Recent Posts
Blog•Jan 8, 2026
Where Agency Revenue Is Heading: Fewer Big Retainers, More Mid-Market Retainers, and Longer Engagements
The 2025 State of Digital Agencies survey shows agencies are holding clients longer, with 31% retaining them for over three years and 19% for two to three years. Retainer contracts dominate, rising to 85% of engagements, yet 86% of monthly retainers stay at $10k or less. Larger firms increasingly employ dedicated account managers, enforce timesheets, and set utilization targets of 70‑89%. Headcount is broadly stable, but 40% plan to hire, and freelance usage has grown.
By Rand Fishkin
Social•Jan 7, 2026
Five 2026 Marketing Predictions Shaped by Emerging Trends
NEW: https://sparktoro.com/blog/the-5-big-trends-that-will-dominate-marketing-in-2026/ I made 5 predictions for the marketing world in 2026 based on these 5 big trends we're seeing. Feel free to fight with me in the comments AFTER you've read the piece 😉
By Rand Fishkin
Social•Jan 7, 2026
I Grade My Own Predictions—Read & Challenge Me
Unlike every other prognosticator in your feed, I don't just make industry predictions, I **grade myself** on them. Otherwise, how the @#$% would you know if you could trust me?! Anywhoodle, I made 5 predictions (related to each of the...
By Rand Fishkin
Social•Jan 6, 2026
Social Platforms Are Essential for Sustainable Marketing
The degree to which social platforms dominate discovery and top of funnel can't be overstated. I'd argue that, in many fields, it's unrealistic to think you can build a sustainable marketing practice without social.
By Rand Fishkin
Social•Dec 23, 2025
Accuracy Isn’t Enough: Reliability Drives AI’s Economic Success
This post by Kushal Chakrabarti opened my eyes to why AI adoption has been so slow, and why I've often sided with the naysayers: "Accuracy is hitting the bullseye on average but reliability is hitting the same spot repeatably. You...
By Rand Fishkin
Social•Dec 18, 2025
Zero‑Click Marketing Shows Algorithms, Not Humans, Drive Reach
"If the problem of the future is Zero-Click Marketing, then the solution is just to be human-centric; make great content and a great product." OH MY SWEET SUMMER CHILD, NO. Anyone telling you Zero-Click Marketing is about optimizing for people...
By Rand Fishkin
Social•Dec 12, 2025
Leverage Authentic Mentions for Visibility in ChatGPT
Some great analysis from the AHrefs team deserves more attention -- because it shows you how to spam, er... authentic-mention-build your way to visibility in the zero click marketing platform that is ChatGPT. Respect to Glen Allsopp for this banger...
By Rand Fishkin
Social•Dec 10, 2025
YouTube Searches Double ChatGPT Sessions—Boost Marketing Effort
Just got some new data showing that YouTube gets ~2X more searches than ChatGPT gets prompt sessions, so... Maybe search marketers should put 2X as much energy into that? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (publishing hopefully next week)
By Rand Fishkin
Social•Dec 4, 2025
Zero‑Click Surge Shows Search Impressions Aren’t Conversions
Open up your email. Search "your november search performance for" Compare this year to the last few and you'll see just how obvious the zero click trend is. E.G. our impressions have doubled while clicks fell by more than half....
By Rand Fishkin
Social•Dec 2, 2025
200+ Agency Owners Reveal Industry Health, Growth, Threats
NEW post: https://t.co/fMrZMJxj34 Thanks to the tireless work of @paddymoogan, our survey of 200+ digital agency owners is now live featuring answers to critical questions about the field's health, growth, and threats. https://t.co/O1PWZVpqWV
By Rand Fishkin
Social•Dec 2, 2025
Agency Survey Reveals Benchmarks, AI Perception, Growth Trends
Agency owners, don't miss: https://sparktoro.com/blog/the-2025-state-of-digital-agencies-its-still-rough-out-there-but-slowly-improving-and-is-ai-really-a-threat/ How does your revenue, leads, margin, growth compare to other agencies? Do your fellow agency owners perceive AI as a threat? Opportunity? Both? What's happening with juniors, remote work, pipelines? Thanks to @paddymoogan's survey of 100s of agencies, we've...
By Rand Fishkin
Blog•Dec 2, 2025
The 2025 State of Digital Agencies: It’s Still Rough Out There, but Slowly Improving; and Is AI Really a Threat?
The 2025 State of Digital Agencies survey shows a mixed but improving picture. Half of agencies reported revenue growth, while net margins rose for roughly a third. Concerns about AI as a business threat increased to 53%, and two‑thirds worry...
By Rand Fishkin
Social•Dec 1, 2025
Human Voice Beats AI: A Linguistic Superpower
Sent this email to SparkToro subscribers this morning and received ***the most*** replies to an email we've had all year. My takeaway: NOT sounding like an AI is a linguistic superpower.
By Rand Fishkin
Social•Dec 1, 2025
Buyer Journey Now Pinball, Not Funnel: 7 New Problems
NEW post - https://lnkd.in/g9mxMCt3 This week's #5MinuteWhiteboard is a follow-up to last week's exploration of how the clean, funnel-shaped buyer journey of years past no longer exist (and today that journey looks more like a pinball machine). It's not just...
By Rand Fishkin
Social•Nov 25, 2025
Buyer Journeys Are Pinball, Not Linear Funnels
The marketing "funnel" isn't dead, at least not from the perspective of site owners seeking an analogy of the business-side experience. BUT... if you're seeking analogies for buyer behavior, the funnel really doesn't work anymore. IMO it's more like a...
By Rand Fishkin
Blog•Nov 25, 2025
The Pinball Customer Journey Has Replaced the Marketing Funnel
The author argues that the classic marketing funnel no longer reflects how modern consumers navigate a fragmented, multi‑channel landscape, likening today's journey to a pinball machine where prospects bounce between apps, newsletters, social feeds, AI tools, and peer recommendations before...
By Rand Fishkin