3 Habits That’ll Keep Your Agency Ahead of Every Trend (2025)
In this article I'm going to share how I stay ahead with the latest marketing trends and evolving tech in 2025, and never be afraid of being left behind or saturated.
Every year, thousands of agencies close down.
Not because their work is bad.
Not because their clients disappear.
It's because they fell behind the latest trends.
Let me explain.
The industry’s changing faster than anyone can keep up.
New algorithms.
New tools.
New privacy laws.
And every time something changes, another problem hits.
CPMs shoot up faster than crypto in 2021.
Privacy updates wipe out half your pipeline before you even log in.
Dashboards break. Data vanishes.
And your competitors?
They’re using tools that let them do a hundred times more in the time it takes you to finish one task.
Most agencies either chase every new trend blindly or ignore it completely...
And the few who actually understand it end up leaving them in the dust, taking every opportunity with them.
So instead of guessing what the “top agencies” do, let me show you what’s actually worked for me.
It’s the same approach I use that saves me 10–15 hours every week because I’m not constantly chasing broken funnels, rewriting copy after every algorithm update, or fixing automations every time a new tool breaks the workflow.
Which means I can spend that time being more strategic.
Improving systems, testing new ideas, and delivering better results across the projects I take on.
So in this article, I’ll walk you through the 3 habits I use to stay ahead of industry trends, adapt faster, and outperform the competition.
And if you stay with me till the end,
I’ll share one principle that can keep you ahead for good.
A way to build your agency so you never have to worry about trends changing again.
Habit 1: Continuously Educate Yourself
Now, this might sound obvious, but most of the time people need to be reminded ... not taught.
We all know we should keep learning.
But knowing and doing are two very different things.
Well, that doesn’t mean I’m going to throw you into the deep end and just say, “educate yourself.”
So let me break it down and show you how I do it.
Read industry-related content.
Some strategies work great in one industry but completely flop in another.
That’s why it’s smarter to learn from people who actually understand your space.
If you’re in tech, read TechCrunch or Think with Google.
If you’re in marketing or business, check Ad Age or Business.com.
If you’re in fitness or e-commerce, dig into Exploding Topics or niche blogs that cover your field.
It’s fine to read outside your lane, but remember — a winter jacket works better in Antarctica for a reason.
You can wear it in the Sahara if you want, just don’t expect it to save your life.
Same thing here.
A strategy that crushes in one industry might tank in another.
Attend events.
You can only learn so much from a screen.
At some point, you’ve got to get out there and talk to real people.
Events hit different because you’re surrounded by people who live what they teach.
Go to things like Advertising Week Europe, Tech Show London, or MAD//Fest if you’re in the UK.
Most of the best conversations happen by accident — in line for coffee, after a panel, or at the bar.
One chat can change how you think or even how you run your business.
Engage in online communities.
Right now, online presence is everything.
If you refuse to engage, it’s like living in a tiny old village, being told electricity exists… and still choosing to light candles.
You don’t need to post every day. Just get involved.
Comment, ask questions, and jump into conversations that matter.
You’ll learn faster because people cut straight through the noise.
You can ask follow-up questions, get direct answers, and see what’s working in real time.
That kind of feedback beats reading ten blog posts.
And when you keep showing up, you’d be surprised how many opportunities start showing up at your door.
Habit 2: Monitor and Analyse Trends
Once you know where to learn from, the next step is figuring out what’s actually worth paying attention to.
Before we get into that, let me tell you a quick story.
Imagine you live in a quiet village by a lake.
One day, someone finds gold buried in the sand.
He shows it off and he becomes a wealthy man overnight.
The next day two people went to the same lake and dug up even more gold.
They too became rich overnight.
Now the whole village is talking about it.
Even neighbouring villages are hearing the news.
So what should you do?
Start digging for gold?
WRONG!
You start selling shovels...
See, trends need to be monitored carefully.
Because if you can look beyond the surface,
You’ll start to spot opportunities no one else sees.
And solve problems no one else is even thinking about.
Funny thing is I'd bet a lot of you already know this gold story.
And yet, so many of you still end up grabbing a shovel.
What I mean by that is — the moment you see a new trend, your first instinct is to jump on it as fast as possible.
Before it fades.
Before the gold runs out.
Here's the problem.
Most people, when they want to “keep up,” think it means hopping on every new thing that pops up.
And yes, you can do that … but that doesn’t mean you should.
I’m not just talking about seeing a viral TikTok trend and recreating it.
I’m talking about the big stuff.
For example, right now everyone’s doing influencer marketing and UGC content.
Does that mean you need to spend WEEKS hunting for influencers and building your brand around them?
Or take the next wave of GEO targeting, mixed-media content, or long-form revival???
A lot of marketers see this stuff and go,
"OMG ! This is Amazing. Time to hop on this trend! Time to grab a shovel!!"
