The Agency Model Is Broken

If you have worked with an agency in the last few years, there is a strong chance at least one of these sounds familiar:

“We are getting leads, but they are not good.”
“We get reports, but nothing feels clear.”
“We still have to tell them what to do.”
“We are spending more, but growth feels flat.”

If you nodded even once, you are not alone.

This frustration shows up across startups, scale ups, and established brands. Different industries. Different budgets. Same pattern.

And here is the uncomfortable part.

Most of the time, it is not a bad ad problem.

It is a broken agency model.

The real issue is not performance. It is alignment.

Traditional agency relationships are built around execution.

Run the ads.
Post the content.
Send the report.
Repeat next month.

What is missing is alignment between business goals, marketing strategy, and execution.

Harvard Business Review has consistently shown that misalignment between strategy and execution is one of the biggest reasons external partnerships underperform. Marketing is no exception.
Source: https://hbr.org/

When agencies are rewarded for activity instead of outcomes, effort increases but results stall.

Busy does not mean effective.

The most common agency pain points we hear

Across hundreds of conversations with founders and marketing leaders, the same frustrations keep coming up.

Lack of visibility into what is actually working
Leads coming in, but poor quality
Agencies reacting instead of leading
Constant account manager changes
Reports full of data, but no insight
Rising spend with flat results
Disconnected efforts across channels
No internal time to manage everything
Creative that feels outdated or generic

When you step back, a pattern becomes obvious.

These are not execution problems.

They are clarity problems.

The industry’s quiet problem

Most agencies sell implementation.

Very few sell understanding.

They focus on platforms, tactics, and tools instead of business models, margins, positioning, and customer intent.

Google’s own advertising documentation emphasizes that performance improves when campaigns are aligned with clear business objectives and conversion signals, not just platform level metrics.
Source: https://support.google.com/g.....oogle-ads/

But many agencies stop at clicks, impressions, and dashboards.

That is why so many businesses switch agencies within their first year. They are not chasing better ads. They are chasing someone who actually understands the business.

What businesses actually need from an agency today

Modern growth requires more than execution.

It requires:

Clear definition of what success looks like
Alignment between marketing and revenue
Shared language around metrics that matter
Strategic thinking before tactical action
Continuous learning and iteration
Ownership, not just output

McKinsey research shows that organizations that align strategy, data, and execution outperform competitors who treat marketing as a standalone function.
Source: https://www.mckinsey.com/

This applies just as much to external partners as internal teams.

What a better agency model looks like

A modern agency partnership starts with clarity, not campaigns.

Before ads are launched.
Before content is created.
Before tools are plugged in.

The focus is on understanding:

Who the business serves
Why customers buy
What differentiates the brand
How revenue is actually generated
What growth should look like long term

Only then does execution make sense.

HubSpot research on marketing performance shows that teams who connect strategy, data, and execution consistently outperform those who rely on isolated tactics.
Source: https://research.hubspot.com/

When alignment leads, performance follows.

This is where most businesses get stuck

Not because they lack effort.
Not because they lack tools.
Not because they lack data.

They lack clarity.

And no amount of ads, SEO, or automation can fix that.

Marketing without clarity is just noise.