The best local marketing agencies have the expertise to help you grow your brand in your market, but knowing which to choose can be challenging. Below are the eight best local marketing companies to grow your small business’s local presence with effective search engine optimization (SEO), advertising, website marketing, and more.
- Best Local Marketing Agency Overall: Straight North
- Best Local Reputation Management Services: Avalaunch Media
- Best Local SEO Services: SEO Discovery
- Best for Social Media Marketing & Advertising: Lyfe Marketing
- Best for Local Influencer Marketing: WebFX
- Best Agency for Local Search Ads: Orbit Local
- Best Local Event Marketing Agency: Lotus823
- Best for Local Listings Management: Hibu
Grow Your Business with WebFX’s Full-Service Digital Marketing: Proven Expertise in SEO, PPC, Conversion Optimization, & More |
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Best Local Marketing Agencies at a Glance
Providers | Pricing | Features | Learn more |
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 | Custom, from $1,000* |
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 | Custom, from $1,000* |
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 | Custom, from $250 |
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 | From $650 |
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 | Custom, from $600 |
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 | Custom, from $99 |
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 | Custom, from $1,000* |
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 | Custom |
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Get a free checklist and learn how to choose a marketing agency in our step by step guide.
Keep reading to learn more about each local marketing agency, including the scope of services for each, user reviews, and pricing.
1. Straight North: Best Local Marketing Agency Overall
Pros
- Best local marketing agency for growth: creative branding, website marketing, and paid ads
- Local SEO services, including backlinks, Google Business Profile setup, and content marketing
- Local ads management (social and search)
- A la carte services and custom plans available
- Free consult includes expert strategy, whether you go with Straight North or not
Cons
- No services for reputation or organic social media
- No transparent pricing, only custom quotes
- Local, national, and ecommerce SEO
- Paid ads management (search, shopping, display, and social ads)
- Website design and optimization and the best digital marketing agency
- Content marketing and design (images, infographics, and more)
- Brand development
- Graphic design and copywriting
- Photography and video production
All of Straight North’s prices are custom—contact the team for a quote. However, according to Designrush, plans start around $1,000 a month on average.
Average rating of 3.9 out of 5 on G2.com:
- Positive reviews highlight the Straight North team’s expertise in SEO, paid ads, and website design, and praise the team’s open and friendly communication.
- However, some were dissatisfied with the team’s paid ads strategy, saying it led to irrelevant web traffic.
Scored 4.7 out of 5 on Clutch.co:
- Most positive reviews were happy with Straight North’s overall work and collaborative process and said that helped increase leads.
- However, some clients found that it failed to live up to expectations, delivering low return on ad spend (ROAS) and unsatisfactory content output.
Straight North offers all the essential digital marketing services for small businesses, including website design, branding, SEO, content marketing, and paid ads. This makes it the top local marketing company overall for small businesses, especially if you’re starting out.
Straight North can develop your brand identity and create and optimize your website. In addition, it can publish search-friendly and link-worthy text and visual content on your site, create marketing videos, execute your local SEO, and manage your Google and Facebook search and display ads.
However, Straight North’s biggest drawback is that it doesn’t offer organic social media marketing. For these services, Avalaunch Media or WebFX might be a better option.
Straight North is one of the best local marketing firms for growing your brand from scratch. (Source: Straight North)
Start growing your brand presence today with Straight North’s individual services or bundled marketing solutions—contact its team for a custom quote for your business.
2. Avalaunch Media: Best for Local Reputation Management
Pros
- Strong local reputation management services: press releases, brand monitoring, content outreach, and more
- Also offers SEO (including local SEO), social media management, creative design, and paid ads
- A la carte or bundled services available
Cons
- No website design or branding services, unlike Straight North
- No transparent pricing; all prices are custom
- Press release writing and distribution
- Brand monitoring
- Content outreach with link building
- Local community engagement via events
- Social media marketing and advertising (plus influencer marketing)
- Email marketing
- Creative design and brand development
- Video production
- Copywriting and content creation (content marketing, ebooks, etc.)
- SEO strategies, including local SEO
- Paid advertising on Google and social apps
- Radio, TV, and billboard advertising
All of Avalaunch Media’s prices are custom—you’ll need to contact their team via their website for a custom quote. However, reviews on Designrush say it has an average starting price of $1,000.
Average rating of 5 out of 5 on Capterra:
- All Avalaunch Media reviews on Capterra are positive, with many praising its expertise in SEO, paid ads, and graphic design.
