In this episode of Creative Outcomes, Ryan Watson breaks down how agency owners should approach compensation planning for 2027, including raises, promotions, benefits, bonuses, and the impact each decision has on profitability.

The big idea: compensation decisions shouldn’t happen in a vacuum.

If the average cost of your team increases faster than the realized rate you’re earning from their work, your margins are going to feel it. Ryan walks through how to use cost of living, salary bands, team structure, and your agency’s pricing model to put financial guardrails around what can otherwise feel like a subjective exercise.

In this episode:

- How to think about raises vs. promotions

- Why cost of living can be a useful starting point for annual raises

- How compensation increases affect gross margin

- Why y ...