Dennis Yu (ex-Yahoo) says, “This man is the BEST at growing your agency." I think he may be exaggerating.

What I am known for is helping agency directors get what they want. 
I deliver challenging presentations, ask tough questions and help agencies to grow faster and more successfully by helping them make the tough decisions (but not in that order).

And don't forget that I do also adore my family, vintage acoustic guitars and painting!!!


If you are still reading, here is the official blurb..

- Robert is the UK's best-known and sought-after keynote speaker on growing digital agencies.  

He also talks on customers: finding, delighting and keeping more and better customers and clients.

- He is not full of theoretical rhetoric; he offers practical solutions - tangible business growth results. 
- Robert's work on marketing and growth strategy has been widely published and acted upon by thousands of businesses and agencies, from BlackBerry to Barclays, from Nando's to AirBus... from Google Partners to Uberall... from Push to Hallam Internet.


Specialties: how to find and keep customers and clients... creating the process and systems to run the business you want to run.

Robert can be reached on +44 (0)1225 851044 rc@GYDAinitiative.com

Message for 2026: Your Agency: Adapt or Die Trying

The last 12 months have been brutal. Pipeline chaos. Slashed budgets. Clients frozen like rabbits in headlights.

But...: the fog is lifting. Slowly. Clients are thinking longer-term again. Opportunities are creeping back.
So... now what?


1. Adaptation Is Mandatory
You don’t get points for surviving. This isn’t a school sports day. This is business. You evolve, or you evaporate.
Agencies stuck in 2019-mode (bloated, slow, “full-service” and proud) are on borrowed time. The winners? They’re lean, focused, and brutally relevant.

2. AI Is Coming For The Slackers
Let’s be clear: AI won’t kill your agency. But it will kill lazy work.
Cheap copywriting? Toast.
Keyword-stuffed SEO? Gone.
Data entry, admin, reporting? Automated.
If your team’s value stops at “doing stuff”, you're already obsolete. The machines are faster, cheaper, and don’t need lunch breaks.

3. The Strategists Will Win
The future belongs to thinkers, not doers.
Smart agencies are repositioning. From service providers to strategic advisors. From “we can do that too” to “here’s the roadmap”.
They use AI as a tool, not a gimmick. To speed up workflows, not to replace brains.

4. The GYDA Formula for a Thriving Agency
Here’s what we’re seeing among the winners:
- Positioning is King: 
Niche hard. Be the best at something specific. “Full service” is code for “nothing special”.
- Trusted Advisor: 
Stop taking orders. Start diagnosing problems. Clients buy outcomes, not hours.
- Value-Based Pricing: 
If you’re still billing by the hour, you’re punishing efficiency. Price the transformation, not the time.
- Leaner Teams: 
Small core. Flexible freelancers. Outsource the boring bits. Keep overheads light.
- Be a Guide, Not a Scammer: No more vanity metrics. Educate. Set expectations. Show impact.

Final Thought
Now is the time. Audit your services. Bin or automate anything a junior or a robot could do. Stop selling labour. Start selling change.
Reposition. Reprice. Reinvent.
Or risk becoming irrelevant.

#digitalagency #agencyleader #agencygrowth

Robert Craven

The Fresh Business Thinking Power 100 represents those people who most impact on the lives of entrepreneurs; those who shape policy, create working environments, champion, mentor and promote entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in UK plc.
ln.is/com/LBftI 

Top 50 Influencer -  UK Entrepreneurship -  The FBT100

The accolade of fellow is awarded to a limited number of excellent speakers each year

Fellow

University of Warwick

Dulwich College

PSA UK

GYDA

Managing Partner

Leading Mastermind Programs for ambitious digital agency leaders across Europe... Seven programs and growing...

Mastermind Leader

GYDA Initiative - Launched 2018
GYDA Member Hub - Launched 2020

GYDA Chief

Very Good Digital Ltd: Digital Agency Coach

Director

Grow Your Digital Agency

Grow Your Digital Agency does exactly what it says on the tin - it helps you grow your digital agency! More details available at www.robert-craven.com//grow-your-digital-agency/

Author

Google Partners

Lead Coach and Designer running the Google Partners’ 3-month Coaching/Training Elevator Business Growth Program for
- UK’s top 30 independent agencies
- Belgium’s top 20 independent agencies
- Romania's top 10 independent agencies

Also, Digital Agency Sales Masterclass trainer/presenter 
- Romania

Program Director, Business Coaching Program

I run workshops, seminars and programs for high-growth digital agencies via Google Partners including Business Coaching  Program (London), Rising Star Program (Bucharest), Sales Masterclass (Bucharest).

Speaker, Presenter, Coach

Check-in Journal Project

The Check-in Strategy Journal.  helps business and their people to 
- clarify strategy and direction
- gain buy-in and accountability
- balance personal and business goals.

Joint Founder

rc@robert-craven.com  
+44 (0)1225 851044

- Robert is one of the UK's best-known and sought-after speakers on digital agencies and entrepreneurship
- He is not full of theoretical rhetoric; he offers practical solutions - tangible business results 
- Robert's work on marketing and strategy has been widely published and acted upon by thousands of growing businesses and agencies.

