Amanda Schomaker, Head of Growth at 1905 New Media, joins Michael Barber to talk about growing an agency while adopting AI and protecting the client experience.

Amanda shares lessons from running her own boutique agency, why poor scoping can damage profitability, and how acquisitions should add capabilities without creating a disjointed business.

She explains how 1905 uses its in-house tool Kirk to help clients interact with marketing data, how her team is beginning to measure AI visibility, and why branded search trends can offer useful signals when attribution is changing.

The conversation closes on what agencies can offer when clients arrive with an AI-generated marketing plan: human touch, critical thinking, judgment, logic, and taste.

Get Your Exclusive AIO Growth Plan - We’ll kick off with a Live AIO Audit to see how shoppers find you, followed by Competitor Research to steal their spotlight: https://lunacal.ai/team/dws/dws-meetings

In this episode, we discuss:

00:00 - 01:35: Introduction

01:35 - 02:52: Running a Boutique Agency

02:52 - 04:52: Building a Brand for Live Production

04:52 - 06:32: Feasibility Studies and Market Demand

06:32 - 09:09: Growing a 120-Year-Old Agency

09:09 - 11:44: Integrating Acquisitions

11:44 - 14:07: Layering New Processes Into Legacy Businesses

14:07 - 18:05: Why Build AI Tools In-House

18:05 - 19:44: Letting Clients Interact With Their Data

19:44 - 23:00: Measuring SEO in AI Search

23:00 - 24:49: What Makes Content Credible to AI

24:49 - 26:28: A Cross-Industry Growth Lens

26:28 - 28:47: Why Traffic Does Not Equal Demand

28:47 - 30:21: The Human Advantage in AI

30:21 - 32:04: Closing Thoughts

 Connect with Amanda Schomaker

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/aschomaker

 https://1905newmedia.com/

 FOLLOW US

Website: https://www.digitalwebsolutions.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digiwebsol

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dws_global

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-web-solutions./