Specialists for every area of your agency’s business.
Marketing, technology, governance, tax, legal, business strategy and finance: seven strategic consulting areas for Partner agencies, led by people who have run agencies themselves. On scale projects, MAI is paid through a success fee.
- Strategic MarketingPositioning that attracts the right client, at the right price.
- TechnologyThe right stack: connected, automated and cheaper.
- GovernanceProcesses that work without relying on a hero.
- TaxThe right tax, under the right regime, with no cash-flow surprises.
- LegalContracts that protect your margin and your client base.
- Business StrategyA strategy to grow with margin, not just volume.
- Strategic FinanceKnow how much margin each client leaves.
Strategic Marketing
Positioning that attracts the right client, at the right price.
Client acquisition is the main pain point for 47% of agencies, and 34% have no upsell strategy. When 28% of new clients come from referrals, growth depends on luck.
Sources: MAI, 2026 Market Study, based on RD Station; RD Station, 2026 Panorama; Censo Agências 2024, Brazilian agency census (via MAI, 2026 Benchmarks); RD Station, 2026 Panorama (via MAI, 2026 Benchmarks).
| Channel | % of new clients |
|---|---|
| Referrals | 28% |
| Outbound | 20% |
| Digital marketing | 18% |
| Partnerships | 17% |
What we do
- Agency positioning and value proposition
- ICP and priority segments
- Service portfolio and bundled offers, including Hub licenses
- Multichannel acquisition plan, plus upsell and cross-sell across your client base
Benefits for your agency
- A pipeline that depends less on referrals
- A higher average ticket, with bundled offers and recurring licenses
- Fewer off-profile clients eating into your margin
- A ready-made sales pitch to sell AI to your clients
Deliverables
- Positioning and ICP map
- Priced offer catalog
- 90-day acquisition plan
- Sales script
KPIs we track
- CAC
- Proposal conversion
- Average ticket
- % of revenue from upsell
Technology
The right stack: connected, automated and cheaper.
Every new client brings yet another subscription, and your team becomes the bridge between logins. The stack the Hub replaces costs R$1,700 to R$16,000 a month in the Brazilian market.
Source: MAI estimate, 2026 reference.
- Google Ads
- Meta Ads
- Analytics
- CRM
- SEO
- WordPress
- Landing pages
- Chatbot
- Spreadsheets
- Reports
10 separate tool categories, each with its own subscription and login.
What we do
- Audit of your stack and tool cost per client
- Designing the operation in the Hub: what goes in, where and in what order
- Automations and integrations, with MAI DEV PRO when a feature is missing
- AI applied to processes, with governance and a log of what each agent did
Benefits for your agency
- Fewer subscriptions per client
- Less rework between tools
- Each client’s data in one place
- Your team on strategy, AI on operations
Deliverables
- Current stack × target stack map
- Migration plan
- Automations in place
- Documentation for the team
KPIs we track
- Tool cost per client
- Manual hours per deliverable
- Number of tools per client
Governance
Processes that work without relying on a hero.
60% of agencies have no defined SLA and 26% use no project methodology. The result: late deliverables, anxious clients and owners fighting fires.
Source: RD Station, 2026 Panorama; Censo Agências 2024, Brazilian agency census (via MAI, 2026 Benchmarks).
| Cadence | Ritual | When |
|---|---|---|
| Week | Operations review | Every week |
| Two weeks | SLA check | Every two weeks |
| Month | Owners’ review | Once a month |
What we do
- Process design between account management and operations
- SLAs per deliverable and per client
- Management rituals: weekly, biweekly and monthly
- Roles and responsibilities (who does it, who approves, who is informed)
- LGPD compliance in AI-powered operations
Benefits for your agency
- Predictable, on-time deliverables
- Clients who know what to expect, and renew
- New hires productive sooner
- Less risk when using client data
Deliverables
- Operations playbook
- SLA matrix
- Ritual calendar
- LGPD checklist
KPIs we track
- % of on-time deliverables
- Rework
- Client onboarding time
- NPS
Tax
The right tax, under the right regime, with no cash-flow surprises.
In the MAI cost model scenarios, taxes take 11.8% to 20% of an agency’s revenue. Moving up a tax bracket without planning eats the margin you just won.
Source: MAI cost and margin model (Simples Nacional tax regime, CLT payroll, R$3,500 average ticket), estimated values.
MAI cost model, Simples Nacional regime; estimated values for planning.
| Agency | Taxes (% of revenue) |
|---|---|
| Agency A (5 people · 20 clients · R$70.0K/month) | 11.8% |
| Agency B (10 people · 50 clients · R$175.0K/month) | 20% |
What we do
- Diagnosis of your current tax regime (Simples Nacional, Lucro Presumido or Lucro Real) and annex
- Tax planning in line with expected growth
- Billing structure for services, licenses and commissions
- Preparing for the tax reform transition (IBS and CBS)
Benefits for your agency
- No overpaid taxes, always within the law
- Predictable cash flow, with the tax calendar in the plan
- Growth with no surprises when you change bracket or regime
- Commission revenue well structured from day one
Deliverables
- Tax diagnosis
- Side-by-side regime simulation
- Tax regime plan
- Tax calendar
KPIs we track
- Effective tax burden (% of revenue)
- Cash-flow predictability
Led by licensed professionals.
I want this consulting serviceLegal
Contracts that protect your margin and your client base.
Open scope turns into unbilled work. A weak contract turns into late payments, disputes over creative work and risk with client data, even more so once AI enters the operation.
