Top 10 Performance Marketing Agencies in 2026

Top 10 performance marketing agencies at a glance

Agency	Best for	Clients
	B2C businesses	Columbia Sportswear, Allbirds, Instacart
	B2C businesses	Under Armour, Specsavers, Burger King
	B2B and B2C businesses	Microsoft, Verizon, Honda
	B2C businesses	Poppi, TOMS, Rack Room Shoes
	B2B and B2C businesses	Peacock, Whirlpool, Intuit QuickBooks
	B2C businesses	Therabody, Ring, Olipop
	B2B and B2C businesses	Toyota, L’Oréal, American Express
	B2B SaaS companies and startups	HR Cloud, Tapfiliate, Caden
	B2B businesses	Autodesk, Snowflake, Fastly
	B2C businesses	CubeSmart, Colgate, Ocean Spray

Marketing budgets average nearly 8% of company revenue in 2026, according to Gartner’s 2026 CMO Spend Survey.

That’s a worthy investment when the return on investment (ROI) is high.

And that’s exactly what a qualified performance marketing agency offers: a higher ROI and less wasted spend.

With that in mind, we’ve rounded up the top agencies in the industry to make sure you get the most out of your marketing budget.

How we chose the top performance marketing agencies

We evaluated performance marketing agencies against five criteria, then verified every profile against each agency’s own website, case studies, and public announcements in September 2026.

This includes:

• Documented results: Published case studies with measurable outcomes, such as revenue growth, return on ad spend (ROAS), or cost per acquisition (CPA).
• Performance channel depth: Proven expertise in channels measured on results, including paid search, paid social, affiliate, retail media, and streaming TV.
• Measurement and technology: Proprietary platforms or analytics that connect ad spend to business outcomes.
• Client roster and fit: Verifiable clients and a clear focus on B2B brands, B2C brands, or both.
• Current standing: Active operations, with any recent acquisitions or ownership changes noted in the agency’s profile.

Top 10 performance marketing agencies

1. Acceleration Partners

Acceleration Partners is a global affiliate and influencer marketing agency that works with more than 200 brands, with one prominent value point: global expansion.

You might have a solid partner base of U.S. publishers, but what if your offerings could cross borders into the audiences of international influencers?

This performance marketing agency helps you visualize that jump, boasting an average of 36% year-over-year program growth for clients.

They’re also known for effective scaling. A loyalty affiliate campaign for Reebok increased revenue 161% year-over-year.

Acceleration Partners uses its affiliate network connections and APVision, its enterprise data warehouse and reporting platform with AI-driven insights, to turn accurate program data into actionable recommendations.

Best for: B2C businesses

Services:

• Partner optimization
• Partner recruitment
• Data and analysis
• Program design
• Global and regional management
• Full program management
• Influencer marketing (AP Influence)
• Compliance and fraud monitoring

Clients:

• Bonafide
• Columbia Sportswear
• Instacart
• Allbirds

2. Merkle

Merkle, a dentsu company, is a one-stop shop for customer experience marketing, specializing in data and analytics, loyalty programs, experience design, B2B marketing, and more.

A self-declared provider of customer experience transformation, the Merkle team is a jack of all trades.

While they span many industries, they boast impressive work in healthcare. Using audience insights and addressable TV, Merkle helped City of Hope (formerly Cancer Treatment Centers of America) reach 2 million target households and improve cost per acquired patient by 25%.

Client reviews applaud Merkle’s expertise in streamlining internet marketing efforts for large organizations.

Dentsu continues to consolidate its digital agency brands. In May 2026, it folded Merkle’s local operations in Australia and New Zealand into dentsu, so confirm which team will staff your account before you sign.

Best for: B2C businesses

Services:

• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Paid search
• Data and analytics
• User experience
• Content creation
• Roadmap development
• Social audit
• Partner recruitment
• Social media management and marketing
• Email marketing
• Loyalty and engagement programs

Clients:

• Under Armour
• Specsavers
• KFC
• Burger King

3. HawkSEM

When we say we’re industry leaders, we mean it.

Founded in 2006, HawkSEM is an award-winning digital advertising agency with a data-driven approach that improves performance and increases ROI for our clients.

We’ve also been a Google Premier Partner since 2025, a status reserved for the top 3% of Google Partners.

To find your best leads, we use A/B testing and performance analysis backed by the latest industry knowledge and tech.

Our team of senior-level experts and search engine marketing strategists has years of experience in a full suite of digital marketing services, from paid search to SEO to paid social media marketing.

And then there’s our not-so-secret sauce: HawkSEM’s exclusive, proprietary tech platform ConversionIQ, which helps automate growth signals, improve lead generation, monitor trend performance, create customized reports, and more.