Score of 4.8 out of 5 on Clutch.co:
- Many were satisfied with Avalaunch Media’s work quality and said it improved traffic, impressions, and clicks. Many clients also found the team friendly and responsive.
- A few negative reviews found it challenging that the Avalaunch Media team did not use any task management software to streamline communication, and said some projects had long turnaround times.
Your online reputation can make or break your local business, from coverage on online news to how customers discuss your brand on social media. A local marketing agency that can handle all these aspects is Avalaunch Media—it has one of the strongest PR (public relations) services around and can handle sending press releases to get your business covered by local press. And, it can also monitor your brand’s online reputation.
Beyond reputation management, Avalaunch Media can also grow your social follower count from scratch—including via influencer marketing—and connect your business with local events. It also has many other digital marketing services, including SEO, paid social and Google ads, branding, and social media. The one thing it lacks is website-building services, so you’ll need to partner with an agency like Straight North if you don’t have a website yet.
Partner with Avalaunch Media to manage your business’ local reputation and more. (Source: Avalaunch Media)
Otherwise, Avalaunch Media is one of the most comprehensive local marketing companies around, with an especially strong suite for PR and connecting you with your local community. Contact the company today to get a custom quote for your business.
3. SEO Discovery: Best Local SEO Services
Pros
- Local SEO services include link building, content creation, and schema markup
- Also has management services for Google Business Profiles, local listings, and online reviews
- A la carte or bundled services available
Cons
- No transparent pricing for local SEO services
- No services for graphic design, email marketing, or local events management
- Local SEO including link building, content creation, and schema markup
- Google Business Profile setup
- Local listings management
- Reviews management
- Localized paid ads
- Website SEO from $199
- Ecommerce SEO from $350
- Social media management
- Paid ad management
- Website design
- Content writing and marketing, including guest posting
- Influencer marketing
Not all SEO Discovery’s prices are listed on their website—to learn more, book a free consultation with the team via its website. A la carte service pricing starts as low as $250 a month.
Rated 4.9 out of 5 on G2.com:
- Many guests were pleased with SEO Discovery’s overall services, saying that its custom SEO strategies boosted search rankings and website traffic, and the team was friendly and communicative.
- The few negative reviews wished the team had more flexibility to accommodate client meetings.
Average score of 4.7 out of 5 on Clutch.co:
- Most reviews similarly mentioned the team’s expertise in SEO and in bringing in more web traffic, keyword rankings, and conversions.
- However, some low reviews mentioned wanting more creativity in the work and that the team brought in low-quality backlinks.
Boosting your local SEO is an essential way to grow your business’s local presence, and SEO Discovery has one of the most comprehensive local internet marketing services for doing so. Its services will help your site rank higher on Google within a specific location by link building, content creation, and even schema markup, which helps search engines understand your content better to improve your rankings.
While its local SEO services are comprehensive on their own, SEO Discovery also supports them by optimizing your Google Business Profile and listing your site on other local business directory sites. Plus, it can also set up locally targeted paid ads and manage your online reviews.
On the negative side, there are no visible prices for SEO Discovery’s local SEO services, so you’ll need to reach out for a custom quote. However, generally, SEO Discovery is one of the more affordable digital marketing agencies around (for instance, its general SEO packages start at $250 monthly). Another drawback is that, unlike most other local marketing companies, it doesn’t offer any graphic design or email marketing services.
SEO Discovery offers some of the most comprehensive SEO services, including local SEO. (Source: SEO Discovery)
Overall, SEO Discovery is the go-to for developing your local SEO strategies. Partner with it to increase your website’s search engine ranking and get web traffic and leads from your local community.
4. Lyfe Marketing: Best Local Marketing Agency for Social Media
Pros
- A la carte or bundled paid and organic social media management
- Short video creation and management for social media marketing and ads
- Local pay per click (PPC) advertising on Google
- One of the few agencies to offer email marketing services
Cons
- Limited service menu (not an all-in-one solution for local marketing)
- No local SEO or website services
- Upfront setup fees apply for some services (but you can ask to have them waived)
- Social media marketing bundles for image posts on Facebook and Instagram (12 posts/month) from $750 or pay more for 12-20 posts with vertical videos on Instagram and TikTok
- Social page monitoring and responding
- Sponsored posts and follower ads
- Social media advertising from $650/month for image ads, $1,250 month for video ads with custom graphics, branded images, minimum $500 ad spend, advanced targeting, ad creation, and bid management and optimization
- Email marketing (2-8 newsletters/month) starting for $500/month
- Short video creation, management, and publishing for social marketing and advertising, plans starting at $1,250-$1,350/month
- Google PPC ad management
Most pricing is custom, however Lyfe Marketing publishes a starting cost of $650/month for paid social media services.
