26 Online Advertising Agency Success Stories [2023]
An online advertising agency provides business owners with a wide range of marketing services to help them reach targeted customers, and increase their product or service sales.
Services offered by online advertising agencies include creating ads, planning marketing campaigns, deciding the best platforms for reaching the target audience, and analyzing performance to help businesses make strategic marketing and advertising decisions.
Here are some real life success stories of starting a online advertising agency:
1. Fantôm Agency ($300K/year)
Luis Camacho (from Phoenix, Arizona, USA) started Fantôm Agency over 5 years ago.
Hello, my name is Luis Camacho and I am the founder of Fantôm Agency and also the host of the SaaS AdLab podcast, which is a podcast where I interview SaaS founders to learn more about their story. Fantôm is a digital advertising agency which focuses on helping mid-to-late stage SaaS (software as a service) companies scale through paid advertising channels such as Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Fantôm focuses entirely on paid advertising, I guess you could say that’s the bread and butter, it’s what I’m great at but it’s also what I’m most passionate about. There were attempts to enter different service offerings but did not have as much fun doing so. Now when clients have the need for other types of marketing, say, email marketing, I point them to one of my trusted partners who are able to execute and over-deliver on such service for them. Currently, Fantôm is making roughly $8,600 per month overhead is only a couple of hundred dollars per month, about $300, which go towards tools and software needed in order to provide the best possible results for clients.
2. Cartology ($516K/year)
Michael Maher (from Cincinnati, Ohio, USA) started Cartology almost 7 years ago.
My name is Michael Maher and I run a service agency that helps brands to grow their businesses on Amazon. Our entire business is managing the entire Amazon channel for brands so they can focus on growing the brand as a whole.
We are currently growing all of our clients and with that, along with the new clients we’ve taken on, we’re averaging $25,000 a month in revenue, on track to grow 300% and are incredibly profitable. 2020, despite coming with a pandemic, has been a great year for our business.
Learn more about starting an online advertising agency:
Where to start?
-> Online advertising agency plan
-> How to finance an online advertising agency?
-> How much does it cost to start an online advertising agency?
-> Pros and cons of an online advertising agency
-> How to get clients for an online advertising agency?
Need inspiration?
-> Examples of established online advertising agency
-> Marketing ideas for an online advertising agency
-> Online advertising agency slogans
-> Online advertising agency names
-> Online advertising agency Instagram bios
Other resources
-> Profitability of an online advertising agency
-> Online advertising agency tips
4. Loop ($1.38M/year)
Valerio Celletti (from Milan, Lombardy, Italy) started Loop about 6 years ago.
We work with clients from all around the world (mostly Italy and the USA, but also Europe and China), all with very different projects, but brought together by the will to improve their results through investing in online marketing.
We started by offering just campaign management, but now also offer creative services and strategic advice, while always maintaining a major focus on numbers.
5. Strategus ($15M/year)
Joel Cox (from Denver, Colorado, USA) started Strategus about 9 years ago.
I’m Joel Cox, co-founder and executive vice president of strategy and innovation for Strategus, an advertising technology startup founded in Denver in 2014. The company pioneered the first programmatic OTT/CTV (Over-The-Top digital streaming over Connected Television) advertising campaign the following year.
The Strategus Managed Services Platform produces real-time automated ad campaigns that instantly deliver custom, audience-targeted messages to CTVs and other internet-connected devices. With a wide variety of brand and agency customers, our growth has been phenomenal, with revenues of $14.8 million in 2019. We’ve been on the Inc. 5000 three years running due to our geometric sales increases.
6. ADYOUNEED ($1.14M/year)
Tufan (from Paris, France) started ADYOUNEED almost 5 years ago.
Bonjour! My name is Tufan and I am the founder of ADYOUNEED, the smartest way to create the ad you need.
7. The Creative Collective ($2.4M/year)
Yvette Adams (from Maroochydore QLD, Australia) started The Creative Collective over 16 years ago.
Hi there! I’m Yvette Adams, Founder, and Co-owner of The Creative Collective - a full-service marketing agency that specializes in digital marketing.
We currently have around 100 active clients with whom we are either doing project work or retainer work and respond on average to 160 inquiries each month. In the last year, our team has doubled, and month-on-month compared to last year, as has our revenue.
8. Flying V Group ($3M/year)
Robb Fahrion (from Irvine, California, USA) started Flying V Group over 7 years ago.
Hi there, my name is Robb Fahrion and I am the Co-Founder and Partner of Flying V Group, a digital marketing and advertising company located. We service clients all across the globe and help them grow their business through the power of the internet. My passion is for business and there is nothing more rewarding than helping others grow their businesses and share in their successes.
Today, Flying V Group employs 12 people, has worked with over 300 clients, operates internationally, and is on pace to double revenue for the second year in a row. Crazy to think about being here when my brother and I both got up and quit our corporate jobs and put $5k into the project to get us started!
