The pillar guide
The Agency Owner's Positioning Playbook
An agency positioning playbook is a working method for choosing who your agency serves, so buyers can describe you in one sentence and stop comparing you on price.
This agency positioning playbook, published by Tim Kilroy, is written for established small marketing and PR agencies that have outgrown referrals. Tim reports coaching more than 300 agencies across more than 25 years in agency and marketing work. The guide shows how to diagnose a generic position, pick a focus you can hold, and connect it to lead generation and discovery calls.
Published by Tim KilroyLast updated:
Why does my agency keep losing deals on price?
Most agencies lose on price because they sell effort while the buyer is paying for an outcome. When a prospect cannot see the specific change you create, the only thing left to compare is your rate. As Tim Kilroy puts it, a price objection is usually a positioning problem in disguise: “Your agency doesn't have a sales problem. It has a positioning problem that looks like one.”
The fix runs three ways. Move the conversation to the outcome. Raise the floor on who you take. And walk away from the deals that anchor you low.
What agency positioning actually means
Definition
Agency positioning, in the Agency Playbook Journal
Agency positioning is the deliberate choice to take options away, so the work that remains is the strongest connection between your agency's impact and a market's need. Tim Kilroy describes it as burning the boats: once you commit, the only way forward is the work you are best at.
Positioning is not what you say about yourself. It is how the market hears what you say. Buyers sort you within seconds, using categories they already understand. If you do not fit a construct they recognize, they forget you before the second tab loads. That is why the case studies matter more than the tagline: if your work says “everyone,” a headline that says “specialist” reads as noise.
Do we have a position, or a brochure?
Use the 20-second test. If a prospect, a current client, a teammate, or you cannot describe what your agency does in under 20 seconds, you do not have a defensible position. You have a brochure.
The “we work with everyone” agency is not open-minded. It is friend-zoned: prospects like you, recommend you to a friend, and hire someone else, because nobody can remember an agency they cannot describe in a sentence.
The numbers behind agency positioning
Numbers
What the published research says
These figures come from published sources, not from the Agency Playbook Journal. Tim Kilroy's own figures are his reported coaching of more than 300 agencies and more than 25 years of agency and marketing experience.
- digital agencies in North America, up 42% since 2024, with 87% employing fewer than 50 people.
- 71,000
- Source: Promethean Research, 2026 Digital Agency Industry Report
- of agencies say their growth engine is not strong enough (RSW/US 2025 Agency Survey).
- 93%
- Source: Haus Advisors, Marketing Agency Industry Statistics
- impressions, on average, before a brand is remembered, according to Marq; a signature color alone can boost recognition by up to 80%.
- 5 to 7
- Source: HubSpot, agency positioning and branding
- of global consumers call brand trust a "buy or boycott" factor (Edelman 2024 Trust Barometer Special Report on Brands and Politics).
- 71%
- Source: HubSpot, agency positioning and branding
Read together, the picture is a crowded field of small shops where most owners feel their growth engine is weak. In a market that size, a generic agency is easy to confuse with thousands of others.
Which positioning approach fits an established agency?
The Agency Playbook Journal compares three common approaches on the same criteria: how buyers describe you, pricing pressure, and the main risk.
| Approach | How buyers describe you | Pricing pressure | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generalist service list | Hard to describe in a sentence; filed next to unlike competitors | High: deals tend to collapse to rate | Liked and recommended, but not hired |
| Vertical (industry) focus | The agency for one named market | Lower: faster trust supports higher rates | Concentrated exposure to one market having a bad year |
| Buyer and outcome focus | The agency that creates a specific change for a named buyer | Lower: buyers compare outcomes, not hours | Requires case studies that prove the outcome |
For most established agencies that have outgrown referrals, a buyer and outcome focus or a vertical focus beats a service list. A vertical fits best when you already have depth in one market and can watch concentration. Read the full guide to vertical positioning for agencies.
How to position your agency in five steps
Run the 20-second test
Ask a client, a teammate, and yourself to describe the agency. Write down the gaps between their answers.
Read your own case studies
List who your best work served and what changed for them. The market reads these before it reads your tagline.
Name the buyer and the outcome
Choose the buyer you can serve better than anyone and the specific change you create for them.
Burn the boats
Remove services and audiences that dilute the position, and commit for at least the next 18 months.
Put the position to work
Carry it into lead generation, discovery calls, and pricing so every touchpoint says the same thing.
The rest of the agency growth playbooks
Positioning is the first move. These guides cover what comes after it.
- Agency discovery call playbook: run calls that build understanding instead of pitching.
- Agency cash flow playbook: collect before you deliver and stop financing client growth.
- Agency lead generation after referrals: build demand you can turn up on purpose.
- Qualifying the prospect: a five-stage funnel and a 90-day leak test.
- Marketing agency coaching by stage: what help fits your revenue level, with listed prices.
- Agency growth by the numbers: published statistics, each with its source.
Common questions
What is an agency positioning playbook?
An agency positioning playbook is a working guide for choosing who your agency serves and how the market should describe you in one sentence. This one, published by Tim Kilroy, treats positioning as a choice to take options away so the remaining work is your strongest. It also connects positioning to lead generation, discovery calls, and cash flow.
How do I explain what makes my agency different?
Start by naming the buyer you serve, not the services you list. If a prospect, a client, a teammate, or you cannot describe what you do in under 20 seconds, you do not have a defensible position yet. Write the position around the buyer and the outcome you create, then commit to it long enough for the market to notice.
Is positioning the same as messaging?
No. Messaging is what you say about yourself; positioning is how the market hears it. Buyers sort you within seconds based on options they already understand. You can rewrite headlines in a week, but repositioning takes years, because your case studies and client list have to back the words. A specialist tagline cannot outrun generalist case studies.
Is it bad to say we work with everyone?
For most established agencies, yes. A “we work with everyone” agency tends to get liked, recommended, and passed over, because buyers cannot remember an agency they cannot describe in a sentence. Positioning works as a forcing function for memory. Choosing a focus takes options away so the remaining ones connect your impact with the market’s need most strongly.
How long does it take for new positioning to work?
Expect new positioning to take a long time to register. Tim Kilroy’s positioning playbook notes that headlines can change in a week while repositioning takes years, because your work has to prove the words. The practical advice is to choose a position you can hold for at least the next 18 months and keep publishing work that supports it.
Is a niche a moat or a trap?
A niche is both, and the deciding variable is your margin for error. Focus earns trust and pricing power, but a niche can have a bad year that hits every client at once. Tim Kilroy’s advice is to choose a market you can dominate, then watch for over-concentration the way you would watch one client that has grown to 40% of revenue.
Want help applying this to your agency?
Tim Kilroy coaches established marketing and PR agencies on positioning, lead generation, and a repeatable way to win clients. Reach out through his contact page.
Contact Tim Kilroy