Agencies - How to Deal With a New Head of Marketing

A new Head of Marketing joins your client. The agency WhatsApp lights up. “Here we go!”

It’s one of the most predictable tension points in agency life. A senior marketing hire arrives, and suddenly the comfortable rhythm you’ve built is under scrutiny.

New questions. New priorities. New KPIs. New opinions about the brand deck you created.

Handled well, it’s an opportunity. Handled badly, it’s the beginning of the end.

I’ve been on both sides - agency-side and client-side - including walking into businesses where agencies were already embedded. So here’s the practical guide agencies rarely get.

1. Understand What Just Happened

A company doesn't hire a new Head of Marketing because everything is working perfectly.

Something prompted it. It could be:

• Pipeline pressure

• Board dissatisfaction

• PE investor scrutiny

• Stalled growth

• A founder who’s tired of carrying marketing

• Or someone left who was bored of their role for a myriad of reasons

The new hire walks in with a mandate. Sometimes explicit. Sometimes implied.

If you assume it’s “business as usual”, you’re already behind.

Your job is to understand wat problem were they hired to solve.

Ask directly: “What does success look like for you in your first six months?”

Then listen carefully.

Because their answer determines whether you become an ally or a casualty!

2. Don’t Be Defensive

Agencies often react to scrutiny with subtle defensiveness - “We’ve been doing this for years.” / “This was agreed with the previous team.” / "The strategy was signed off.”

None of that matters. A new Head of Marketing is responsible for outcomes now. Not history.

They honestly don't give a shit. The worst move you can make is protecting past work instead of demonstrating forward value.

Instead, say: “We’re keen to understand your priorities and adapt where needed.”

That signals maturity and support.

3. Expect Reassessment

Here’s a truth agencies don’t like.

When a new Head of Marketing arrives, they will assess agencies.

All of them. Even if they don’t say so.

Why? Because agency relationships reflect on them. If performance is weak, they own it.

So assume you’re being evaluated across:

• Commercial impact

• Strategic thinking

• Proactivity

• Accountability

• Ease of working

If you only deliver tasks, you’re vulnerable. If you demonstrate commercial understanding, you become harder to replace.

4. Shift From Activity to Outcomes

New marketing leaders are rarely impressed by activity reports. They care about:

• Pipeline contribution

• Conversion quality

• Revenue attribution

• Brand positioning strength

• Sales alignment

Or at least, they should!

As an agency you should be selling solutions, not services.

If your reporting is full of impressions, engagement rates, and platform metrics, then expect pushback.

Instead, proactively say: “We’d like to align reporting to your revenue targets. Can we review KPIs together?”

That’s how you reposition yourself from supplier to partner.

5. Understand Their Psychology

A newly hired Head of Marketing needs early wins. Fast.

They’re building credibility internally. And that changes how you support them.

Ask:

• What quick improvements would help you demonstrate momentum?

• Where is the biggest internal friction?

• What’s underperforming that you’re expected to fix quickly?

If you help them succeed internally, they will protect your relationship.

If you make their life harder, they won’t hesitate to change suppliers.

6. Don’t Panic If Strategy Shifts

It often will. New positioning. New ICP definition. New messaging framework. New CRM expectations.

This isn’t a rejection of your work. It’s alignment to their mandate.

Agencies that adapt survive. Agencies that cling to old strategies don’t.

7. Watch for Structural Gaps

Here’s where this gets interesting. Often, agencies feel destabilised by a new marketing leader because the previous structure was loose.

Founder-led. Tactically driven. Channel-focused.

A strong Head of Marketing introduces:

• Clear north star

• Defined revenue targets

• MQL/SQL clarity

• Budget discipline

• Agency accountability

That can feel uncomfortable. But it’s healthy.

And if your agency thrives in structured environments, this is your moment to shine.

8. What Agencies Should Do in the First 30 Days

Here's a practical checklist of things to do in the first 30 days when your agency encounters a new Head of Marketing:

1. Schedule a strategic reset conversation (not just a status call).

2. Ask for revenue targets and board expectations.

3. Share a transparent performance and work summary - don't wait to be asked.

4. Propose 90-day priorities aligned to commercial goals.

5. Clarify decision-making process and reporting cadence.

6. Identify one quick-win improvement.

That positions you as commercially aware, not territorially defensive.

9. When Things Go Wrong

Sometimes a new Head of Marketing arrives with an agency they’ve worked with before.

Sometimes they’re under pressure to consolidate suppliers.

Sometimes they simply prefer a different working style.

If that happens: stay professional, leave the door open, deliver strongly through transition.

The marketing world is small. Reputations travel!

10. The Bigger Lesson

A new Head of Marketing doesn’t threaten good agencies. They expose weak positioning.

If your proposition and value is cheap execution, platform management, and tactical delivery, then I'm sorry to say, but you’re easily interchangeable.

If your value is:

• Commercial thinking

• Strategic alignment

• Pipeline accountability

• Clear communication

Then, you become harder to replace.

Treate the arrival of a new Head of Marketing not as a disruption, but a reset moment.

Handled well, it can deepen your relationship. Handled poorly, it shortens it.

Agencies that survive these transitions understand one thing - It’s not about protecting past work. It’s about proving future value.