9. MOTIF® ($420K/year)
Ash Ome (from Beverly Hills ) started MOTIF® almost 8 years ago.
I’m Ash, an eCommerce branding and marketing consultant and founder of a growth-driven digital agency Motif. We help DTC Fashion, Luxury & Lifestyle brands with proven strategies and methodologies to grow them faster.
I started this business with $60 and nowadays we make on average $50K-$100K on recurring revenue. And don’t do any web project smaller than $50K.
10. Base Coat Marketing ($360K/year)
Austin Houser (from Wilmington, NC, USA) started Base Coat Marketing almost 2 years ago.
Hi! My name is Austin Houser, and I'm the founder of Base Coat Marketing, a full-service digital marketing agency exclusive to the professional painting industry.
The gamble appears to have paid off. Just three months after launching, we're already on track to exceed last year's revenue under my previous agency, which at the time was 13 years old. Today we are generating $30,000 in monthly recurring revenue with roughly a 50% profit margin.
11. Ogline Digital ($1.2M/year)
Dylan Ogline (from Orlando, FL, USA) started Ogline Digital over 6 years ago.
Hey! My name is Dylan Ogline and I am the founder of Ogline Digital. I run a digital marketing agency that is focused on helping companies scale and grow with proven direct response marketing strategies.
12. Sievers Creative ($1.2M/year)
Roger Sievers (from Red Wing, MN, USA) started Sievers Creative almost 14 years ago.
Hello, My name is Roger Sievers, and I founded Sievers Creative. Sievers Creative is a full-service marketing agency located in Red Wing, MN. We are a marketing and design agency in Minnesota that helps local businesses gain a competitive edge in today’s crowded market.
13. Grow Your Agency ($1.44M/year)
Iman Gadzhi (from London, England, United Kingdom) started Grow Your Agency over 6 years ago.
Hey everyone, my name is Iman Gadzhi! I am the founder of two core businesses: IAG Media and Grow Your Agency. The former is my B2B social media marketing agency (SMMA) where I deploy strategic marketing campaigns for global clients. The latter is my education company where I teach entrepreneurs how to start and scale a profitable SMMA with the course Agency Incubator.
My primary product is my online course. It’s an industry-leading and comprehensive course on how to create an SMMA business from scratch. So far, it has been my life’s work because so much has gone into it. I have a team that helps me do this, and I really enjoy helping my students become financially independent. My typical customers are self-starters fed up with the college route. They want to experiment with a proven online business model. In only two years, I’ve made over $1.2M in profit. Over 45 of my students make over six figures with their SMMA, and over 300 students have quit their regular jobs.
14. Prodigi ($1.92M/year)
Aida Vopyan (from Yerevan, Armenia) started Prodigi about 6 years ago.
Hi there, I'm Aida, and I'm CEO & Co-Founder at ProDigi. Let me tell you our story.
15. Adjust Media ($960K/year)
Uri Weinberger (from Toronto, ON, Canada) started *Adjust Media * over 6 years ago.
I’m Uri, and I like to think of myself as an eCommerce enthusiast. I’ve started four businesses in my short career, two of which were massive failures (learning opportunities) and two that I consider relative successes and still operate today!
By the end of 2021, Adjust Media grossed just under $1M. It feels surreal to say that, but it wouldn’t be possible without our team.
16. Wealth Lead Generation ($120K/year)
Maria Popova (from Rotterdam, Nederland) started Wealth Lead Generation over 5 years ago.
My name is Maria. I'm 29. I run a digital advertising agency called Wealth Lead Generation HQ'd in Rotterdam.
That one little success was enough to convince me that there are plenty of opportunities online. I missed 99.9% of parties on campus but learned a great deal about remote work and online business. I made my first money online through the early adoption of bitcoin.
17. Major Impact Media ($342K/year)
Brice Gump (from Barcelona, Spain) started Major Impact Media almost 8 years ago.
Hey! I’m Brice Gump, the founder, and CEO of Major Impact Media, a hybrid agency/education company.
We’ve worked with dozens of companies over the years – from business coaches to international personal development gurus – to implement traffic systems that have acquired thousands of customers and generated over $5,800,000 in online sales for their businesses.
18. Social Ktchn ($420K/year)
Camila & Chris Anderson (from Charlotte) started Social Ktchn over 6 years ago.
Hi! We’re Chris and Camila, founders of Social Ktchn, a digital marketing company. Our main service is providing Facebook and Instagram paid ads for our clients, who range from small to midsize businesses, in lead gen but mostly in the eCommerce space.
Our annual revenue is typically around $300-$400K, which is quite a jump from the $40K we made in our first year!
19. Zero Gravity Marketing ($9.6M/year)
Chris Uzzo (from Madison, CT, USA) started Zero Gravity Marketing over 11 years ago.
