luxury of bloated budgets or departments; we wear multiple hats and wonder, “Is there a better way?”

Are you ready to throw away the traditional agency rulebook and figure out how to build an agency that won’t grind you into the ground?

Listen to this episode now:

Today, we’re discussing a topic that every micro agency owner needs to hear: why the traditional agency model is broken and why micro agencies are the future. 

If you’ve ever felt like typical agency growth tactics are wrong for you and your team, stick around. I’ll unpack why the “big” agency approach is outdated and explore what it really means to embrace the micro agency model.

Micro Agencies Are Different

There’s a common misconception that the traditional agency model is the gold standard. When considering how to grow my business, I was very stuck on the fact that I didn’t want the kind of agency I’d previously worked with.

I’m not slagging those agencies, but from my experiences, I didn’t want the hustle, complexity, and stress of building something big from the ground up. I knew what that would take, and I didn’t like that for my business or life.

I left my agency job because I wanted flexibility, and there was no way in hell I was giving that up. I realized that the traditional agency model isn’t the only way, and there was room for something different in the market.

Fact: Micro agencies represent the best of both worlds—offering the best of agency life combined with the flexibility and freedom of a lifestyle business.

Fiction: The traditional agency model is the only way. 

While traditional agencies have been the cornerstone of the marketing and advertising world for decades, they are built on the idea that bigger is better—big teams, big budgets, and big clients.

But the truth is, the traditional agency model has a whole set of issues that are often overlooked. To grow that type of business, you need to be willing to take on the risk of high overhead costs, especially when building a team.

And that’s just the start. The layers of hierarchy in a bigger agency can result in severe inefficiency and bloated client budgets.

Take, for example, a typical agency account team. At the minimum, you’ll have a coordinator, a manager, and a senior lead—three layers at the minimum. The client is paying for the more junior team members to learn how to do their jobs so that the firm can promote them and increase their hourly rate.

This is the unspoken part of agency structures that we rarely talk about. The client’s budget is used to train people, and there are so many extra layers of inefficiency.

When I figured out how things worked, I recognized that maybe agency life wasn’t for me long-term. Every time I got a promotion, I’d get a raise, but my hourly billing rate, responsibilities, and stress level would increase.

While all of this is normal, it has real ramifications. Employees can feel like cogs in the machine, under pressure to work long hours and deliver on tight deadlines. Meanwhile, clients can feel like numbers on the balance sheet.

The question is, does it need to be this way? Or is there a more straightforward and streamlined way for clients to get the required services?

Enter the micro agency.

Defining the Micro Agency: Beyond the Numbers

A micro agency is a service business operating with a small team of employees or contractors. The technical definition of a micro business is less than ten employees, but let’s not get stuck on precise numbers. A big part of the “micro” part of the name is the unique approach they take.

Micro agencies are more than just smaller versions of traditional agencies with fewer resources. They’re a distinct model that operates differently. They’re lean and agile and can offer a personalized touch.

This model allows agency owners to grow their service business without giving up all the perks of being self-employed. As I said earlier, it combines the best aspects of agency life and lifestyle business. 

A micro agency typically has a small team with less overhead and more flexibility. You can pivot quickly in response to market changes or client needs, and it doesn’t have to deal with the layers of inefficiency and hierarchy found in bigger agencies.

One of the most significant advantages of a micro agency is the ability to build genuine relationships with clients. You’re not just another vendor; you’re a trusted partner. You get to know your clients deeper, understand their needs and challenges, and tailor your services accordingly.

Small Teams, Big Impact: The Growing Appeal of Micro Agencies

Looking ahead, I see a future where micro agencies aren’t just an alternative to traditional agencies—they’re the preferred choice.

Businesses are tired of the big agency song and dance. They want partners who understand their needs, can move quickly, and deliver real results.

And that’s exactly what micro agencies offer.

In a cost-conscious market, micro agencies can price competitively because layers of bureaucracy and inefficiency burden them.

The annual Gartner 2024 CMO Spend Survey found that budgets were down by 15%, with spending dropping across MarTech, labor and agencies. Analysis of the survey results indicates that CMOs are in an “era of less.”

Plus, the rise of remote work and digital communication has leveled the playing field, enabling micro agencies to compete with much larger competitors on a global scale. The market is shifting away from the one-size-fits-all approach, with businesses increasingly seeking specialized expertise that aligns with their needs and values.

Micro agencies, with their focused teams and niche capabilities, are perfectly positioned to meet this demand. By offering a more intimate and customized client experience, they are redefining what it means to be an agency.

As a micro agency owner, you can redefine what success looks like and recognize that bigger isn’t better. The traditional agency playbook is NOT how you’ll thrive in 2024 and beyond.

If you’re not convinced, over the last two years, I’ve seen many micro agency owners I work with land big-name clients with big budgets. They’re often beating out much more established players, which indicates that micro agencies can, and will win.

Your agency’s growth doesn’t have to be about scaling at all costs or chasing vanity metrics. Instead, you have the opportunity to build a sustainable business that aligns with your values and provides a fulfilling work environment for you and your team.

The key is to be strategic in your growth, focus on quality over quantity, and stay true to yourself.

But as much as micro agencies are the future, let’s be honest: running a micro agency isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, which is why I created this podcast!

Scaling Sucks: Why Slow and Steady Wins the Race

One of the biggest challenges with building a micro agency is managing growth so you don’t drive yourself or your team into the ground.

While the “scale sharks”, aka the bros and babes pushing the “it’s so easy” message, treat scale as the goal for every agency it’s much more complicated.

This shit is HARD.

You start building a team as you have more client work than you can handle, but after a while, you realize you can’t just keep throwing more people at the problem.

It’s a far cry from the easy-button solutions that sell us a proven system to scale our agency and replace ourselves so we can spend our days at the beach.

You have to be strategic about how you grow, this often means making tough decisions about which services to offer and which clients to take on. Sometimes, you need to be willing to grow slowly to grow stronger instead of rushing to scale and ending up creating something you hate.

When I started my agency in 2016, we offered a wide range of services, meaning we needed a team to deliver on them. The more specialties we had, the more complex our projects became and the more resources we needed.

I constantly wondered if it was worth it. What was the point if we always had to add resources to handle a new client? This ultimately led to a series of decisions to streamline our services and stop trying to be everything to everyone. (We’ll definitely talk about this more in a future episode.)

One of the most compelling reasons to have a micro agency is your ability to do less better. Yes, you may have to wear more than one hat as the agency owner, but you’re not building something so big that you’re constantly stuck in a cycle of adding team members and new clients.

You can create breathing room, especially once you learn how to TRUST your team and delegate tasks and projects.

I know many of you are still used to doing everything yourself and have difficulty letting go. Or you’ve tried and are wondering why on earth you’re still holding every last thing in your brain and responsible for EVERYTHING. (Good news: I’m talking about that and our next episode.)

Throwing the Traditional Agency Playbook Out the Window: Embracing the Micro Agency Advantage

As we wrap up this episode, I hope you’re inspired to rethink the traditional agency playbook and embrace the unique advantages of running a micro agency.

It’s not about playing small; it’s about playing smart. Micro agencies’ flexibility, agility, and deep client relationships are valuable assets in today’s market. So, don’t feel pressured to scale at all costs—sometimes, the best growth is slow and steady.

Thanks for tuning in to Confessions of a Micro Agency Owner. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your friends. It helps new listeners find us and grow our community.