We selected the best-performing advertising agencies in Chicago that can help you increase your online sales through creative, comprehensive ad campaigns. Compare them by portfolios, reviews, awards, team size and more to find the right collaborator for your business.
Full-service. Independently owned. WBE-certified. We accelerate growth for our clients' brands and businesses by designing and executing smart, data-driven creative campaigns, marketing strategies, and consumer experiences that will help you achieve and surpass your business growth goals faster...
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Digital Marketing Review from Rebecca Zeni
I had a great experience working with Kim at Motion PR. I am a small business so she was able to tailor her expertise to my needs. I would highly recommend her.
Digital Marketing Review from Paul Litardo
Motion PR has a great staff and a great leader in Kim Eberl. My experience the past several months have been great. I recommend Motion PR to everyone.
Digital Marketing Review from Rita Dragonette
I've had the pleasure of working with Motion as both colleague and client. As a colleague I was referred to them for a number of my CEO clients. The high-level coverage they were able to secure was very instrumental in significantly raising the profile of those clients and helping them attract the opportunities they were after. As a client, Motion was able to quickly and innovatively operationalize a successful social giving program to fund a scholarship I started as part of the launch for my new novel. The response was terrific for book awareness and quickly became fully funded. The agency is highly responsive, the staff skilled and engaging. Terrific client service.
NEXT/NOW is a privately owned company that has been revolutionizing the virtual reality (VR) industry by creating immersive experiences that transport users to extraordinary realms. With their state-of-the-art VR solutions, they have taken people to futuristic settings, virtual race track pits, and serene...
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VR/AR Review from Eric J Nesser
Next/Now helped realize our ambituous mixed reality vision for educating automotive consumers about safety features, driving assistance, and parking assistance with holographic imagery that can be deployed in real world space. We were able to engage consumers on the field without any special equipment besides modern phones and tablets. I would definitely recommend Next/Now to other agencies, as they bulldozed project obstacles, put a lot of love into details, and made our CG really stand out.
Dave Pasciuto's Review Sourced from Google
Charlie and the people at Next/Now are really great! They were very accommodating at our Event. The space is very nice and have the coolest job designing AR/VR experiences.
Kristen Youngman's Review Sourced from Google
Next/Now is Chicago's hidden gem. I couldn't believe my good fortune when I found them. Well versed in creating just about every interactive experience you can think of, they bring to life virtual reality, augmented reality, gesture control, projection mapping and interactive videos walls to life. In a world that constantly seeks to avoid advertising and many branded messages, Next/Now consistently produces brand experiences that people actually flock to. This is what drew me to them after 10 years of traditional advertising. Their nimble, strategic teams produce quality content and share-worthy moments. If you'd like to stop living in the 80s and move into the future of brand and content creation, call on Next/Now.
VSA is a brand strategy and creative agency. We believe creative is currency, and we help brands turn it into business growth. By bringing strategy, design and marketing together, we build brand systems and campaigns that deliver speed to market, cultural relevance and measurable performance...
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Digital Kitchen is a global creative agency that excels in crafting captivating stories and immersive experiences to engage and move audiences...
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Digital Marketing Review from Sandra L.
Digital Kitchen has helped me with multiple projects in my company. Learning and tutoring are significant angles to the development of a representative. Generally speaking incredible experience. Incredible customers and great culture. I was truly delighted by working scholarly a great deal stuff. Well done.
Digital Marketing Review from Tracie C.
They are an incredible company, comprising great talent. The best quality about DK is the ability and acknowledgment that it has pulled in throughout the years. Not exclusively will you work with industry pioneers in configuration, movement, and experiential orders, you'll have the option to be a basic part to the inventive procedure. No real cons however the board should give additional regard for the imaginative procedure. I worked at Digital Kitchen full-time for over 4 years and I adored it and it has helped me a great deal.
Louisimene Castor's Review Sourced from Google
I love to pbs kids ready to learn from between the lions or sesame Street library promos from 2006-2007 from shorts and others
At Fusion92, we live for the stuff that nobody else can solve. With an eye toward true innovation, we give answers to the unanswerable. That means first of its kind media, creative, data and technology. Ideas that are data fueled and insight driven...
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Eric Storck's Review Sourced from Google
My company Weed Man of Vienna used this company for mailing services this past spring. We received terrible service that was riddled with errors. To make matters worse they lost my payment. When I sent another they cashed both payments and are now refusing to send me back what is owed to me.
Mikki Sharp's Review Sourced from Google
A technology and client-focused business transformation partner with an award-winning culture known for innovation and excellence.