The results? There are many, but a few highlights include creating campaigns for Honda that reached 30 million people and helping Verizon Digital Media grow conversions by more than 3,200%.

All of this adds up to a loyal client base, with a 98% retention rate and an average 4.5X client ROI.

Best for: B2B and B2C businesses

Services:

• Pay-per-click (PPC) campaign management
• Google Ads
• Performance display
• Landing page web design
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Conversion rate optimization (CRO)
• Paid social
• Content marketing
• A/B testing
• Campaign strategy and execution
• Amazon marketing
• ROI and conversion tracking

Clients:

• DIRECTV
• Verizon Media
• Microsoft
• Nike

4. Tinuiti

Seeking an agency with deep affiliate marketing expertise? Tinuiti is the largest independent full-funnel marketing agency in the U.S., with $4 billion in digital media under management and a special interest in affiliate partnerships, commerce media, and streaming TV.

Tinuiti is backed by New Mountain Capital and more than 1,000 employee owners.

It was named a Strong Performer in a Q4 2024 Forrester Wave report on media management and became a Certified Google Meridian Partner in September 2025.

Best for: B2C businesses

Services:

• Lifecycle marketing
• Paid social
• Amazon, Walmart, and Target ecommerce sales
• Full-service funnel solution for influencer marketing
• Programmatic display
• Careful partner recruitment and vetting
• Streaming TV and online video
• Paid search and AI SEO

Clients:

• Poppi
• TOMS
• Wild Planet
• Rack Room Shoes

5. Wpromote

In November 2025, Wpromote acquired creative agency Giant Spoon and now operates as Wpromote x Giant Spoon, pairing performance media with brand creative.

Wpromote’s combined marketing expertise and proprietary tech, Polaris IQ, cut through siloed and inaccurate data to present clear cross-channel insights and marketing solutions.

Notice a growing target audience on TikTok and Instagram? Wpromote will dive deep into each channel, carefully selecting potential influencer partnerships based on a rigorous assessment of their audiences for improved brand awareness, customer engagement, and diversified content.

Wpromote runs full affiliate program management, from partner recruitment to ongoing optimization. Then, the company wraps it all together with historical data and trends to inform its recommendations and strategies.

The results? Wpromote’s work with Frontier Airlines delivered 3.5X bookings and 7X return on ad spend, according to the agency’s case study.

Best for: B2B and B2C businesses

Services:

• SEO and PPC
• Amazon
• Data science and modeling
• Affiliate marketing
• Influencer marketing
• Partner recruitment
• Paid social
• Data visualization
• AI search and generative engine optimization (GEO)
• Brand creative

Clients:

• Peacock
• Whirlpool
• Spindrift
• Intuit QuickBooks

6. MuteSix

MuteSix is a full-funnel performance marketing agency with a special focus on media buying, ad creation, and omnichannel strategies.

Considering marketers use only 33% of their martech stack’s capabilities, MuteSix’s connected, cross-channel approach is appealing.

If you’re looking to expand your reach on social media, this agency offers support with tailored strategies for TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram, plus retail media on Amazon, Walmart, and Target.

Their strategies are data-backed and focus on improving brand social media profiles rather than merely enlisting influencer marketing support.

For Ring, MuteSix scaled ad spend 300% while cutting cost per acquisition 52%.

Reviews are largely positive, with many clients citing tangible improvements to their marketing campaigns.

Lunar Solar Group acquired MuteSix from dentsu in October 2024, and the agency now operates as Lunar’s media and creative division.

Best for: B2C businesses

Services:

• Conversion rate optimization
• Custom data reporting
• First-party data
• Native advertising
• Social media, channel-specific strategies
• Retail media
• TV and connected TV (CTV)
• Lifecycle marketing (CRM, SMS, and email)

Clients:

• Therabody
• Ring
• Olipop
• Vita Coco

7. iCrossing

Seeking a customer-centric agency? Digital marketing agency iCrossing, owned by Hearst, centers its performance marketing services around providing an impeccable customer experience through performance media and data analytics.

Brands will appreciate iCrossing’s impressive tech stack and partnerships. Through technology partnerships with Adobe, AWS, Google Cloud, Salesforce, and Shopify, iCrossing tailors every strategy with tech-driven workflows and marketing automation to improve each client’s performance.

That focus extends to turning browsers into buyers. Its case studies include product page conversion rate optimization for L’Oréal Paris. Clients praise the company’s flexible services, client-centric approach, and clear communication.

