Disconnected marketing channels can severely affect a company's bottom line as well as hide any waste associated with the marketing channel. Many companies will try to eliminate these issues by seeking to hire a single agency or partner to manage all of their channels under one roof. The marketplace is responsive to this need for a single agency with countless options.
Finding the right partner is challenging because many agencies offer a long list of services, and few agencies can connect those services into an overall strategy or plan.
According to the best full-service marketing agencies, they do not only bundle together tasks; they also bundle together many different services (search, paid media, creative work, data tracking) to achieve a common business objective.
The increasing reliance on new technologies has impacted the way in which you evaluate these partners. A strong partner must have a strategy in place to take advantage of AI search readiness, generative engine optimization (GEO), and first-party data strategies. If an agency cannot communicate how its attribution model works, then it is unable to demonstrate its value.
How Much Do Full-Service Marketing Agencies Cost?
Before you actually are able to compare specific agencies, executives will need to be aware of the financial commitments that are industry standard in this service area. As the level of capabilities increases so do the resources that are necessary to deliver those capabilities; therefore full-service marketing agencies are generally going to have a wide range of resource capacity according to their client base.
Based on our industry research, the typical full-service retainer fee for a marketing agency can range from about $5,000 to over $50,000 per month. The retainers do not include any direct advertising expenditures; these expenditures must be paid directly to the networks (Google and Meta, for example) and are separate from the monthly retainers.
Minimum project costs will vary significantly from agency to agency and are heavily dependent on what type of client market they are intended to serve. For instance, agencies like Coalition Technologies or Big Red Jelly, who specialize in serving the small business market, will accept initial project commitments beginning at $1,000.
Mid-market agencies will usually have a minimum threshold of around $5,000 for project commitments. Agencies on the higher end of the spectrum like Valtech will require an initial project commitment in excess of $250,000.
Finally, the time frames associated with any given project may also greatly influence how a company spends its budget. Mirroring the trend of ad spending of mid-sized, large, and the largest bilateral or centralized coordinators, such as brand managers or marketing directors of large companies, in many sectors the ad spending trend mirrors their size and amount of coordination.
The same paradigm of planning used by these corporations is evident in smaller businesses. As reflected in the preceding section, enterprise-level corporations use a high-volume, multi-channel approach to advertising (i.e. online ad spending OA), while developing long-term views of customer engagement (or awareness) based on a series of touchpoints leading back to their original purchase;
Touchpoint(s), customer acquisition, and touchpoint(s), are essentially the same process, but viewed differently based on their volume and cycle of iterations. Conversely, smaller companies are solely focusing on engaging the customers at the point of incoming traffic to convert them into paying customers and/or brand partners.
In short, the vast majority of business models available to, or available to be developed by, small and mid-sized companies (including enterprise) are utilising a singular ad campaign (OA) approach for customer acquisition.
The technologies used to support these channels are continuously evolving through increased use of social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) by consumers, and the many forms of digital marketing (including AdWords and Google, among others).
Enterprise Data & Global Performance Partners
Enterprise-level corporations tend to utilise their size and resources to coordinate marketing plans and media buying, while leveraging the technology that supports these efforts to leverage massive amounts of data (i.e. consumer and marketplace behaviour) to make informed decisions when developing customer experience initiatives on behalf of their customers.
As with smaller corporations, and from an enterprise-level business model, the ultimate outcome of an enterprise-level business is a singular coherent customer experience for all of its customers via the multiple access points (email, social media, etc.) that they leverage when engaging the consumer.
1. Merkle
As a global agency focused solely on leveraging enterprise data and customer insight for the benefit of its customers, they are uniquely positioned to meet the unique needs of brands with large, complex, multi-channel customer databases.
With over 12,000 employees in 50 countries worldwide, they are designed specifically for large, enterprise-level accounts, and as a result of that, they have a unique network of account managers (AMs) in each of their offices to assist brands with managing their enterprise data and customer insights.
2. DEPT
A combined performance, creativity, and technology development agency, DEPT acts as a partner to its clients to provide a comprehensive suite of services required for both performance-driven campaigns (e.g., acquiring customers) and technology-enabled campaigns (e.g., web architecture).
With over 4,000 full-time employees in 22 countries, DEPT has created an extraordinarily extensive amount of value-added technology to integrate technology into performance-driven campaigns, and it is extremely reputable among leading global brands, including Patagonia, eBay, and Dropbox.
