Key findings
- Only 54% of the first 150 live US ads mentioning "marketing agency" came from agencies selling to businesses. 22.7% sold to agency owners or would-be agency owners (12 of 93 pages; one page ran 14 of these ads), 13.3% were software or AI tools sold to businesses, and 10% were something else.
- The two pages with the most ads, 14 each, were an agency-building coach and a lead generation service for contractors.
- Half the 52 agencies (26) named the trade they serve, 22 trades in all, from fence and deck builders to churches. Another 6 named a region, and 20 were general.
- In the main ad text, 25% of the agencies included a dollar figure, a ROAS or multiple, or a count of leads or clients; 11.5% offered something free or an audit; and 11.5% offered a guarantee, pay for results or no contract. 31 of the 52 (59.6%) had none of the words or figures we searched for.
- 11 of the 15 software and AI tool pages mentioned AI or automation, and two of them opened by telling owners they could stop paying agency retainers.
Meta Ad Library · 150 live ads from 93 advertiser pages · 9 November 2026 (US time; 10 November in India, where we read it) · How we did this · Download the data (CSV)
Many marketing agency ads on Facebook and Instagram are not from agencies looking for clients. We searched the Meta Ad Library for the phrase "marketing agency" in the US and read the first 150 live ads listed. Only 54% came from agencies or marketing services selling to businesses. The rest sold to agency owners, sold software, or used the phrase for something else.
The agencies that did advertise were often specialists: half of them named the trade they serve. Most of their ads had none of the offers, figures or guarantees we searched for in the main text. We are an agency ourselves, so we read these marketing agency ads as peers. The full dataset is free to download at the end.
Who places marketing agency ads
The 150 ads came from 93 advertiser pages. We sorted each page by hand by what its ads were selling and to whom.
| Type of advertiser | Pages | Ads | Share of ads | Ads with a video player |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agencies or marketing services selling to businesses | 52 | 81 | 54% | 75.3% |
| Selling to agency owners or would-be agency owners | 12 | 34 | 22.7% | 64.7% |
| Software or AI tools sold to businesses | 15 | 20 | 13.3% | 85% |
| Other | 14 | 15 | 10% | 80% |
| All | 93 | 150 | 74.7% |
34 of the 150 ads were aimed at people who run an agency or want to start one. They came from 12 pages: an agency-building coach whose page alone had 14 ads, communities and courses for new agency owners, website templates for agencies, white-label social media for agencies with ten or more clients, an awards programme, a data tool, and platforms sold to agencies such as HighLevel and Builderall. Search the phrase as an agency owner and more than one ad in five is aimed at you. Half of these pages mentioned AI or automation, and a quarter offered something free (we recorded only that a free offer appeared).
The software group made a related pitch to business owners. 11 of its 15 pages mentioned AI or automation, and two of them opened by telling owners they could stop paying agency retainers. Several of these pages advertise the same product: the 15 pages cover 11 products, 7 of which mention AI. Only 7 of the 150 ads were partner posts, and all of them came from the software and other groups.
The "other" group was mixed. It included creators promoting payment and hosting products, a sponsored magazine story, a consumer brand looking for agencies to manage its Google and Meta ads, a gym franchise, income offers and a tax firm.
Agencies that name a trade
26 of the 52 agencies named the trade they serve, 22 different trades in all: fence and deck builders, roofing, plumbing and HVAC, pest control, dumpster rental, contractors, home improvement, dentists, physical therapy, healthcare, gyms, dog daycare and boarding, lash artists, photo booths, private schools, churches, breweries, hospitality, car dealers, trucking, reverse mortgage lenders and music. Another 6 named only a region, such as South Bend, Southern Oregon or Alaska. The remaining 20 described themselves in general terms.
Our view is that this is the clearest pattern in the data. A specialist can write an ad that speaks to one owner's problem, such as idle dumpsters or an empty photo booth calendar, while a general agency has to describe itself. 30.8% of the agencies opened at least one ad with a question in the first 140 characters.
Some agencies defined themselves against other agencies. 7 of the 52 opened an ad by criticising agencies that do not understand the trade, agencies from out of state, overpriced agencies, or agencies that need babysitting.
What agencies wrote in the ad text
We searched the main text of each agency's ads for three kinds of element. 13 agencies (25%) included a dollar figure, a ROAS or multiple such as 3x, or a count of leads or clients. 6 (11.5%) offered something free or an audit. 6 (11.5%) lowered the risk with a guarantee, pay for results or no contract; one promised a set number of bookings or no payment, and another guaranteed a number of new students. 31 of the 52 agencies (59.6%) had none of the words or figures we searched for in any of their ads. Our word search misses some phrasings, so a few of those 31 do make an offer or quote a figure in other words.
Dollar figures were the most common of these elements, used by 8 agencies (15.4%); some are prices rather than results. Next came ROAS or a multiple (4 agencies) and a counted result such as leads or clients (2). Among the ways to lower the risk, pay for results was the most common (5 agencies, 9.6%), followed by a guarantee (2) and no contract (1).