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What we do
- Review of client contracts: scope, SLA, price adjustment, penalties and termination
- Contracts with suppliers and freelancers
- Intellectual property and the use of AI in creative work and data
- LGPD: data processing terms with clients and suppliers
- Corporate structuring to grow, raise capital or sell
Benefits for your agency
- Closed scope: less work outside the contract
- Predictable price adjustments and billing
- Confidence to use AI with client data
- A corporate structure ready for the next stage
Deliverables
- Contract templates
- AI and data addendum
- Data processing terms
- Corporate legal opinion
KPIs we track
- Late payments
- Out-of-scope hours
- Time to close a contract
Led by licensed attorneys.
I want this consulting serviceBusiness Strategy
A strategy to grow with margin, not just volume.
The average fee is R$5,795.70 per client, and each account professional handles 7.8 clients. Growing only by hiring caps your margin and keeps the owner stuck in operations.
Source: Censo Agências 2024 (Brazilian agency census).
Today, revenue is a single block: hours sold. With MAI, it splits into fee, recurring licenses and projects. Illustrative proportions, no values.
Illustrative.
Recurring revenue is worth more
Digital marketing agencies are valued at 2 to 5x EBITDA, and recurring contracts are worth more than projects.
What we do
- Business and revenue model: fee, project, license and recurrence
- Growth plan: new services, markets and partnerships
- Leadership structure, so the owner can step out of operations
- Preparation for fundraising, new partners, a merger or a sale
Benefits for your agency
- The owner out of day-to-day operations and into strategy
- More recurring revenue, which is worth more when you raise capital or sell
- Expansion with a plan, a target and an owner
- Partnerships that bring in clients
Deliverables
- 12-month business plan
- Revenue model
- Target org chart
- Agency value thesis
KPIs we track
- % of recurring revenue
- Revenue per employee
- Client base growth
Strategic Finance
Know how much margin each client leaves.
In the MAI cost model scenarios, the team consumes 38% to 49% of revenue and each client costs R$2.6k to R$2.8k a month. Without a P&L per client, the agency grows and the margin disappears.
Source: MAI cost and margin model (Simples Nacional tax regime, CLT payroll, R$3,500 average ticket), estimated values.
From revenue to net margin
| Line | Amount per month | % of revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | R$70,000 | 100% |
| Team | −R$34,164 | 48.8% |
| Tools | −R$2,968 | 4.2% |
| Overhead | −R$11,383 | 16.3% |
| Taxes | −R$8,230 | 11.8% |
| Net margin | R$13,255 | 18.9% |
Source: MAI cost and margin model (Simples Nacional tax regime, CLT payroll, R$3,500 average ticket), estimated values.
What we do
- Management P&L for the agency
- Cost and margin per client and per deliverable
- Pricing based on target margin
- Cash flow and working capital
- Financial targets and OKRs (stages 1 and 2 of the MAI Method), tracked in the admin module of the Partner Workspace
Benefits for your agency
- Know which accounts are profitable and which drain you
- Prices that cover the operation and leave a margin
- Predictable cash flow, no end-of-month squeeze
- Decisions based on data, not gut feeling
Deliverables
- Management P&L
- Profitability map per client
- Pricing policy
- 12-month cash-flow forecast
KPIs we track
- Net margin
- Margin per client
- Cash cycle
- Late payments
MAI Method
How it works: the MAI Method.
Every consulting service follows the MAI Method. The specialists work with your agency, behind the scenes.
- Financial01
Financial Diagnosis
AI-powered onboarding with MAI BUSINESS: KPIs, P&L and the cost of each process.
Deliverable: Financial dossier and process map
- Financial02
OKRs and Targets
OKRs and a target value for each production stage, tied directly to margin.
Deliverable: OKR tree and targets per stage
- Operations03
AI Implementation
Specialist agents in the operation and a team trained to use them day to day.
Deliverable: Implementation playbook and trained team
- Growth04
Measured Results
A measured operation: real time, cost and margin after AI.
Deliverable: Results dashboard
- Growth05
Scale
Action plans for new clients and agency expansion.
Deliverable: Expansion plan
On scale projects, the fee is a success fee: tied to the result defined in the plan. The terms are presented at the alignment meeting.
MAI BUSINESS is the diagnostic AI used in stage 1 of the Method. Not to be confused with the Business Strategy consulting service.
MAI Specialists
Who leads the work.
People with years of experience in marketing, technology and business, who have run an agency’s operations from the inside.
In focus
Strategic Marketing
Sharpens your agency’s strategic positioning in the market: who it sells to, why it gets chosen and what it can charge.
Technology
A martech view: technology and marketing integrated, focused on results, not on tools.
Business Strategy
A 360° view of every area of the business, so decisions use the full picture, not fragments.
Tax and legal work is led by licensed professionals.
- Behind the scenes: your client never sees the consulting.
- The deadline for each deliverable is set in writing before we start.
- Every area follows the MAI Method, from financial diagnosis to scale.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
How does the success fee work?
On scale projects run with MAI specialists, the fee is tied to the result defined in the plan. The terms are presented at the alignment meeting.
Does the consulting show up for my client?
No. The specialists work with your agency, behind the scenes.
How long does it take?
It depends on the area and the plan. The deadline for each deliverable is set in writing before we start.
Can I hire just one area?
Yes. Each area can be hired on its own, and the diagnosis shows where to begin.
Talk to a specialist
Tell us which area matters most today.
A MAI specialist replies within 1 business day. If you don’t know the area yet, the diagnosis shows where to begin.
Ready to go with MAI?
Lower operating costs, recurring revenue from every client you activate and specialists to help you scale. All in the same Hub.
- No sign-up fee
- Reply within 1 business day
- No punitive quotas