3. NP Digital
NP Digital, a global performance marketing agency with extensive expertise in search engine optimization (SEO), has turned their core focus of SEO into a comprehensive digital marketing services proposition.
NP Digital has over 1,000 marketers focusing on organic growth and content marketing and providing deep technical visibility into search.
NP Digital represents a global scale of partners, aligning with major companies such as Adobe and Western Union as clients. They specialize in providing a firm foothold of organic search for the paid media strategy of large corporations.
4. PMG
PMG is a technology-driven agency designed for enterprise and global consumer brands. The company specializes in integrating deep-level data analytics, media buying and creative strategy into a comprehensive strategy.
PMG employs more than 1,000 employees to manage and execute large scale campaigns across all major digital media networks.
PMG develops and utilizes proprietary technology to provide a competitive edge to our clients in very competitive markets.
PMG's proprietary Alli platform is a key differentiator of the company. The Alli platform is an internal technology platform which enables rapid data integration and reporting to provide clear accountability for large international clients.
5. Tinuiti
Tinuiti focuses solely on performance marketing across all major digital platforms. Tinuiti provides media buy management and execution at-scale for streaming ads and deep search marketing.
Tinuiti employs over 1,000 employees to facilitate the optimization of media investment across multiple disconnected digital platforms for large brand clients.
Tinuiti employs a specific optimization methodology, called Bliss Point, to assist brands in finding the optimal location on the curve for maximum incremental return on marketing investments.
Agencies Specializing in B2B, DTC, and Mid-Market Growth
Direct to consumer (DTC) brands require agility along with specialized channel knowledge. Agencies specializing in business-to-business (B2B), direct-to-consumer (DTC), and mid-market growth utilize attribution software and pipeline development.
1. WebFX
WebFX markets itself as a business agency that focuses entirely on producing revenue. Marketing campaigns are all set to measure every dollar spent until it results in a completed sale. The agency employs over 500 people and has successfully managed campaigns for more than 200 different industry types.
The most powerful proof of the agency's ability to generate results comes from the number of verified reviews it has received. The agency utilizes MarketingCloudFX, which allows clients to track revenue analytics and correlate marketing with revenue growth.
2. Power Digital
Power Digital uses data science and a data-led agency approach to help its clients develop full funnel growth. With advanced data modeling, the agency can pinpoint where a client should invest its next dollar.
The agency is staffed with over 400 individuals and the minimum amount a client must commit to a project is $5,000. Most of the agency's traffic originates from the agency's own internal marketing, resulting in approximately 28,300 monthly visits to its website.
The agency has developed its own proprietary nova platform, providing comprehensive attribution reporting to manage campaigns.
3. Wpromote
Wpromote specializes in serving challenger brands looking to steal market share from established companies. The agency's primary focus is on creating aggressive growth media buying and search strategies.
The agency has over 500 specialists on staff and focuses on incrementality measurement, ensuring that every dollar spent creates a sale which would not have occurred without that dollar being spent.
The Polaris methodology is used to manage the operations of the agency. Their strong references demonstrate credibility from clients such as TransUnion and Whirlpool, both of whom are considered large, data-centric brands.
4. Directive
Directive is a highly specialized agency focused entirely on B2B pipeline expansion. They work exclusively with software companies rather than consumer brands, which allows them to specialize in mastering the lengthy process of building long sales cycles.
The agency has more than 200 employees, and their entire business model is based on being able to trace a marketing initiative directly back to its closed revenue in CRM applications like Salesforce.
Directive has a unique system known as Customer Generation. Under this system, Directive has evolved away from traditional lead generation to provide a primary focus on generating sales-qualified pipeline opportunities.
5. New Engen
New Engen has a heavy emphasis on total-funnel growth for consumers. They are particularly suited for DTC brands with high-volume sales needs.
New Engen has more than 200 staff members, and most of what they do revolves around performing rapid-testing with a wide array of creative materials, thus ensuring that creative materials are constantly changing to avoid advertising fatigue on social media outlets.
The key advantage of New Engen is their exceptionally close integration between their media purchasing activity as well as their creative development process. New Engen does not simply purchase advertisements; they develop the specific creative materials that research has demonstrated have the greatest potential for converting audiences within their competitive consumer marketplaces.
SMBs, Locally Serving Agencies, and Creative-First Agencies
Small to medium-sized businesses, local service providers and regional franchise organizations generally require distinctly different strategies. These types of agencies provide budget-friendly options, multi-location capabilities and a solid foundation of web development and search.