Best for: B2B and B2C businesses

Services:

• Content creation
• Web analytics
• 360 customer profiles
• Media strategy
• SEO
• Paid search and social
• AI discoverability

Clients:

• Toyota
• Charles Schwab
• L’Oréal
• American Express

8. Deviate Labs

Deviate Labs is the agency you hire when you’re looking for performance marketing with an X-factor.

Like every other performance marketing agency, Deviate Labs builds high-performing demand generation funnels fueled by performance marketing best practices to predictably produce marketing-qualified leads.

Unlike every other agency, Deviate Labs pairs their bespoke services with creative marketing stunts, clever growth hacking tactics (they literally wrote the book on growth hacking), and other organic campaigns in pursuit of the coveted $0 marginal cost customer.

Client reviews applaud Deviate Labs’ ability to adapt and optimize campaigns as projects evolve.

One client, Tapfiliate, said, “After having gone through several marketing agencies, Deviate Labs is the first one to truly ‘get’ it…Deviate Labs really looked at what was needed for our specific business and then came up with a solid combination of tried and tested channels.”

Best for: B2B SaaS companies and startups

Services:

• Performance marketing funnels
• Product-led growth
• Account-based marketing (ABM)
• Stunt marketing
• Growth hacking tactics
• Search engine optimization
• Content marketing
• Influencer marketing
• Ad creative development
• Conversion tracking
• PPC (Google, Meta, and LinkedIn)
• GEO and AI search optimization

Clients:

• HR Cloud
• Tapfiliate
• Caden
• Radix (.TECH domains)

9. Obility

Obility is a digital marketing company specializing in services for tech and SaaS companies, boasting Autodesk and Snowflake in their client roster.

They support businesses in distinguishing MQLs from SQLs (marketing-qualified leads from sales-qualified leads), a helpful qualifier for the average SaaS business’s longer sales cycle.

Custom strategies use SEO, paid search, and revenue attribution to grow rankings and revenue for their expanding roster of customers. Obility holds a 4.8 rating from 28 reviews on Clutch as of September 2026.

Best for: B2B businesses

Services:

• B2B paid search
• Paid social
• B2B SEO
• Revenue attribution
• Generative engine optimization (GEO)
• Content creation

Clients:

• Autodesk
• Juniper Networks
• Fastly
• Snowflake

10. DMi Partners

DMi Partners takes an omnichannel approach with clients, analyzing and optimizing every stage in the customer journey with custom affiliate marketing and SEO strategies.

The average DMi employee has worked at the agency for more than six years, and the agency prides itself on a responsive, accessible work ethic. DMi was also named one of Inc.’s 2026 Best Workplaces.

DMi Partners lists a $5,000 minimum project size on Clutch, which makes it a fit for growing brands with an established marketing budget.

This marketing firm adds a down-to-earth feel to its highly professional marketing services.

They demonstrate a dedication to their clients through positive client reviews and case studies showing unique solutions to complicated client challenges. (For example, they created an entire website for Philadelphia baked goods brand Tastykake in 24 hours.)

Best for: B2C businesses

Services:

• Affiliate marketing
• Influencer marketing strategy
• Full-funnel growth marketing
• Paid search
• Paid social
• TikTok Shop and Amazon affiliate
• SEO and GEO

Clients:

• CubeSmart
• Colgate
• Ocean Spray
• Unilever

What is a performance marketing agency?

A performance marketing agency is a marketing and advertising agency that focuses on driving a specific, measurable result, such as clicks, leads, or sales.

This type of agency devises marketing strategies that deliver short-term results. Reporting and pricing typically tie back to those results through metrics like cost per acquisition (CPA) and return on ad spend (ROAS).

Performance marketing agencies may support a range of channels, including:

• SEO
• Google Ads
• Paid social
• Amazon marketing
• CRO
• Partner marketing
• Email marketing
• Influencer marketing
• Retail media
• Streaming TV and connected TV (CTV)

Benefits of a performance marketing agency

Performance marketing agencies help you meet your specific business goals through custom digital strategies and data-driven campaigns.

You may have a solid affiliate network with dozens of publishers promoting your brand. You might even have an entire in-house marketing team, but the right agency can help you overcome performance plateaus.

For example, a performance marketing agency can help you:

• Respond quickly to dips in revenue
• Identify which affiliates and campaigns bring you the most traffic and conversions (and which ones bring you the least)
• Engage your highest-performing partners
• Uncover which digital channels perform the best and worst
• Regularly manage and respond to insights like these to build a profitable campaign

How to pick the right performance marketing agency

The best performance marketing agencies help you make sense of endless data and pick the most valuable insights to propel your marketing goals.