See the problem?
Now don’t get me wrong, grabbing the shovel is still better than doing nothing.
You could strike gold.
But more often than not, it’s smarter — and easier — to take a step back and observe first.
At this point, you might be thinking,
“Okay, that makes sense. But what should I actually do, Sean? How does this apply to me?”
And the honest answer is… I can’t help you there.
I wish there was a secret formula.
Or a step-by-step framework.
And to be fair, there probably are some out there that make things easier.
And I do have a framework that could help — but it’s built for one very specific industry, at a very specific size, in a very specific place, and a very specific time.
I could make a general one and share it with you…
But honestly, that would be a disservice.
It wouldn’t be valuable enough to move the needle for you.
So, sorry to say ... you’re on your own for this one.
(Unless you reach out to me personally and need help, haha.)
But I don't want to leave you with nothing.
So here's a piece of advice.
Ask questions.
Look at the avenues you already have and think:
Is this right for me?
Does it make sense to allocate resources here?
How can I take advantage of this trend?
What’s hiding in the background that everyone else is missing?
It’s not easy.
But that’s okay ... it’s not meant to be easy.
That’s what makes it fun.
That’s what makes it challenging.
Habit 3: Experiment and Innovate
You’ve studied all the roads and signs.
You know how the vehicle works.
Now it’s time to get behind the wheel.
Because learning and analysing are great — but if you never put what you’ve learned into practice, you’re just another passenger watching the traffic go by.
This is where most marketers get stuck.
They plan. They tweak. They wait for the “perfect time.”
And once they finally ship, they get attached.
They run one or two basic variations, call it a test, and convince themselves it’s enough.
It isn’t.
Not enough variation. Not enough consistency. Not enough depth
Here's how I would approach it:
1. Split-test everything.
Every headline, ad angle, and offer.
Don’t assume ... prove it.
Change one variable at a time, monitor the data, and let the numbers guide your decisions.
2. Optimise. Optimise. Optimise.
If something works, scale it.
If it doesn’t, kill it and move on.
While you’re busy polishing that “perfect” campaign, someone else is already testing version three.
Every failed test is just paid tuition for better strategy.
3. Track everything.
Every win, every loss ... it's all intel.
It's your black box.
A campaign that flopped this year might crush it next year with a few adjustments.
Keep track of it all; data compounds like interest.
4. Build innovation into your workflow.
Don’t wait for inspiration. Schedule it.
New hooks Monday.
Review results mid-week.
Optimise Friday.
Repeat.
Stick to it long enough and you’ll build a system that constantly improves itself.
5. Trust your gut, validate with data.
Data tells you what’s working.
Your gut tells you what to try next.
The best marketers know how to trust both.
And don’t stop testing just because something’s working.
What crushes today might flop next year.
Markets evolve. Algorithms change. People get bored.
If you stop testing, you stop growing.
No one ever really “figures it out.”
Marketing moves too fast for that.
But if you keep learning, analysing, and testing, you’ll always be ahead.
While everyone else is still trying to catch up.
Bonus Habit: Keep It Simple
Remember earlier when I said I’d share the one principle that can keep you ahead for good?
Well, this is it.
And just so you know, it’s by far the MOST important step of all.
So if you had to ignore everything else and only follow one thing from this article, pick this one.
Consider it my gift to you for reading this far.
The real secret to staying ahead isn’t about learning from the best sources, analysing like a madman, or optimising like some high-IQ algorithm.
It’s about doing the basics better than anyone else.
Most agencies — and business owners in general — get obsessed with every new feature, every shiny “hack.”
They’re constantly rebuilding instead of refining.
And in that chaos, they forget what actually makes marketing work.
Look at any multi-million or even billion-dollar company that’s lasted for decades.
They didn’t survive because they jumped on trends.
They survived because they mastered fundamentals.
The agencies that last, the ones that keep winning year after year, all have three things in common.
1. They deeply understand their customers.
Their pain points, their dreams, and how they behave day to day.
If their audience is on Facebook, they target them there.
If they hang out on LinkedIn, they speak their language there.
They don’t chase where everyone else is. They go where their people are.
2. They have a clear, irresistible value proposition.
They know exactly why people buy from them, and they believe in what they sell.
That belief shapes every piece of copy, every campaign, every offer.
3. They protect their brand reputation by delivering real value.
Every campaign builds trust.
Every touchpoint reinforces credibility.
They’d rather do less and do it right than chase reach and ruin their brand.
And that's it.
You can be the best learner, analyser, optimiser, but none of that matters without these fundamentals, and instead of staying ahead ... you will fall behind.
Stay focused on the basics.
Do them better than anyone else.
And you’ll never have to worry about catching up — because you’ll be the one setting the pace.