Specialisation and emerging subsectors: How new expertise is reshaping agency success

The Growth Report, published in June 2025 by Agency by Agency presented a nuanced picture of what was driving success in the agency sector. While traditional strongholds show below-average growth, newer specialisms are thriving at rates that should make everyone in the sector sit up and take notice. What we seem to be in the middle of is a period of transition, and one where it is becoming increasingly clear that specialisation is not just an advantage, but is perhaps essential for exceptional performance.

When we look at how emerging subsectors are outpacing established ones and what is driving this specialisation premium, we raise interesting questions that every agency should be asking about their own expertise positioning. And if clients are increasingly seeking specific rather than broad-based services, what does this fundamental shift mean for agencies at every stage of their development?

The new growth champions

The data presented in The Growth Report offers up a compelling story about where opportunity lies in 2025. Social purpose and sustainability, the newest subsector we have mapped, leads all subsectors with a 22% growth rate. Close behind, Amazon/Marketplace agencies achieved 20.4% growth while also having the highest proportion of new agencies (21.2%), suggesting sustained demand even as the market matures.

Compare this to traditional agency strongholds. Design and branding shows 2.8% growth, Creative and advertising at 2.8%, with Integrated and Full service agencies at 4.1%. All of these are well below the overall agency sector growth rate of 7.3%. The contrast is stark, and raises key questions about market evolution.

What makes this particularly intriguing is the pattern across newer specialisms. Influencer agencies grew at 16%, Digital transformation at 15.9% and Data and marketing analytics at 13.9%. Considering the fact that growth rates are calculated based on agencies with at least three years of operation and financial reporting, these cannot be dismissed as isolated success stories, rather they point towards a systematic shift towards specialised expertise.

What is driving the rise of specialisation?

The performance gap between emerging and established subsectors suggests that clients are changing how they buy agency services. Rather than seeking partners who can “do everything”, they appear increasingly willing to pay premiums for agencies who can solve specific, complex problems exceptionally well.

This raises a number of questions for agency leaders. Are you positioned in areas where client demand is growing or declining? Does your expertise align with where businesses are investing their marketing budgets? And perhaps most important of all: Are you still trying to be all things to all clients, when the market appears to be rewarding focused expertise?

The data suggests three key drivers behind the rise of specialisation:

Complexity demands expertise

New challenges, such as sustainability reporting, marketplace optimisation and digital transformation require deep, current knowledge that generalist agencies struggle to maintain across multiple disciplines. The fact that almost half (46.5%) of Social purpose and sustainability agencies, for example, are defined as Growing or Growing Fast (compared to the sector average of 20.2%) suggests that clients are willing to pay for proven capability in these complex areas.

Speed of change favours focus

Agencies concentrating on specific areas can adapt faster to platform updates, regulatory changes and emerging best practices than those spreading attention across multiple specialisms. SEO agencies, despite a high proportion of new agencies (20.7%), show above-average growth and maintain strong market positions by staying current with algorithm changes, the impact of AI and technical requirements.

Client confidence follows proven capability

In uncertain times, clients appear to be more willing to trust agencies with demonstrable depth in relevant areas rather than broad but shallow capabilities. The fact that Amazon/Marketplace has both the highest proportion of new agencies and the second-highest growth rate suggests sustained client confidence in specialist expertise. 

The risk of standing still

Perhaps most concerning for established agencies is that traditional strongholds aren’t just growing slowly, they are actually losing ground. When Design and branding grow at 2.8% while inflation runs higher, agencies in this space are effectively shrinking in real terms. This doesn’t mean that these services aren’t valuable, but asks questions of those agencies that offer generic versions of these capabilities.

The question then becomes: Within your traditional strength areas, what specific expertise could differentiate you from the crowd?

For example, while general Creative and advertising agencies show 2.9% growth, far below the sector average, those positioned around specific challenges such as Social purpose and sustainability creative work are thriving at 22% growth. Specialisation isn’t necessarily about changing what you do, but how specifically you position what you do.

The data also reveals additional concerning trends for traditional agencies. PR and communications show only 5.5% new agencies (founded in the past three years), the joint lowest with Market research, suggesting potentially stagnant market conditions. Meanwhile, Design and branding, where three quarters (75.9%) of all agencies are regarded as Stable, appears to be a mature market where differentiation becomes increasingly crucial.