Average rating of 4.5 with over 315 Google reviews:
- Customers find working with the team at Lyfe Marketing to be enjoyable
- The few negative reviews of Lyfe Marketing on Google have been addressed by the team, and don’t appear credible
Scored 4.4 out of 5 with 86+ reviews on Clutch:
- Many customers cite achieving significant growth with Lyfe Marketing
- Customers love how personal the experience feels
- A few customers said they didn’t achieve results and didn’t like the quality of ads produced
Social channels offer some of the best ways to quickly reach and engage local customers for brand awareness and sales. Lyfe Marketing has made it their specialty. The social media agency focuses almost exclusively on social media marketing and advertising services, including niche services like creating the vertical videos needed to thrive on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
Being able to combine strategies for organic and paid social offers the best chance to gain visibility online with local prospects and customers and engage with them authentically. However, Lyfe Marketing doesn’t offer a full range of local marketing services, such as website building, SEO, or content marketing outside of social platforms. If you want an all-in-one solution, Hibu could be a better choice.
Lyfe Marketing specializes in social media marketing and advertising. (Source: Lyfe Marketing)
We admit it—we’re fans of Lyfe Marketing. High customer satisfaction and a slew of case studies on the agency’s website are proof positive that it’s the best local marketing agency for social media marketing and advertising. Get started at no risk by requesting a free consultation.
5. WebFX: Best for Local Influencer Marketing
Pros
- Sources the best local influencers for your brand and develops strategies and content
- Influencer marketing services are a la carte with transparent pricing (from $600)
- Dashboard to monitor influencer campaigns and a dedicated account manager
- Also has local SEO, review and listings management, website building, paid ads, and more
Cons
- Not all sourced influencers are local to your area
- No guarantee that your content will reach a local audience
- Bundling a lot of services quickly gets expensive
- Influencer sourcing at $600
- Influencer sourcing and strategizing at $1,200
- Influencer sourcing, strategizing, and expert consultation at $1,500
- Image and text content posting from $600 to $6,000*
- Short-form video posting from $1,200 to $7,200*
- Long-form video posting from $1,800 to $24,000*
- Local SEO (including local listing) services from ~$425
- Reviews management from $125
- Website design at custom pricing
- Website SEO from $3,000 monthly
- Paid ads from $600 monthly
- Ecommerce SEO from $2,500 monthly
*Depends on the influencer tier. Nano influencers are on the lower end, and celebrity influencers on the higher end.
Rated 4.8 out of 5 on G2.com:
- Reviews for WebFX are mostly positive, with many highlighting the team’s effectiveness in bringing in web traffic and higher search engine rankings.
- Some clients were frustrated with having limited control over their projects and sometimes found the agency’s strategies inflexible.
Average score of 4.9 out of 5 on Clutch.co:
- Most positive reviews also highlighted the team’s expertise in growing search engine rankings and generating leads while staying on budget.
- However, some clients find it difficult to communicate with the WebFX team.
Local influencer marketing is one of today’s fastest-growing strategies for local marketing online that your small business can benefit from, which is where WebFX can help. One of the most established digital marketing agencies around, WebFX’s influencer marketing services cover every stage of the process, from sourcing the best local influencers for your brand to creating the content for posting, making it a flexible and cost-effective option.
Plus, all its influencer marketing services are a la carte, so you won’t need to commit to any locked-in plans, and its database spans from nano to mega influencers. However, the downside of WebFX’s influencer services is that there is no guarantee that all the sourced influencers are local to your specific region—sometimes, the best influencer matches for your brand are in a different location.
WebFX offers many marketing services for small businesses, including influencer marketing. (Source: WebFX)
Still, being a well-established marketing agency, WebFX also offers countless other marketing services, from website building to SEO and content marketing—and many more. Get started building your marketing strategy today by getting in touch via its website.
6. Orbit Local: Best for Localized Paid Advertising
Pros
- Local paid ads cover Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Bing, and local radio
- Top-to-bottom paid ads management, from strategizing to creation and optimization
- A la carte and bundled services available
Cons
- Pricing is on a monthly contract
- No services for reviews or listing management
- Website optimization is only limited to Wordpress
- Basic paid ads management at $350 monthly (plus $350 setup fee)
- Advanced paid ads management at $750 monthly (plus $750 setup fee)
- Local SEO management at $399 monthly (plus $799 setup fee)
- Content marketing, SEO, and Google Business Profile management at $1,499 monthly
- WordPress website design at $1,799 one-time fee
- WordPress website support and management at $99 monthly
- WordPress analytics setup at $299 monthly
- WordPress SEO at $599 monthly
For contracts spanning six months or longer, setup fees are waived. Orbit Local also offers custom plans tailored to your business needs.