Sample Topics
- What the Above-Average do differently
- David And Goliath Work Together! - What small and big business can learn from each other
- 10 Things To Do In The Next Ten Days… (To Increase Sales, Profit, Cash And Customers)
- Bright Marketing – Why Should People Bother To Buy From You?
- More Profit – How To Significantly Increase Sales And Profit

Robert was voted #1 speaker at Google Premier Partner Global Partner Summit in New York

Testimonials
“His animated action-packed style demands participation. Robert does not give his audience the option of sitting back and merely reflecting.” 
- Professor David Storey, Warwick Business School

“Robert Craven says that ‘your whole business hinges on what your customer gets from you’. I wholeheartedly agree. … will turn your business into a powerhouse.” 
- Sir Richard Branson

Recent clients include: Google, Ricoh, AirBus, Barclays, Land Rover Jaguar, Microsoft, BlackBerry, E.ON, Nando’s, Virgin, ...

Professional Speaker and Author

Cranfield University

I run and deliver on the UKTI Export Masterclass Programme and associated programmes and conferences at Cranfield.

Programme Director and Associate Consultant

Vistage UK

Run the 'Strategy Workbook' and 'Disruptive Marketing' sessions.

Presenter

Academy for Chief Executives

Various

Act as Chair, NED and advisor to boards of digital agencies, software houses, cocktail bar chain etc

NED, Advisor

Director, GYDA.co  (Grow Your Digital Agency)

A lot of fun and laughter with a serious intent....

Robert Craven - What the High-Performers do differently? - GPeC SUMMIT, September 2022

Over four months, 20 badged Google Premier Partner agencies from the UK and Ireland took part in a Business Coaching course run by Google Partners — here's how they got on.

Google Partners Business Coaching - Sizzle Reel

Same great guy, brand new look. The Digital Guru Robert Craven is back with a new showreel and new topics for keynote speeches. Robert works with Go...

Robert Craven Showreel

Charlcombe Lane

Friends of Woolley Church

Treasurer and Committee Member running Woolley Strawberry Teas and Kingswood Concert...

Director, GYDA.co (Grow Your Digital Agency)

If your agency can’t clearly explain its value, your prospects will decide it for you.

Janusz talks about why so many agencies struggle to stand out - and how a weak or vague value proposition quietly erodes pricing power, confidence and growth.

He explores:
• Why “we do great work” isn’t a value proposition
• How clarity beats creativity when it comes to positioning
• The danger of sounding like every other agency in your category
• A practical way to sharpen your proposition so clients get it immediately

This is a timely reminder that differentiation isn’t about doing more... it’s about saying less, better.

If you’ve ever struggled to explain why a client should choose you, this one’s well worth a read:
https://buff.ly/vI9dMSa
#agencypositioning #valueproposition #agencygrowth #agency2026 #2026prediction #agencyleader #agencylife #capitalstack

There’s a group of agency leaders the consulting industry keeps missing.

Not start-ups.
Not 300+ person organisations.

The middle.

Leaders running 5–100 person agencies aren’t naïve, aren’t looking for gurus, and aren’t fooled by silver bullets, yet most of what’s available to them still feels oddly wrong.

What they actually want isn’t more advice.
It’s something else entirely.

Why does this “missing middle” exist, where consulting breaks down, and what agency leaders really value when growth gets complicated?

If you’ve ever felt that most support isn’t built for where you are, this one will probably resonate.

Roughly 10 years ago there was a pivotal training program that had massive impact… in the days before LinkedIn was really a big thing… 

https://lnkd.in/eGf8EJcS  

who was there? And in the later groups?

https://lnkd.in/eGf8EJcS

Ann Stanley (aka Simmonds) 
Susan Hallam MBE 
Ricky Solanki  
Paul Stephen 
Paul Smith 
Jaye Cowle 😊  

#digitalagency #agencyleader #googlepremierpartner

Founder & CTO of Anicca Digital | AI Adoption, Digital Marketing, Trainer & Consultant | Ecommerce Marketing, Paid Media, Search & Analytics

10 years ago!  Darren Wynn and I met (and were inspired) by Robert Craven, who led the Google Partners #Elevator programme for #PPCAgency leaders.

Some great alumni from that course - 
Jaye Cowle 😊
Susan Hallam MBE
Ricky Solanki
Guy Levine
Ben Norman

Were you there?
Where are you now?

Google Ads, Anicca Digital 
#PPCAgency #AgencyLife

Join me at 12pm today for our annual event 'State of the Nation'. 

We'll preview what's on the horizon and the steps that you need to implement to get ahead in 2026. 

This online event is free for agency leaders.

Register now and secure your place:
https://buff.ly/98LW6aW 
#agencyevent #agencyworkshop #agencynews #agency2026 #onlineevent #agencyleader #marketingagency #agencygrowth #agencytrends

The only direction that matters is outward. What… clients actually need. Where we can genuinely help them go next…

They are not competing services. They are complementary systems.

If growth is on your agenda, are you being guided by ambition or by the people you serve?

[paraphrased]

#agencygrowth #agencyleader #digitalagency

𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗘𝗢 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 (ASICS, N Brown & Under Armour) | Agency leadership | Speaker

Growth can dilute you if you let it.

That risk is real. I am very aware of it.

Where agencies go wrong is growing inwardly. We hit a ceiling. We look for the next service. We ask what helps us scale.

That is the wrong starting point.

The only direction that matters is outward. What our clients actually need. Where we can genuinely help them go next.

So we asked them. Not hypothetically. Directly.

Digital PR came out top. Not because SEO was lacking. But because SEO and digital PR strengthen each other.

They are not competing services. They are complementary systems.

When combined properly, they create sharper insight, wider reach, and results you can actually measure.

If growth is on your agenda, are you being guided by ambition or by the people you serve?

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