Top digital marketing agencies for growth-driven businesses

When IMPACT was founded in 2009, we entered a heavily competitive marketing space but proceeded to carve out a niche working with many HubSpot-specific customers (and earning our top spot of Partner of the Year in both 2017 and 2018).

But as time went on, we realized that the way people buy was changing — and so with it, our agency model changed too. 

Instead of outsourcing all of your digital sales and marketing efforts to us, we now strive to coach and train your internal team members to execute on best practices internally so you can be the one to truly own your success.

That said, we fully understand that not all companies are looking for a consultancy-modeled agency to work with and would rather lean on an outsourced partner for their digital marketing efforts.

Part of IMPACT’s purpose is to grow businesses and we will always strive to do that, even if that means you will grow your business by working with someone else.

To us, growing businesses is holistic. We aim to help improve your traffic, your revenue, your team, and your company culture. For the sake of this article though, I’m equating growing businesses to growing traffic and revenue, as that is what most company leaders are looking to do first and foremost.

We know we’re not the right match for every company, so below, we have provided an unbiased list of the top digital marketing agencies that focus on growing businesses (in alphabetical order).

1. Big Leap

Big Leap was founded in 2008 by Bryan Phelps “with the sole intention of providing brands with a trustworthy source of organic, sustainable growth.”

Phelps, who developed a love of SEO during his college years, realized that transparency and integrity were hard to come by in the marketing agency world so he decided to create his own company with building trust at the center of its mission.

When a skincare company approached Big Leap for help after some negative media, the agency was able to overhaul their website, content, and targeted keywords to reposition the brand in buyers’ eyes.

“They've significantly improved our ranking on Google in previously challenging markets...Other agencies we've worked with haven't been able to budge our online position, so we're very happy with the results thus far. It's helping our leadership team overcome issues involving prospective employees or purchasers of our products." — Director of Digital Marketing, Skincare Company

What they specialize in:

• SEO marketing
• Content marketing
• Social media marketing
• Marketing automation
• Reputation management
• Conversion rate optimization

2. BluLeadz

You can thank the now-defunct HubSpot TV for introducing BluLeadz CEO Eric Baum to inbound after he realized companies were shifting the way they were approaching marketing. 

Remember when cold calling, mailers, billboards and radio ads were the hot tickets items in marketing strategy?

More than 10 years later and BluLeadz is now one of HubSpot’s Diamond Partner Agencies and home to the Tampa HubSpot User Group.

Janine Lyman from Indexic, Inc. credits her company’s success metrics to her BluLeadz team:

“Every encounter I've had with the Bluleadz team has surpassed my expectations. The business impact they've had has been remarkable as well as continuously going the extra mile without being prompted to. They present themselves as true partners not "just another marketing agency". 

What they specialize in:

• HubSpot onboarding
• Inbound marketing
• Sales enablement
• Sales development strategy
• Website design
• Demand generation

3. BOP Design

BOP Design started in 2008 as a website design firm in California but has since grown to include additional services. Now, they classify themselves as a B2B agency, specializing in marketing and branding.

Recently, when a marketing manager from a technology company in California was looking for better SEO rankings and an increase in online leads, they turned to BOP Design. 

To get the desired results, the BOP Design team created a plan that included:

• SEO keyword research
• On-page rework
• Improved advertising strategy
• AdWords campaign
• Regular content generation
• Monthly newsletter
• Blogging

“We wanted help to research the best keywords for our various product pages, optimize each webpage, and increase our SEO rankings with the goal of increasing our online leads.

Within the last few weeks, we've seen our SEO rankings improve, our web traffic increase and we've received over 20 new website leads. Our Sales team is also vey happy with the quality of the leads.”