Scored 5 out of 5 on Clutch.co:
- So far, all reviews of Orbit Local are positive, with many praising its effectiveness in improving SEO and generating leads.
Average rating of 5 out of 5 on Capterra:
- Clients were also very satisfied with Orbit Local’s website design and SEO strategies, and found the team friendly and communicative.
Paid ads are a staple in digital marketing, but they can be a powerhouse when customized to your local audiences. Most digital marketing agencies offer paid ads services, but for a more local marketing agency, Orbit Local is one of the best. Get localized paid ads on Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, but also on Bing and other even local radio.
Orbit Local is also a full-service paid ads agency, which means it will handle everything from planning your strategy to setting up and optimizing your ads and analyzing your results—a great option if you’re a complete beginner to paid ads. It also has services for local SEO, Google Business Profile setup, ecommerce marketing, and social media management.
Its main lacking points are the lack of review and listing management services, so it’s only most useful if your main focus is paid ads and SEO. If your needs go beyond local advertising services, go with Hibu or SEO Discovery instead.
Orbit Local specializes in local marketing, especially for paid advertising. (Source: Orbit Local)
Overall, Orbit Local is unique for offering fully localized digital marketing services, making it one of the best local marketing companies, especially for paid ads and SEO. Contact the agency today by booking a free consultation on its website.
7. Lotus823: Best for Local Event Marketing
Pros
- Local events management, from trade shows to conferences
- Will also support your event with other marketing strategies (i.e., social media campaigns)
- Also has services for PR campaigns, paid ads, content marketing, and social media management
Cons
- No a la carte services or transparent pricing
- No services for listings or reviews management, website building, or press release sending
- Events creation and management
- Experiential marketing (i.e., PR stunts)
- Content writing and marketing
- Graphic design
- Paid ads management for Google, social media, and Amazon
- Social media management
- Influencer marketing
- PR campaign building
- Email marketing
All Lotus832’s prices are custom to your business, so you’ll need to contact them for a quote via the website. However, reviews from Designrush say it has an average starting price of $1,000.
Rated 4.8 out of 5 on Clutch.co:
- Clients are generally happy with Lotus823’s ability to grow their brand presence both offline and online, leading to more leads and sales.
- However, some found its reporting analytics insufficient and wished the team had more ways to communicate beyond email.
If local marketing events like product launches or trade shows are part of your local marketing strategy, Lotus823 might be your best partner. While it offers many marketing essentials like social media and paid ads, it also specializes in creating and managing events for small businesses, from intimate group events to large-scale conferences. These events help form personal connections with your local community.
Plus, Lotus823 is a full-service agency, so it will handle your event from start to finish—from strategizing your event to handling all the logistics on the actual day. It will also integrate your event with other digital and website marketing strategies beforehand to maximize your brand impact even further.
However, the negative side of this is that because Lotus823 is a fully hands-on agency, there are no a la carte services available, or visible pricing—you’ll need to reach out for a quote.
Also, beyond local events, its local marketing services are more limited than others. For instance, it doesn’t offer any services for listings or reviews management (even for your Google Business Profile), website-building, or press release management.
Lotus823’s expertise is in organizing marketing events to connect in person with your local community. (Source: Lotus823)
On the whole, however, Lotus823 is impressive for including local events as part of its marketing services, making it one of the more unique local marketing companies around. Contact the agency today via its website to book a consultation on the best events strategy for your business.
8. Hibu: Best for Local Listings Management
Pros
- Easy-to-use dashboard for managing all your local listings
- View your listings’ analytics, add branded content, and offer promotions from one platform
- Listings management is bundled in plans with a smart website, reviews management, local SEO, social media, and text and email marketing
Cons
- No transparent pricing; all prices are custom
- No press release, content marketing, or branding services
- Listings optimization and management in online business directories
- Reviews management
- Website building and optimization
- Social media advertising and organic marketing
- SEO management, including local SEO
- Paid ads for Google, social media, and apps
- SMS and email marketing
All of Hibu’s pricing is custom according to your business’ needs, and all plans are bundled. Contact the agency via its website for a quote.
Average score of 3.8 out of 5 on G2.com:
- Many positive reviews praised Hibu’s wide range of digital marketing services, especially in generating leads and promoting SEO.
- However, some found the services more costly than other digital marketing companies.
Average customer rating of 3.9 out of 5 on Capterra:
- Many clients were pleased with Hibu’s fast communication and customer service and found its platform easy to navigate.
- However, a number of clients were dissatisfied with Hibu’s advertising campaigns and found its strategies ineffective at producing leads. Some also found its website design generic.
If having local citations for SEO is one of your main marketing strategies, Hibu might be the best local inbound marketing agency for you. Listing your business in online local directories like Yelp or FourSquare can get your business in front of many interested customers, generate foot traffic, and boost your SEO with a quality backlink. Hibu has services specifically for spreading out your listings to where they’re relevant and keeping them updated.
Hibu has a dashboard for managing your listings and tracking analytics like traffic and engagement. It can even optimize them to be discoverable via voice search (for example, via Siri), and if you need to update your info, all you need to do is give them a call. However, Hibu’s services are all bundled in plans that include a website, social marketing and advertising, SEO, and more; for a la carte options, SEO Discovery or WebFX are better.
Hibu has top-to-bottom services for managing your business listings, including a dashboard for monitoring your analytics. (Source: Hibu)
Still, more than most other local marketing companies, Hibu is one of the most comprehensive for managing your business’ local listings and reviews. It will set you up with a dashboard and automatically optimize all your listings. Get started with Hibu today by contacting the agency for a free consultation and marketing report.
How We Evaluated the Best Local Marketing Agencies
With dozens of digital marketing agencies available for small businesses, choosing the best ones for local marketing entails setting specific criteria. For instance, we only included agencies with services specifically for growing your business’s local presence, such as local SEO or listings management.
Here are the criteria we used to help choose the best local marketing agency for a small business:
- Local marketing and advertising services: We only included agencies with services geared for local marketing. These include local SEO, listings and review management, and services for gaining local press coverage (i.e., press releases or radio and billboard advertising). We also considered whether they offered website building, social media, and paid advertising.
- Plan flexibility: While most of the marketing agencies above have custom pricing, we only included those with flexible plans and pricing schemes. Nearly all the agencies above have options for a la carte services or bundled custom plans.
- Small business experience: There are countless digital marketing agencies available, but it takes specific skill sets and strategies to market a small business. Therefore, we evaluated whether each local digital marketing agency above had previously worked with small businesses and startups, not just nationally known companies.
- User reviews: Client experience is also part of the equation. When evaluated on review sites such as G2.com, Clutch.co, and Capterra, all of the agencies had an average rating of at least 3.5 out of 5.
- Cost: All the agencies here offer affordable starting costs for startups and small businesses. The value for your money is also there, along with scalable plans and services to grow with your company.
- Expert opinion and experience: Our team has decades of collective experience in local marketing for small businesses, online and off. We determined that each of the local marketing agencies above offers a quality experience and has deep local marketing expertise—we’d use them for our own businesses in a heartbeat.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What does a local marketing agency do?
A local marketing agency executes strategies and campaigns to grow your small business presence in your local area. Working with you, it puts together plans based on your marketing goals, from growing your local brand awareness to generating leads, sales, and web or foot traffic to your business. These strategies often include improving your local SEO, listing your business on local directories, advertising, PR and publicity, local events, and more.
Is it worth it to hire a marketing agency?
Yes, hiring a marketing agency is worth it to grow your business’ brand presence effectively instead of constant trial and error. Marketing agencies have professionals that can handle all your small business marketing strategies, both offline or online, and meet your specific marketing goals. There are also many marketing agencies catered specifically to small businesses that won’t break the bank, such as those above.
What’s the difference between an advertising agency and a marketing agency?
A local advertising agency uses paid advertising strategies to grow your business (such as pay-per-click or radio ads). Marketing agencies create a more holistic strategy for your business using both organic and paid methods. In short, paid ads are just one part of a marketing strategy. If you only want to advertise your business, you’ll partner with a local ads agency, but if you want a more comprehensive strategy, you’ll need a marketing agency.
Bottom Line
Connecting with your local community can lead to significant growth for your small business. Local communities can increase foot traffic and sales and create loyal customers for your brand. For the best local marketing strategies, partner with a vetted local marketing agency, such as those above. Our overall top pick for a holistic approach, especially if you’re just starting out, is Straight North—it’ll develop your brand from scratch and grow your local presence.