How do you pick the right one? Consider performance marketing agencies that:

• Use proprietary software to collect, record, and analyze performance metrics in one place
• Have proven expertise and success in your marketing channels and models of choice
• Feel intuitive and easy to work with; high ratings and great reviews speak volumes
• Provide flexible services to adapt to your niche, size, channels, and growth goals
• Have experience in your industry
• Report on business outcomes like revenue, pipeline, and CPA rather than clicks and impressions alone
• Are transparent about ownership and who will staff your account, since agency acquisitions and mergers are common

Can’t decide if a particular agency is the right fit for your business? “Look for testimonials,” advises Sergey Taver, marketing manager at Precision Watches.

More specifically, he looks for agencies with strong past results and testimonials from clients who have worked with brands in a similar niche.

When to hire a performance marketing agency

The ideal timing for hiring an agency depends on your business model and campaign schedule. Many businesses opt to seek an agency after reaching a certain stage of growth.

For Pavel Naydenov, head of marketing at Businessmap, “The right time to hire a performance marketing agency is when you feel your in-house efforts have hit a plateau or when you need expertise that your current team lacks.”

Taver recommends hiring an agency when your business plans to expand into new markets.

“This is usually the time that you need to do sophisticated targeted marketing campaigns,” explains Taver. “You’ll be doing lots of A/B testing and trying out different campaigns for different personas.”

How to partner with an agency to maximize success

The keys to partnering with a performance marketing agency revolve around communication and measurement. Before hiring an agency, make sure you’re on the same page about both of these elements.

“During the discovery call, I ask how the agency intends to measure success,” explains Naydenov. “It’s crucial to find an agency that aligns with your definition of ‘success’ and can deliver on those terms.”

“Ensure you have a designated rep and a clear progress tracking system,” recommends Brooke Webber, head of marketing at Ninja Patches. Clearing this up right away can avoid miscommunication.

“Prioritize asking about lines of communication and where you can personally go to check in on campaign progress,” Webber advises.

“Agencies that provide clear processes with continual, transparent updates here from day one are a green flag.”

The bottom line

Performance marketing is a data-driven and results-driven approach to any online marketing strategy. But without enough time, expertise, and energy, you won’t reap its traffic-fueled, revenue-generating benefits.

Done well, performance marketing can lift conversions, reach the right audiences, and improve rankings over time.

Ready to unleash your highest ROI yet? Let’s chat.

FAQs

What are the top performance marketing agencies in 2026?

The top performance marketing agencies in 2026 include Acceleration Partners, Merkle, HawkSEM, Tinuiti, Wpromote, MuteSix, iCrossing, Deviate Labs, Obility, and DMi Partners.

Each one is measured on results like leads, conversions, and revenue, but their strengths differ. Acceleration Partners and DMi Partners lead in affiliate marketing, Tinuiti in commerce media and streaming TV, Obility in B2B tech, and HawkSEM in paid search, SEO, and conversion tracking.

What does a performance marketing agency do?

A performance marketing agency plans, runs, and optimizes campaigns that are judged by specific outcomes, such as leads, sales, or return on ad spend (ROAS). Common channels include paid search, paid social, affiliate and influencer marketing, retail media, and SEO. The agency reports on those outcomes and shifts budget toward the campaigns that convert.

How much does a performance marketing agency cost?

Pricing depends on the fee model. Many agencies charge a percentage of ad spend, typically 15% to 30%, with most charging upward of 20%, according to CallRail. Others charge a flat monthly retainer or a hybrid fee tied to performance. For a full breakdown, see our guide to marketing agency pricing.

What is the difference between performance marketing and brand marketing?

Performance marketing is measured by direct, trackable actions like a purchase, sign-up, or lead, and budgets move quickly toward what converts. Brand marketing builds awareness and preference over a longer period, so its impact is harder to tie to a single campaign.

Most growing companies need both, which is why several agencies on this list now pair performance media with brand creative.

Which metrics should a performance marketing agency report on?

Look for metrics tied to revenue: cost per acquisition (CPA), cost per lead (CPL), return on ad spend (ROAS), conversion rate, and customer lifetime value. Clicks and impressions are useful diagnostics, but they shouldn’t headline your monthly report. Agree on these definitions of success during the discovery call, before any campaign launches.

When should a business hire a performance marketing agency?

Hire an agency when in-house results plateau, when you need expertise your team lacks, or when you plan to expand into new markets or channels. Those are the moments when structured A/B testing and dedicated channel specialists matter most.

Disclaimer: HawkSEM is included in this list. Every agency, including HawkSEM, was evaluated against the same criteria outlined in how we chose the top performance marketing agencies. Agency details, ownership, services, and client names were verified against each agency’s website and public sources in September 2026 and may change.

This post has been updated and was originally published in November 2022.