What they specialize in:

• Content marketing
• Social media
• Copywriting
• Email marketing
• Blog content
• SEO
• Branding
• Logo design
• Branding and marketing materials
• Website Design
• Web Development
• WordPress Web Design
• Responsive Design

4. Element Three

Tiffany Sauder left her corporate financial analyst job back in 2006 to start Element Three (E3) and has since grown the company to be one of the largest marketing firms in the Midwest. 

The team particularly is talented in branding and creative, which was a skill they used when working with luxury boat manufacturer Boston Whaler. 

With E3, Boston Whaler wanted to update their website, with a special focus given to their digital “Build Your Whaler” tool.

The Element Three team “modernized the look and feel of the website by adding lifestyle and product imagery throughout the site, and created a responsive design to improve user experience across all devices.

To solve a major pain point for both dealers and consumers, Element Three upgraded the “Build

Your Whaler” boat-building tool, creating a 3D experience that allows users to see their boat from different views. The team added the option for users to download a PDF of the boat, email the information, share the boat on social media, or contact a dealer after using the tool to encourage content sharing and generate new leads for Boston Whaler.”

The results?

“Overall, traffic increased 99.06%, “Have A Dealer Contact Me” SQL form submissions increased by 130%, and “Request a Quote” SQL form submissions increased by 1245.45%.” 

What they specialize in:

• Brand development
• Digital marketing
• Web development
• Virtual event consulting
• Multi-channel marketing
• Creative services
• Marketing technology
• Employer branding

5. Ignite Visibility

Ignite Visibility is a full-service digital marketing agency based in San Diego, CA that focuses on growing businesses online.

For example, a plastic surgery practice hired Ignite Visibility for various digital marketing services including SEO, social media marketing, Google ads, and content creation.

“Since the implementation of Ignite Visibility's campaigns, stakeholders have seen a 100% increase in traffic as well as an improvement in qualified leads by over 60%. Along the way, the team was highly adaptive, versatile, and organized.” 

What they specialize in:

• Search engine optimization
• International search marketing
• Local search marketing
• Pay per click advertising
• Social media marketing
• Email marketing
• Conversion rate optimization
• Public relations
• Website design and development
• Reporting and analytics
• Amazon marketplace
• Franchise marketing
• Digital marketing strategy

6. Jacob Tyler

Though Jacob Tyler’s portfolio consists of big brand names like The Four Seasons and Health.gov, the nearly 20-year old company does not discriminate against who they work with based on company size.

Founder Les Kollegian explains that when he was first establishing his company, he “wanted Jacob Tyler to be the Kenneth Cole of graphic design” by providing great customer experience and top-quality products at a reasonable price. 

When a Swedish Study Abroad Program company was looking for just that, Jacob Tyler delivered.

“Jacob Tyler created a brand new website and built application software to attract and lead more students to apply and enroll in a university study abroad program.

Jacob Tyler’s new website resulted in immediate positive feedback and an almost 30% increase in applications. Their personal attention and ability to listen to the client’s needs and respond thoughtfully were most notable.”

What they specialize in:

• Brand development 
• Digital marketing 
• Social media 
• Web design 
• Traditional/Print 
• Analytics 
• Out-of-Home market research
• Company/Product naming 
• Marketing strategy 
• Visual identity 
• User experience 
• Logo design 
• eCommerce 
• Video production 
• Mobile applications

7. LYFE Marketing

LYFE Marketing was founded in 2011 with one goal in mind: to help small to medium-sized businesses grow. Specifically, businesses with less than $10M/year in revenue.

“Most marketing agencies boast their work with Fortune 500 companies worth billions of dollars. If you’re looking for that agency, that isn’t us.”

For instance, a dog lifestyle brand hired LYFE Marketing to handle all social media ads and manage subscriber emails. 

“Since the beginning of the partnership, email subscriptions have grown by more than 1500 subscribers. E-commerce sales have increased by 1957%, revenue is up by 2128%, and the average sale is up by 8.3%. Conversion rates are up by 0.64% as well.”