75.3% of the agency ads showed a video player, and an offer may also sit in the video, the image or the headline, which we did not read. 21.2% of the agencies mentioned AI or automation, against 11 of the 15 software and AI tool pages and half of the pages selling to agency owners.
How old the agency ads were
The median agency ad had started 164 days before we read it, and 60 of the 81 agency ads (74.1%) had started in 2026. The earliest start date was a Wonderist Agency ad first shown in September 2022 and still live when we read it. Across all 150 ads the median was 82 days and 84% had started in 2026, so the agencies' ads were older than those of the other advertisers in the list. Of the 75 ads that had started within 82 days, 53 came from pages selling to agency owners, software or other offers; one coaching page alone ran 14. The median non-agency ad had started 36 days before we read it.
What this means if you are choosing an agency
- Know who is talking to you. 46% of the first 150 ads we read that use the phrase "marketing agency" were not from agencies looking for clients.
- Prefer an agency that knows your trade. Half the agencies here named one, and a specialist can show you work for businesses like yours.
- Ask for figures you can check. Only a quarter of the agencies put a dollar figure, multiple or count of leads or clients in the main text. Ask for case studies with dates and named clients, and see our guide to evaluating agency case studies.
- Read guarantees closely. Few agencies offered one. Ask what counts as a result, who measures it and what happens if it is missed. Our guide to pay for performance agencies covers what to check.
If you run an agency, our view is that one clear offer and one checkable number in the main text would set your ads apart from most of this list. If you want the media buying done for your clients, see our white label PPC service. If you are a business running Meta ads in the US, UK, Canada or Australia, give us read access to the account. A senior buyer will write a free audit of where the spend goes, whether your tracking counts real results, how your creative is holding up, and the three things we would fix first. It takes about two working days and the document is yours. More studies are on our research page.
How we did this
- Source
- Meta Ad Library
- Country
- United States
- Collected
- 9 November 2026 (US time; 10 November in India, where we read it)
- Sample
- 150 live ads from 93 advertiser pages
- Search
- "marketing agency" as an exact phrase, active ads, all ad types
- Order
- the Library's default order, which its own address labels as total impressions, highest first
We searched the Meta Ad Library for the exact phrase "marketing agency" in the United States, with active ads and all ad types selected. The Library reported about 5,200 results and lists them in a default order that its own page address labels as total impressions, highest first. We read the first 150 ads. That is the top of the list, not a random sample, and it only covers ads whose text includes the phrase, so agencies that never say "marketing agency" in their ads are missing.
We sorted the 93 advertiser pages by hand into four types, using the page name, the link and the opening of each page's first ad: agencies or marketing services selling to businesses; pages selling to agency owners or people who want to start an agency (coaching, communities, templates, platforms, data, awards and outsourcing built for agencies); software or AI tools sold to businesses; and other (creator partner posts for payment and hosting products, a sponsored magazine story, a brand looking for agencies, franchise and income offers, courses for business owners, a tax firm). For each agency we also noted the trade or region its ad names, and whether its opening criticises other agencies or agency retainers. The labels are judgement calls. Several pages advertise the same product: the 15 software pages cover 11 products, 7 of which mention AI. Two agency pages, a physical therapy agency and a page that tags it, are probably the same business.
For each ad we recorded the start date, whether a video player appeared, whether the page appeared as one page "with" a brand, and fixed word patterns in the main ad text: "guarantee"; "free" followed by audit, strategy call, consultation, trial, guide or similar; the word "audit"; a number followed by leads, clients, jobs or similar; a dollar figure; ROAS or a multiple such as 3x; no contract or cancel anytime; pay for results or "don't pay"; "done for you"; AI or automation. A dollar figure can be a price as well as a result. An agency counts as using a pattern if any of its ads does. The patterns miss other phrasings, and headlines, images and video are not read, so some offers and figures are missed. We did not keep the ad text.
Limits. The default order likely favours ads that have collected more impressions, and pages with many ads take up more of the list: two pages had 14 ads each. The Library shows no spend or results for these ads, so nothing here says which ads worked. Media Puppies is itself an agency that advertises; none of the 150 ads were ours. The CSV has one row per ad with our labels and no page names.
Download the data (CSV). Free to reuse with a link to this page.
Questions about marketing agency ads
Who runs ads that mention marketing agency?
In the first 150 live US ads we read, 54% came from agencies or marketing services selling to businesses, 22.7% sold to agency owners or would-be agency owners, 13.3% were software or AI tools, and 10% were something else.
Do marketing agencies specialise in one industry?
Half of the 52 agencies in our sample named the trade they serve, 22 trades in all, from fence and deck builders to churches. Another 6 named only a region.
What do marketing agencies write in their ads?
Of the 52 agencies in our sample, 25% included a dollar figure, a ROAS or multiple, or a count of leads or clients, 11.5% offered something free or an audit, and 11.5% offered a guarantee, pay for results or no contract. 59.6% had none of the words or figures we searched for.
How can I see an agency's ads?
Search the agency's page name in the Meta Ad Library. Every active ad is listed with its start date and text.
Can I use this data?
Yes. Download the CSV from this page and reuse it with a link back to the study. It has one row per ad with our labels and no page names.