LIFT IS NOW A PART OF MILE MARKER
In a recent Ad Age feature by Lindsay Rittenhouse exploring how independent agencies build and diversify their client portfolios, industry leaders examined the operational and strategic hurdles of expanding beyond an initial anchor client. Mile Marker President and CEO Scott Shamberg shared key insights on how small and mid-sized agencies can navigate roster diversification, leverage mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and align agency structure and culture to establish long-term client trust.
Winning an initial client often relies on early hustle, but sustaining growth across unfamiliar verticals requires a clear positioning strategy. As Shamberg noted in Ad Age, prospective brand partners frequently ask for category-specific experience and case studies that younger or expanding agencies may not yet possess.
To bridge this gap, agency leaders must anchor their pitch in their baseline process and platform strength rather than relying solely on individual, rapidly changing technology tools. When entering new industries, agencies should clearly articulate why existing clients chose to partner with them in the first place and demonstrate how a unified, cohesive team structure offers greater stability than fragmented talent models. By emphasizing foundational capabilities and operational synergy, agencies can establish credibility across new sectors well before building an extensive vertical portfolio.
While organic business development remains essential, strategic mergers and acquisitions offer an efficient mechanism to accelerate roster growth and mitigate client concentration risk. Reflecting on Mile Marker’s own foundation—formed through the merger of independent media shops PlusMedia and Cage Point—Shamberg highlighted how M&A allows agencies to immediately acquire client relationships in sectors where they previously lacked presence.
Combining distinct agency backgrounds enables leadership to present a richer, more diversified value proposition to prospective brands. Rather than waiting years to organically win a second or third major account, M&A empowers agencies to rapidly expand their capabilities, integrate proven talent, and build multi-anchor stability.
Addressing client concentration also requires agency leaders to evaluate how they define specialization. Specialization generally falls into two distinct categories: vertical specialization (such as e-commerce, performance marketing, or direct-to-consumer) or sector specialization (such as healthcare, retail, or travel).
While deep sector focus can build strong domain authority, over-concentrating in a single niche creates risks of market saturation and client conflicts. Structuring an agency to support broader cross-channel capabilities and multi-category expertise ensures the shop doesn’t “cap out” within a narrow domain, resulting in a far more resilient business model.
Building a resilient client roster is directly tied to agency structure and culture. By leaning into core platform strength, embracing strategic M&A to enter new categories, and designing agile team structures, independent agencies can move past single-anchor dependencies and achieve sustainable, long-term growth.
Read the full analysis: Learn how agency executives are navigating roster diversification and client growth strategies in the full Ad Age article.
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