Strategic questions for agency leaders

The specialisation trend raises important strategic questions that every agency should consider:

Position clarity

Can you articulate exactly what problem you solve better than anyone else? If potential clients can’t immediately understand your specific expertise, you may be competing in the broad, slower-growth middle market. The data shows that subsectors with clear positioning, such as Conversion (42.4% of agencies are Growing or Growing Fast) or Behavioural research and behaviour change (16.1% new agencies), are outperforming those with broader positioning.

Investment focus

Are you spreading development resources across multiple capabilities, or concentrating them to build genuine expertise advantages in specific areas? The data suggests focused investment strategies are outperforming diversified approaches. Digital product design, with 18.2% new agencies, shows how focused specialisms can attract both entrepreneurs and client investment.

Client evolution

How are your existing clients’ needs changing, and are you evolving your expertise to meet their emerging challenges? The highest growth agencies appear to be those anticipating rather than following client needs. The success of Digital transformation agencies (15.9% growth) suggests value in helping clients adapt to technological change.

Market positioning

Within your chosen specialisms, are you positioned in growing or declining segments? Sometimes a slight repositioning within existing capabilities can dramatically improve prospects for growth. As we have already noted, the contrast between the general (e.g. Creative and advertising) and the specific (Social purpose and sustainability) illustrates this opportunity.

Team development

Are you building teams with deep expertise in specific areas or maintaining broad generalist capabilities? The market appears to be increasingly leaning towards agencies that can demonstrate depth. Here the data poses some interesting questions. Does the high proportion of Translation and localisation agencies that are Shrinking or Shrinking Fast (13.4%) indicate oversupply in generalist language services? Is there greater opportunity to be found in specialised technical or cultural expertise?

New agency competition

How are you differentiating from the wave of new specialist agencies entering your market? Subsectors like Amazon/Marketplace and SEO show that new agencies can quickly establish market positions when they offer the focused expertise that clients need.

Specialisation or scale?

Interestingly, our research reveals what might at first appear to be something of a contradiction. While focused agencies are outperforming generalists, the highest absolute numbers of high-growth agencies can be found in the larger subsectors, such as Website & UX/UI design (635 high-growth agencies) and Digital (616 high-growth agencies).

However, when we look at the proportion of agencies achieving high growth within each subsector, the specialised story becomes clear. Amazon/Marketplace leads with 33.7% of agencies achieving high growth, followed by Influencer (27.6%) and Social purpose and sustainability (24.1%). Compare this to the larger subsectors we just mentioned: 10.3% of Website & UX/UI agencies are high growth, with 13.4% of Digital.

This suggests there are two viable paths: becoming exceptionally good at serving a specific niche with high growth rates, or achieving scale within larger, more established markets via a honed proposition. The key appears to be avoiding the middle ground; neither specialised enough to command premiums nor large enough to compete on scale or efficiency. 

Looking forward: The future of agency expertise

The specialisation trend appears to be accelerating rather than slowing, and the data reveals interesting patterns about where specialisation is heading. The high proportion of new agencies within Behavioural research and behaviour change suggests growing client interest in understanding consumer psychology. Digital product design, where 18.2% of agencies are new, indicates continued demand for user experience expertise. These emerging specialisms might offer clues to where client challenges are evolving.

For existing agencies, this invites discussion around positioning and what is driving success. The agencies that are thriving in 2025 are not necessarily doing different work, they are doing familiar work with a laser focus on specific client challenges and market segments.

The trend towards specialisation also reflects broader changes in how businesses operate. As companies become more sophisticated in their marketing and digital strategies, they need agencies that understand not just general principles, but specific platform nuances, regulatory requirements and technical complexities that generalist agencies cannot match.

The choice isn’t necessarily between traditional and new services, but between generic and specialised positioning within any service areas. The agencies succeeding in this new landscape have clear answers to what they do better than anyone else, and can articulate exactly why this matters to their clients. 

Find out more…

Read The Growth Report for more on finding opportunity in 2025’s agency sector.

Our team works with agency leaders to help them understand their place in the market, and how to stand out within it. With data-lead workshops and in person access to our data we help teams to identify the opportunity and differentiation available to them.

Get in touch with us if you’d like to learn more about the opportunities for your agency. 

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash