Accelerate your thought leadership by contributing to our blog. Join our community of experts now!
Did you know that 90% of agencies rely on referrals as their top source of leads?
As long as your work is solid and you know how to ask for a referral, there’s no reason for this percentage to go down.
However, referrals aren’t always in-market for your service and it can be hard to control the overall volume you receive.
In an ideal world, you’d be able to control the number of inquiries you get and focus your sales effort on highly qualified prospects.
Well, directories provide that opportunity.
If you’re not already familiar, an agency directory is a site that allows prospective clients to research agencies on their own time and allows marketing agencies to reach middle-of-funnel and bottom-of-funnel (“ready-to-buy”) prospects.
We put together a list of some of the most useful active digital agency directories we could find. Here is what we mean by an ‘active directory’:
We separated the directories into:
Software-based directories encompass marketing agencies that have consistently used a piece of software to generate ROI for clients. They’re associated with an agency partner program for that particular software service.
These directories can be helpful for companies and individuals who are looking for a software agency to build, maintain, or upgrade their existing systems.
Furthermore, software-based agency directories typically include information about the agencies listed in the directory, such as their location, size, areas of expertise, and contact information.
Some directories may also include ratings or reviews from past clients, as well as case studies or examples of the work that the agency has completed.
In this article, we’ll focus on the following information that can tell you which directories are relevant to your services:
Software directories typically require partner program membership, which ranges from free to a fairly big commitment.
Without further ado, let’s get into the specific directories:
The Databox Partner Program was originally created as a place where partners can advance their data analysis processes and learn how to properly track real-time performance insights, making them truly data-driven.
We divided this program into three separate tiers based on the agency’s expertise with Databox: Registered, Certified, and Premier Partners (by the way, each tier comes with a cool badge).
All types of Partners have completed specialized training and have showcased the ability to create spectacular reports for their clients. They know how to generate results and prove them in real-time reports.
Within the directory, you can sort our list of partners by “Experts In” to check out the agencies that specialize in the specific tools you’re using (HubSpot, Google Analytics 4, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Ahrefs, Salesforce… we have 100+ integrations).
The best thing about Databox’s Partner Directory? We won’t charge you anything to get listed. You can increase your agency’s exposure to thousands of our users across multiple industries.
All you have to do is sign up for a free account and show us that you can use the product effectively.
Listings: 1000+
Categories: There are two filter options you can use:
Free option: Yes. Agencies can join the Partner Program with a Databox Agency Free account.
Reviews: Not included
To better understand how your website performs in terms of customer conversion and acquisition, you probably use Google Analytics 4 to learn how people are finding your website, what your most profitable traffic sources are, and how successful specific marketing campaigns are in attracting website visitors. You may have to navigate multiple areas and reports within GA4 to get the data you want though. Now you can quickly assess your website performance in a single dashboard that monitors fundamental metrics, such as:
Now you can benefit from the experience of our Google Analytics experts, who have put together a plug-and-play Databox template that contains all the essential metrics for understanding how successful you are at attracting visitors from different channels. It’s simple to implement and start using as a standalone dashboard or in management reports, and best of all, it’s free!
You can easily set it up in just a few clicks – no coding required.
To set up the dashboard, follow these 3 simple steps:
Step 1: Get the template
Step 2: Connect your Google Analytics 4 account with Databox.
Step 3: Watch your dashboard populate in seconds.
HubSpot’s Marketing Directory contains marketing agencies, consultants, and service providers that are certified as HubSpot Partners. These partners have demonstrated expertise in using HubSpot software and have undergone training to become certified in one or more areas of it.
Listings: 6,500+
Unique focus: This directory includes tiered HubSpot Partners from the total pool of 6500+ HubSpot partner agencies. Tiered partners earn their way to Silver, Gold, Platinum, or Diamond status based on a “points” system (2022 Model). In this new model, you acquire points based on sold and managed MRR, so that all agencies have an equal chance to advance in the program.
Categories: HubSpot has one of the most comprehensive search systems. You can filter agencies via:
Free option: No – you must be a tiered HubSpot partner to get listed. To become a tiered partner, you have to buy the software and earn that tier’s total points.
Reviews: Yes. Includes client ratings, comments, and specific services that were provided.
Meta Business Partners Directory includes a list of companies that Meta has audited and acknowledged for their expertise in advertising and marketing.
While it is a bit harder to get into, Meta’s directory gets a lot of traffic since lots of advertisers look for agencies here that can help them make the most out of their Facebook Ads campaigns.
Listings: 1,000+
Unique focus: The companies listed in Meta’s agency directory are the ones that Meta has vetted for being experts for advertising across all Meta platforms. The services include managing an ad campaign, running an online shop, measuring marketing success, etc.
Only Badged Meta Partners can get listed in the directory and access other benefits such as prioritized issue resolutions and additional customer support levels.
You can learn more about becoming a Meta Partner here.
Categories: There are 8 main categories (“Solutions”) within the directory: Campaign Management, Community Management, Creative Platform, Feed Platforms, Measurement, and Messaging, Conversion Data, and Sell on Facebook.
Once you pick a service, you can further filter by:
Free option: No – only Badged Meta Partners are eligible for listing.
Reviews: Not available
Google’s Partner Program Directory highlights the companies that have proven to be skillful with Google Adwords, YouTube, Google Analytics, and other platforms that are a part of the Google network.
Listings: 23,500+ (2,515 Premier Partners)
Unique focus: This directory highlights agencies and consultants that have acquired a Google Partner Badge for their expertise in text and video ads. It spans the suite of Google ad products, including AdWords, YouTube, AdSense, Google Shopping, and Google Analytics.
Categories: Agencies are sorted by:
Free option: Yes
Reviews: No
MailChimp Experts Directory is a place where external agencies or individuals can connect with MailChimp partners and hire their services.
Listings: 850+
Unique focus: MailChimp Partners can offer their specific services on the platform. MailChimp only includes certified professionals with proven experience in the specific area, so clients know they’re getting premium services.
Categories: You can filter agencies by:
Free Option: No, only MailChimp Partners are eligible for listing (this requires a paid plan).
Reviews: Yes. All partners need to acquire at least one out of the three MailChimp certificates (Email Marketing, MailChimp Foundations, and Email Automation).
Shopify Expert Directory is a place for companies and individuals to search for and hire certified Shopify experts in multiple categories. Only certified businesses that have a successful client track record and have gone through the Partnership Program can join the directory.
Unique focus: Only Shopify Experts can offer their services on the platform, and the road to an expert isn’t exactly easy. You need to join the Partner Program, have more than 5 clients on Shopify, showcase experience in a specific area, and have a solid portfolio. Also, you need an official invite from Shopify to become an expert. Basic Shopify Partners can’t join the directory until they become experts.
Categories: You can filter by:
Free option: No. Have to go through the Partnership Program to a Certified Expert (paid account required).
Reviews: Yes, in form of Shopify validations.
CallRail’s Agency Directory is created as a place for digital marketing agencies to offer their services, increase brand visibility, establish themselves as industry leaders, and most importantly, help others make the most out of their CallRail data.
Listings: 150+
Unique focus: Aside from increasing your company’s visibility and having a chance to attract new customers, CallRail’s Partner Program also grants you access to advanced call tracking features, robust tools, exclusive sales support, and even revenue share (15% from each client managed through the account center).
Categories: You can filter the directory by:
Free option: Yes. Joining the directory is free, but the platform can decline your application.
Services-based directories include a list of agencies that offer specific marketing services like inbound marketing, content marketing, SEO, etc. These directories can be useful for individuals or businesses looking to hire an agency to help with a specific project or need.
Unlike software-based directories, agencies in these listings don’t have to specialize in certain software, but the platform might ask them to showcase their expertise in the service they offer.
We included another section for these types of agencies – Popularity metric. For software-based directories, the data for this metric usually isn’t public, which is why we are adding it just now.
Agency Spotter is one of the leading service-based agency directories and it offers a structured approach to marketers looking to hire an agency for a specific service.
Listings: 16,500+
Unique focus: Agency Spotter uses concrete data (like verified client reviews) to help you find the best-fit marketing agency partners for your company. Their agency listing covers 40 marketing service areas and there’s a variety of advanced filters. Before being listed, all agencies go through an approval process.
Categories: There are 5 macro categories- Strategic, Marketing, Digital, Design, and Research. Each macro category has its sub-categories (e.g. Advertising, Content Marketing, Email, and 40+ more).
The other two filters are Location and Budget (Minimum and Maximum).
Free option: Free for both agencies and in-house marketers. But, there are certain agency benefits on the paid plan that can increase your chances of getting noticed. Paid plans also include promoted listings across agency, project, and brand-specific searches.
Reviews: Yes
Popularity: 70,000+ Monthly visitors
Clutch features a comprehensive directory that covers several industries, including digital marketing, software development, public relations, and a lot more martech-related industries. Each agency listed in its directory has a detailed review that potential customers can go through before hiring them.
Listings: 50,000+ Marketing Agencies (150,000+ Overall)
Unique focus: Clutch covers a wide range of industries and sets itself apart from other directories with extremely comprehensive listings and detailed reviews. The platform has a team of analysts behind the scenes that write reviews on behalf of clients if need be and assess the quality of posted reviews.
Categories: Within the Marketing category, users can look for specific services:
Within a sub-category, they can also filter by:
Free option: Yes, but agencies need to provide 3 client references that will later undergo review.
Popularity: 1.5M+ Monthly visitors
Sortlist leverages a comprehensive database and artificial intelligence (AI) to connect marketing service providers to potential prospects.
Listings: 80,000+
Unique focus: Even though Sortlist does have a searchable directory, its main focus is on using AI technology to connect prospects to the most suitable agencies. It does this by asking clients a series of questions about the service they’re looking for. After it gets the necessary information, Sortlist puts out a list of the best agency matches for the client.
Categories: There are 20+ services within the Advertising & Marketing industry (Content Strategy, Copywriting, SEO, LinkedIn Ads, etc.).
Users can choose a specific service and then filter the agencies by:
Free option: Yes, but the options are very limited. To really stand out and become Sortlist certified, you need a paid account.
Popularity: 350,000+ Monthly visitors
Aside from offering a diverse list of marketing agencies, DAN also provides news and blog articles on the latest industry trends. It covers pretty much every digital marketing olive branch, from SEO to mobile ads.
Listings: 3,300+
Unique focus: DAN focuses on local city directories for all types of digital agencies that aim to reach their potential clients when they search for a digital agency. The network is very selective about its members and they have certain conditions for membership approval.
What’s more, DAN provides exclusive invitations and special discounts for Digital Marketing related events and also maintains digital agency job listings so that agencies can recruit new team members.
Categories: When searching for an agency, users can choose the specific location – USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Europe, and Asia.
Each location has a list of cities, services, and industries.
Free option: Yes – a 1-year free trial. However, the free trial is very limited in terms of visibility features.
Popularity: 295,000+ Monthly visitors.
UpCity is a directory that’s focused solely on location-based searches and connecting SMB businesses to local marketing agencies in their city.
Listings: 50,000+
Unique focus: UpCity helps small and medium-sized businesses find local marketing agencies. All searches on the site are location-first based. The platform is very strict and only trusted marketing service professionals that specialize in local markets get listed. UpCity is also known for in-depth analysis of fake reviews and overall agency credibility.
Categories: Once you choose a specific city (only US cities available), you can further filter by:
Free options: Yes, but paid users have a bigger chance of being noticed.
Reviews: Yes.
Popularity: 150,000+ Monthly visitors
Credo is a match-making platform that connects business owners with verified firms from the exclusive digital agency partner directory. Credo is known for having some of the finest SEO and inbound marketing agencies in its directory.
Unique focus: Initially, Credo focused solely on connecting SMBs with SEO agencies and consultants. They expanded to numerous other services since then, but inbound marketing agencies are still considered the pillar of the platform. They only offer match-making services; there isn’t a public search directory.
Categories: You can choose the specific marketing service you’re interested in (Analytics, Content Marketing, Lead Growth, and 20+ more).
Free option: No, only paid accounts are eligible for listing. Furthermore, agencies need to be vetted by Credo and pass several tests to prove their expertise.
Popularity: 20,000+ Monthly visitors
TopSEOs is a platform that evaluates SEO, PPC, and other digital marketing agencies so it can rank them accordingly for small businesses, enterprises, corporations, and other entities that are looking for a service.
Listings: 300,000+
Unique focus: The platform has a research team that evaluates the agencies by looking at their strengths, weaknesses, specialties, client referrals, and more, which enhances trust among users.
Categories: You get a list of recommended agencies by selecting your Country and Service (SEO, PPC, Social Media Marketing, Email Marketing, and 30+ more).
Free option: Yes, but you need to pass the strict evaluation process to get a listing.
Popularity: 15,000+ monthly visitors
Top Digital Agency’s website allows agencies to include different case studies, articles, and interviews in their listing to showcase their expertise to potential clients. The pricing here is a bit different since agencies need to use TDA coins to purchase these features.
Listings: 6,000+
Unique focus: Agencies can share more details and showcase their expertise through articles, blog posts, interviews, and case studies. They can also offer packages to potential prospects (e.g. Landing Page & 10 Emails for a fixed price).
Categories: Users can filter agencies by:
There are also some advanced filters like:
Free option: Yes, but you will need to purchase the TDA tokens if you want to add any of the above-mentioned features.
Popularity: 25,000 Monthly visitors
Puddding (previously known as Rnked) is a marketing broker platform that uses AI technology to connect prospects to the most suitable marketing agencies.
While matchmaking is the primary service, there’s also a public directory where clients can check out agencies and read their featured case studies and success stories.
Listings: 10,000+
Unique focus: Artificial intelligence (AI) matchmaking and connecting through the “power of stories”. In other words, agencies can feature successful case studies to showcase expertise.
Categories: In the public directory, users can filter agencies by Country and Service.
Reviews: No, but there is a verified partner option which indicates that Puddding vetted the agency.
Popularity: Not public
FindBestSEO is designed to help SMB businesses and big corporations find the best digital marketing agencies for their specific needs.
Listings: 4,000+
Unique focus: Even though there are 300+ categories, the platform is primarily focused on SEO agencies. They have a strict vetting system and check each agency’s business practices, previous campaign success, and reporting process, so only the best ones are eligible for listing.
Categories: You can filter agencies by Location, Service, and Ranking & Recommendations.
Previously known as G2Crowd Marketing Services, G2 is one of the leading p2p (peer-to-peer) review platforms for a variety of software companies. And, it has a strong directory for marketing services as well.
Listings: 3,000+
Unique focus: There are both free and paid listings for marketing agencies, with real customer reviews validated by G2 (e.g. through LinkedIn or business email) included in the agency profile. The paid version can be very efficient for lead generation since G2 allows you to manage leads directly through the website.
Categories: You can filter only by specific marketing service. The options are:
Reviews: Yes (Validated by G2)
Popularity: 6M+ monthly visitors
AdForum features an extensive directory of marketing agencies and an interactive map that prospects can use to find the ones nearest to their local area. A lot of agencies join AdForum due to its superb exposure.
Listings: 25,000+
Unique focus: Features a detailed guide for thousands of companies around the globe, in all continents. A listing in AdForum can be a great way to increase visibility for free and reach customers in your local area.
Categories: The main filter is by location:
Once you choose a location, you can select a specific city, service, and client industry.
Popularity: 250,000+ Monthly visitors
As the name suggests, Awwwards is an award platform where marketing agencies can submit their most successful work and receive recognition and a listing on the website.
Listings: 1,000+ (not exclusive to marketing agencies)
Unique focus: Instead of only listing an agency, Awwwards has a team of analysts that go through the agency’s submitted work and then promote those that have shown the most talent and effort. Even those who haven’t won an award can be listed as an “Honorable Mention”.
Free option: No
Reviews: Yes, in form of platform awards.
Popularity: 1.8M+ Monthly visitors
MarCom Awards is another award-based platform that “honors creative excellence” in marketing and advertising, and it has thousands of new submissions each year.
Listings: 500+
Unique focus: Agencies compete with one another for a chance to get listed in the “Winners” directory (Platinum & Gold winner lists), which increases their credibility with potential clients. Your listing lasts only for one year (the one in which you’ve received an award).
Categories: The two main categories are Platinum and Gold winners, while the marketing awards are segmented into Advertising and Direct Mail.
Popularity: 20,000+ monthly visitors and 6,500+ entries per year.
4A’s is the official platform of the US Advertising Agency Trade Association and its main purpose is to provide robust tools and training that ad agencies can use to become more successful. It features a public directory of US-based advertising agencies.
Listings: 700+
Unique focus: Offers advanced tools and training to marketing and advertising agencies and helps promote and advance their interests. The listing process is very strict and it’s based on the agency’s annual gross income.
Categories: You can filter the search by:
Free option: Not disclosed on the official website
Popularity: 200,000+ Monthly visitors
Lastly, we have Creative Ham, a marketing agency directory that’s solely focused on featuring only the companies that prioritize creative work.
Listings: 800+
Unique focus: Only features agencies whose main focus is on creativity. When submitting an entry, the agencies must provide their most creative pieces of work to be reviewed.
Categories: Only location-based filters:
Databox’s Agency Partner Program is more than just a free directory to which you can add your marketing agency.
As we explained earlier, you need to open up a free account and demonstrate that you know how to operate our dashboard software to get a listing.
So, aside from generating more exposure and leads, you’re also making your agency more data-driven by creating automated reports where you can efficiently track real-time performance insights for both you and your clients.
Then, if you want to climb the ranks and get to a Certified or Premier Partner (and get that cool badge we mentioned), you can go through our specialized training, which will additionally fine-tune your reporting skills.
You can choose which specific tool you want to specialize in from our integrations so potential prospects can find you easier via the filtering option.
There are a ton of other advantages as well, such as publishing public report templates for extra exposure or getting backlinks by participating in our frequent surveys and studies (you can keep an eye out here for opportunities).
Join our free Agency Partner Directory and get a taste of all these benefits.
Hey, we’re Databox.Our mission is to help businesses save time and grow faster. Click here to see our platform in action.
Are you maximizing your business potential? Stop guessing and start comparing with companies like yours.
At Databox, we’re obsessed with helping companies more easily monitor, analyze, and report their results. Whether it’s the resources we put into building and maintaining integrations with 100+ popular marketing tools, enabling customizability of charts, dashboards, and reports, or building functionality to make analysis, benchmarking, and forecasting easier, we’re constantly trying to find ways to help our customers save time and deliver better results.
Filip Stojanovic is a content writer who studies Business and Political Sciences. Also, I am a huge tennis enthusiast. Although my dream is to win a Grand Slam, working as a content writer is also interesting.
Get practical strategies that drive consistent growth