1. Ignite Visibility
Ignite Visibility has a very high emphasis on using data-driven forecasting techniques for direct response marketing. Before clients spend a large sum of money on a media buy, Ignite Visibility will establish a detailed projection for that media buy. They are laser focused on multi-location franchises and brands.
They utilize Certainty, a proprietary methodology that allows clients to create expected return maps and ensures predictable results for local companies on a tight budget.
2. Thrive
Thrive is an award-winning agency and has built a reputation for serving both small businesses and multi-location brands. What sets Thrive apart from other marketing agencies is their no-contract policy.
They are an agency with more than 100 employees that specializes in local SEO and uses artificial intelligence to optimize local searches.
Their proof of success is impressive. They are rated 4.6 out of 5 stars from 212 users, and their own footprint generates more than 156,000 visits each month.
3. Coalition Technologies
Coalition Technologies has positioned itself as an all-encompassing agency whose specialty is search engine optimization (SEO). They are ideal for businesses that plan on creating their marketing strategies based entirely around organic search traffic.
Coalition Technologies provides their clients with accessible services, requiring a minimum project budget of just $1,000. This makes Coalition Technologies an excellent option for many local businesses looking to grow.
Coalition Technologies has received 302 reviews and has garnered an incredible 4.8 overall rating. Coalition Technologies is aware that its successful SEO strategy has generated over 143,600 visits to their own website each month.
4. Big Red Jelly
Big Red Jelly is slightly different from the aforementioned agencies in that they place greater emphasis on the creative aspects of a company and developing a brand before worrying about advertising budgets. Big Red Jelly assists companies in refining their core messages and website design.
Similar to Coalition, their entry point for projects is $1,000. They have been in the digital market for 8 successful years.
They receive excellent client feedback; 409 reviews and nearly perfect 4.9 client rating illustrate their strong reputation with small brand-focused clients.
5. SmartSites
Providing small to medium-sized businesses with competitive pricing through highly effective solutions that combine modern web design with aggressive digital marketing and support.
SmartSites has a team of 100+ trained professionals offering a simple and clear methodology for local search, basic PPC and website conversion optimization.
SmartSites has developed a very strong public review profile to demonstrate the strength of their combined offerings of internet plus marketing.
Why Real Integration and AI Matter for Growth
The data confirm what we already know: Checking boxes on a "to-do list" is no longer sufficient to deliver a return on investment; the best partners have been and will be defined by their strong methodologies and their advanced data platforms.
Companies such as Power Digital and PMG provide evidence that proprietary technology (such as nova and Alli) provides an enormous advantage in providing accurate attribution tracking. When marketing activities are fully integrated, businesses can ultimately understand how their investments in organic content drive conversions of ad spend.
In addition, the search industry is experiencing a significant shift toward AI visibility, AEO (answer engine optimization), and generative text models; meaning that agencies will need to begin optimising their content for chatbot recommendations and not just the traditional search engine result page (SERP).
The best fit for your organisation will greatly depend on the size of your company. For example, an enterprise-level organisation trying to force complex data into a small agency will always be delayed because there will be no incentive for the agency to figure it out.
On the other hand, a small local business that engages the services of a large, global agency will likely find itself quickly ignored. The key to selecting the best full-service partner is to align your business size, budget, and specific tracking requirements with the agency’s established historical data.
Executive Q&A: Choosing a Marketing Agency
How do I determine whether an agency is offering bundled services or true channel integration?
An agency that is selling bundled services has totally separate teams performing search, paid media and creative work. Therefore, an agency providing three separate reports with no shared data. In contrast, an agency that offers true channel integration has an established, single attribution model that allows their paid media team to use the data collected from their SEO team to lower cost-per-click and show you how the various channels support each other in closing a sale.
What data points indicate an agency is ready for generative engine optimisation?
In addition to standard traffic reports, an agency that provides modern search should be prepared to discuss their strategy for first-party data and AEO. The agency should have the ability to demonstrate how they structure their clients’ website content in a way that it can be cited by large AI models and chatbots.
If the agency’s entire selling pitch is based solely on keyword volume and basic backlinks, then they are using dated techniques.
How should internal reporting frequency align with the external agency partner?
Communication speed is a key factor for successful campaign performance; therefore, internal reporting of paid media should occur every two weeks at least, as these systems provide the opportunity to identify early indicators in the first 30-60 days.
Internal review of organic and technical content development should take place every month as it can take 4-9 months for this development to reach full effect.
It is critical that all agency campaigns are able to provide data directly into the client’s CRM systems so there is no delay in the reporting of that data.