My name is Chris Uzzo and I am the CEO and Founder of Zero Gravity Marketing (ZGM). Founded in 2012, ZGM is a digital marketing agency specializing in SEO, paid media management, social media marketing, email marketing, website design Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), content marketing, and creative services. We service customers in all industries focusing primarily on medium to large-sized businesses in need of ongoing growth and support.
We offer the best digital marketing services because of our data-driven approach and our commitment to recruiting the best team members and providing them with ongoing training and support. We were proud that last October (2021), ZGM received a top workplace award based on quantitative employee feedback.
20. Seller Labs ($11.5M/year)
Today, I'm thrilled to have both Edward Ruffin(PPC Ed) and Jeremy Crowe from Sellers Labs on the show. PPC Ed is in charge of sponsored product ads over at Sellers Labs and Jeremy was my account manager for the PPC ads case study I conducted earlier this year.
In this episode, I provide a reali…
Brandon Checketts and Paul Johnson (from Athens, Georgia, USA) started Seller Labs over 10 years ago.
- Seller Labs creates fantastic tools for Amazon Sellers and was founded by Paul Johnson and Brandon Checketts in 2013.
- Its goal is to equip companies of all sizes with the resources they require for success, to offer top-notch customer service and support, and to constantly strive for improvement.
- This brand has 200+ employees worldwide and engineering offices in 5 different nations.
- They were additionally listed twice on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing businesses.

Watch the full interview on inspiredinsider.com ➜
21. Growth Cave ($120K/year)
Lucas founded Growth Cave, an agency that helps businesses get new clients through Facebook ads. Through UpWork and word of mouth, he got lots of clients.
Lucas Lee (from ) started Growth Cave ago.
Lucas founded Growth Cave, an agency that helps businesses get new clients through Facebook ads. Through UpWork and word of mouth, he got lots of clients.
22. EGAMI ($8.9M/year)
@teneshiajwarner is the CEO of , a highly-successful multi-cultural marketing group helping top Fortune 500 companies reach diverse audiences. Her book, provides resources to help entrepreneurs achieve life-long success.
Teneshia Warner (from New York, NY, USA) started EGAMI over 20 years ago.
In 2003, Teneshia Jackson Warner established Egami, a multicultural integrated communications firm.
This business has 15 years of experience successfully providing integrated marketing, influencer marketing, brand strategy, and other services in the advertising sector.
Along with these, Egami also offers PR management services for when there's a corporate crisis.
Teneshia's first book, Profit With Purpose, which focuses on multicultural, purpose-driven marketing, was published in 2012.

Read the full article on xonecole.com ➜
24. O3M Directional Marketing Pvt Ltd ($480K/year)
Renjith Rajan (from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India) started O3M Directional Marketing Pvt Ltd over 13 years ago.
My name is Renjith Rajan, and I am the founder of O3M Directional Marketing Private Limited. O3M offers performance-oriented digital marketing solutions to clients around the world. We are proud to support both direct clients as well as fulfilling campaigns via a bpo/kpo outsourcing model.
25. T.LY ($60K/year)
Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/c/NathanLatkawatchT.LY CEO Tim Leland: Link management service URL Shortener... Visit them: www.t.lySee more of Tim's data...
Tim Leland started a link management and URL shortener tool called T.LY in 2020.
The founder comes from a software engineer background and has deep knowledge of programming & software development.
He wanted to create software to simplify the process of creating short links with just one click. As a result, he developed the URL Shortener browser extension, which streamlines the process of designing, sharing, and tracking short URLs.
The concept for the URL shortener extension emerged as Google was deactivating its own. T.LY currently tracks more than 100 million clicks from more than 10 million short URLs.

Listen to the full podcast on podcasts.apple.com ➜
26. Viscap Media ($33.6K/year)
In this episode, I have my friend Cody Iverson on the show. Cody is the founder of Viscap Media, an ad creative agency that works with influencers to create high converting ads.
Cody Iverson and Tyler Stephens (from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA) started Viscap Media over 6 years ago.
- Cody Iverson and Tyler Stephens founded Viscap Media, an advertising agency that collaborates with influencers to produce highly effective advertisements.
- Viscap Media is a team of in-house content creators and digital marketing experts who also work with influencers to boost sales of ecom brands.
- Cody launched his first company in 2016 after being motivated by his grandfather, who founded and grew his own prosperous business.
- In 2017, he and his partner Tyler launched their first e-commerce store, which generated multiple 6-figure sales by the second month.
- Now Cody & Tyler helps other ecommerce brands to drive more sales by making creative video ads and branded content for them that will help turn clicks into customers.

Listen to the full podcast on podcasts.apple.com ➜
Hey! 👋 I'm Pat Walls, the founder of Starter Story.
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