Foxwell Founders Releases 2026 State of Digital Marketing Agencies Report

The report, in partnership with Motion and based on survey data from over hundreds of agency founders and leaders, examines AI-fueled business challenges, hiring trends, structural threats, the rise of specialization, and more

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., March 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Foxwell Digital has released the 2026 State of Digital Marketing report, based on survey data from hundreds of agency founders and executives from leading digital marketing community Foxwell Founders.

The report, which was produced in partnership with creative analytics leader Motion, provides trending insights on agency growth challenges, channels in scope, threats and opportunities introduced by AI, hiring practices, team composition, and more.

“Between COVID, the rise of AI, and massive economic shifts, agencies have had very little access to reliable benchmarking data in recent years,” Foxwell Digital co-founder Andrew Foxwell said. “We wanted to tap into our membership – which represents one of the world’s strongest communities of agency leaders – to provide objective insights into the shifting agency landscape.”

Foxwell Founders is a tight-knit community of over 550 marketing leaders representing more than 30 countries. Its members manage over $1B of monthly spend, including $500M on Meta alone.

Among the report’s key findings:

• 30% of agency leaders cite AI as the biggest threat to their business in the next 12-24 months
• In-housing, cited by 29% of respondents, is still the most prevalent reason agencies lose clients
• 50% of respondents plan to run lift tests for their clients in 2026
• 45% of respondents cite production as their biggest challenge regarding ad creative
  
  

“In the next few months, the best agencies will crystallize where exactly AI can help them in the creative strategy process,” said James Mulvey, Head of Content at Motion.

"As the benchmark data shows, pure end-to-end AI-generated ads are still a mixed bag when it comes to results. And ad production is still one of the biggest challenges despite having more AI image, editing, and video generation tools than ever before. The best agencies have realized that the bigger utility of AI is in the research and creative analysis phases of their workflows, including generating ad angles and messaging variations, analyzing top ads to figure out what’s working, and reverse engineering competitor creative.”

To download the full report, click here.

About Foxwell Founders

Foxwell Founders is a tight-knit community of marketing leaders that provides deep and intentional support and genuine connection, with values of generosity, honesty, and transparency. The 550-member community, representing more than 30 countries, is full of agency and brand marketing leaders who manage over $1B of monthly spend, including $500M on Meta alone.

Foxwell Founders members get access to a robust Slack channel, on-demand access to premium courses and recorded workshops, invitations to monthly and quarterly in-person events, and a proprietary GPT through which they can access the entire catalog of the community’s thought leadership. The community boasts a 99% retention rate and some of the most influential names in growth and performance marketing. To apply to join Foxwell Founders, click here.

About Motion

Motion is creating the command center for creative strategists. Motion’s AI-powered creative analytics helps users know what’s working in ad creative, why it’s working, and the exact ads to make next.

Motion’s AI automatically analyzes Meta ad data, brand’s audience, and historical winners, giving users ultra-specific recommendations. Brands like Vuori, True Classic, Ridge, Jones Road Beauty, Grüns, Mary Ruths, ILIA Beauty, HexClad, AG1, ClickUp, BYLT, and thousands more use Motion to analyze $14 billion in media spend every year.

Media Contact
Hillary Read
hbread@gmail.com
www.foxwelldigital.com
(603) 359-0039

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