Ariel Dubov's Review Sourced from Google
I highly recommend avoiding this company. Fusion92 recently absorbed the company I contracted, Conversion Fanatics. CF was hired to increase our conversion rate. After many months of "testing", and a lot of $$ later, they actually decreased our CVR substantially. I'm deeply unsatisfied with how they left my website -- it was teeming with glitches and errors that are considered low hanging fruit for a typical UX company. Go with a different company!
The Distillery Project is a creative and strategic agency...
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Barkley, an AdTech company and a nominee for the 2022 AdWeek Agency of the Year, is a full-service, independent creative idea business that aids in the development of entire brands and their greatest potential. With the firm conviction that all brands, including ours, can be a force for good in the world, we...
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Mike Heitmann's Review Sourced from Google
Leading ad agency in Kansas City. They produce tremendous work and they are a great ambassador of KC.
NOVUS is an independent media agency that architects growth with purpose where every media decision is intentional, measurable, and built for impact...
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Dame Creative is a female-led full-service creative agency based in Chicago, specialising in brand strategy, design and storytelling that connect meaningfully with people and drive business outcomes...
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Tom, Dick & Harry is Chicago's craft agency. Smaller. Fussier. Naturally friendlier...
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Top advertising agencies in Chicago bring outside expertise and fresh perspectives to enhance brand visibility and customer engagement. They develop strategic campaigns based on deep market insights and consumer behavior, helping companies connect more effectively with their target audience. Through data-driven strategies and creative execution, these agencies help businesses drive higher customer acquisition and gain a stronger position in the local market.
Partnering with a Chicago advertising company unlocks several advantages to businesses:
To showcase the results a top Chicago advertising company can achieve for a business, our researchers highlighted this case study:
Chicago advertising companies offer a range of services to help businesses promote their brands and reach their target audiences. The most common services include:
In addition to their primary services, some Chicago advertising companies provide additional support, including influencer marketing, experiential marketing, event sponsorships, and direct mail campaigns.
It's challenging to identify the exact number of advertising agencies in Chicago. However, estimates suggest several hundred such firms are operating in the city. For instance, AdForum’s database lists around 190 agencies in the city, while recruitment platform Built In Chicago identifies 375 AdTech (advertising technology) companies. These figures indicate a thriving and diverse advertising sector in Chicago.
There are more than 5,400 advertising companies listed on DesignRush, with 130 agencies based in Illinois, and 104 located or have offices in Chicago. The companies vary in size, as shown by the following data:
| Company size | Number of agencies |
| Small (under 49 employees) | 73 |
| Mid-sized (50-249 employees) | 20 |
| Large (250+ employees) | 8 |
| Enterprise (1000+ employees) | 3 |
Many Chicago advertising companies charge hourly rates between $100 and $200, though some accept lower rates of $30 to $50. Small businesses typically spend $10,000 to $50,000 on annual advertising, and many also separate their budgets for online and offline channels.
The top 50 advertising agencies in Chicago featured on DesignRush charge approximately $138 an hour. About 6.8% of agencies accept projects with a minimum budget of less than $1,000 for basic services like local business listings or PPC campaign audit. Meanwhile, 8.7% require $50,000+ minimum budget for full-service digital advertising campaigns or omnichannel marketing strategies.
Browse our directory to explore these Chicago agencies. Use our advanced filters to sort them by industry focus, hourly rate, reviews, and other relevant criteria.
Follow these steps to choose the best advertising agency in Chicago:
If you need expert recommendation, visit our Marketplace and submit your project details. Our team will suggest the top five agencies that meet your requirements, free of charge.
For an effective campaign execution, advertising agencies in Chicago follow a well-defined, structured process that typically involves the following stages:
Chicago advertising companies cater to clients from different industries, and these are the top five:
Beyond these top sectors, advertising agencies in Chicago also work with businesses in software and SaaS, automotive, hospitality, and finance. Browse our directory to learn more about these companies and use our advanced filters to narrow your search by budget range, industry, specializations, and more relevant criteria.
Consider asking the following questions when assessing a Chicago advertising company:
Explore these top 10 best-rated Chicago advertising companies:
Rated 4.8 on Google and 4.7 on Trustpilot, DesignRush Agency Directory is a reliable resource for finding top advertising agencies in Chicago. We owe this to our executive selection team, which follows a strict screening process when featuring agencies on the platform, assessing key performance indicators, like portfolio, client reviews, and industry reputation.
Learn more about DesignRush Agency Ranking Methodology.
DesignRush sustains a directory of over 30,000 agencies categorized by service category, location, expertise, and reviews. We build our database in two ways:
Agencies can also reach out to DesignRush and must go through the verification process prior to being listed.
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