What they specialize in:

• Social media marketing
• Social media advertising
• SEO
• PPC management
• Email marketing
• Content marketing
• Video production
• Internet marketing

8. New Breed

New Breed works with more than 200 B2B clients in a range of verticals including SaaS, telecommunications, IT services, manufacturing, and business services.

The company prides itself on operating as your strategic partner and as an extension of your team.

Phill Thompson from CloudFactory recently noted:

 “We've been working with New Breed for about six months. Their performance throughout has been excellent, and having worked for and with many agencies, I can honestly say the folks at New Breed are the best. I recently went on paternity leave and upon returning I was very impressed with how New Breed had continued to assist my team in a very professional, data-driven manner while I was gone. 

They've been an excellent consultative team of experts to work with while assisting us in attracting new visitors, leads, and improving our systems internally. Thanks to the work they've been able to complete alongside my team, I can start to focus on other areas of our business to continue our growth.” 

What they specialize in:

• Search engine optimization
• Blog writing
• Website strategy
• Conversion optimization
• Paid advertising
• Content development
• Inbound marketing
• Revenue operations
• Sales enablement

9. Storm Brain

According to Clutch.co, “Storm Brain is a digital agency specializing in digital marketing campaigns, brand strategy, design, web and e-commerce development, as well as services related to the implementation of creative marketing strategy.”

Their services may seem like a little bit of everything but Storm Brain seems to do a great job of coordinating multiple strategies to drive results for their clients. 

A foreign language institution recently worked with Storm Brain on custom digital marketing strategies to increase site traffic. 

“Our search engine ranking has increased dramatically since Storm Brain refined our digital marketing strategies. We have also noticed a 30% increase in site traffic and a significant improvement in conversion. Although they were unfamiliar with our industry, they completely understood our business needs and how to solve them. They generated a ton of creative solutions within our first meeting.”

What they specialize in:

• Web development
• Digital marketing
• SEO
• Social media marketing

10. Weidert Group

As an employee-owned agency, it’s safe to say Weidert Group has a stake in your success. The company prides itself on working with those in “complex industries,” such as industrial manufacturing, insurance, and financing.

Earlier this year, Alan S from Pumptec, Inc shared his experience in working with Weidert Group.

“After interviewing several marketing firms to elevate our marketing efforts, create and implement an inbound marketing strategy, and reinvent our website, Pumptec selected Weidert to lead these efforts. Simply stated, we could not be happier with our decision. 

Weidert is everything any company could want in a business partner. Notably, their project team’s communication and consultation with Pumptec’s own team is excellent and we truly believe they are 110% invested in wanting to understand Pumptec’s needs and deliver the finest product possible to Pumptec. Indeed, our sense is that while Weidert may be a for-profit company, helping other companies succeed and being proud of what they have done for their clients is just as important, if not more so.”

What they specialize in:

• Strategy and training
• Content and PR
• Website development
• Growth driven design
• Inbound sales
• Video
• Email and marketing automation
• SEO
• Social media
• Paid media
• Account-based marketing
• HubSpot onboarding

How to choose which digital marketing agency is best for your growth-driven business

Now that we’ve gone through the top digital marketing agencies for growth-driven businesses, I’m sure your next question is “OK, what next?”

I highly recommend looking into each of the agencies above to determine if their services align with your needs. 

From there, you should then connect with the few remaining agencies to determine whose processes and methodology you most align with. 

Do you want a partner that you can pick up the phone and call at any hour of the day? Do you want to be able to establish your marketing strategy on your own and have someone execute it for you? 

Think critically about how much ownership and involvement you want your team to have in your digital sales and marketing efforts. Knowing your preferences will help ensure you choose the best digital marketing agency for your business.

We’d love to connect with you if you’re unsure of how much ownership your team can (or should) take.

We’ll be honest in telling you what kind of investment it will take to see the results you want and need, and will let you know if you’re better suited for an agency model like those included above or an agency model more in line with what IMPACT provides.