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Why People Trust DesignRush
DesignRush has a qualified team of industry experts and agency executives that focus on finding the best creative agencies for your business. Our team determines the key performance indicators, like portfolio, client reviews, and industry reputation, that agencies must meet to be listed. To further leverage our agency expertise, businesses also reach out to DesignRush to streamline the process of finding the right agency via the Marketplace.
Our Picks for The Best Creative Agencies in 2023
Ascendant Group
The best creative agency on our list is Ascendant Group because of their long-standing 17 years of experience in providing tailored creative solutions.
- Why we chose them: Ascendant Group has a team of seasoned creatives who know how to innovate campaigns and their testimonials and success stories prove that. They have thrived in creating compelling, story-driven brands for businesses across multiple industries.
- What you should consider: Primarily focusing on building creative strategies for corporations and executive leaders, this agency might not be suited for small businesses in terms of both approach and pricing.
- Who are they for: CEOs, Fortune 500 companies, INC 5,000 businesses, multibillion-dollar businesses, and high-potential startups can hire Ascendant Group to help them with effective creative solutions.
Digital Silk
Second on our list of the best creative agencies is Digital Silk. They provide end-to-end creative services to B2C and B2B companies, helping their clients grow exponentially.
- Why we chose them: They have experience working with starting and established brands, including HP, Microsoft, Amazon, Xerox, AT&T, and more. They follow a results-driven approach and have been awarded by Interactive Media Awards, Telly Awards, Marcom Awards, W3 Awards, among others.
- What you should consider: Their $125 per hour rate can be steep for businesses with limited budgets, especially for those looking for simple rebranding or brainstorming for naming a product.
- Who are they for: Biotechnology, electric car manufacturing, real estate, healthcare, and e-commerce companies can partner with Digital Silk for their creative needs. This includes branding strategy, brand positioning, marketing strategy, communication strategy, web design and more.
SmartSites
The next best creative marketing agency we recommend is SmartSites. According to their portfolio, they were able to produce over 700 visually-pleasing websites. This is due to their award-winning team, competitive analysis, and market research.
- Why we chose them: They are a creative marketing agency with a track record for helping successful companies grow in the market. Their expertise blends well with their exceptional customer service, backed up with 325+ perfect (5-star) client reviews on Google.
- What you should consider: They offer a limited set of creative solutions, mostly focused on website design and development. This can be a disadvantage if what you are looking for involve multimedia design or branding.
- Who are they for: For businesses of all sizes who want to have a beautiful website that wins customers. They’re best for WordPress, BigCommerce, and other e-commerce brands looking to work with quality services at reasonable prices.
SocialSEO
SocialSEO is also one of the top creative agencies on our list. With more than two decades of experience, their portfolio shows their experience of providing creative marketing services with major local and national brands.
- Why we chose them: They are an award-winning creative agency that offers video marketing, graphic design and digital advertising, among others. Based on their previous projects and case studies, they are likely to produce tangible results like more than 300% increase in video views, 23% increase in total leads, and 67% increase in revenue.
- What you should consider: Their preferred working budget ranges between $1,000-$10,000. This may seem expensive for a small business that only needs help with producing non-complex creative materials, such as social media graphics.
- Who are they for: Businesses of all sizes can hire this agency for their creative needs, especially those who want to leverage visually-pleasing marketing collateral for brand awareness. Allied health practices, car manufacturers, and hardware store companies have more edge since the company has experience working with such businesses.
Dotlogics Inc.
Dotlogics Inc. is an expert in the field of branding and website design, thanks to their agile team that combines ingenuity and technology to provide the best creative solutions.
- Why we chose them: Bringing together strategy, technology, and a creative passion to design the best experience for your business, this company can provide cross-channel marketing that can make your brand relevant to your target audience. They also design high-converting websites that can generate leads 24/7.
- What you should consider: Their small team of fewer than 50 designers, brand strategists, and project managers may hinder them to handle big and complex creative projects.
- Who are they for: Companies looking for a full-stack creative marketing agency can hire Dotlogics Inc. to revamp, improve, or develop their creative strategy and visual brand identity.
10 Best Creative Agencies Compared
Agency | Location | Hourly Rate | Size |
Ascendant Group | Newark, DE | Inquire | Under 49 |
Digital Silk | New York City, NY | $125 | 100 -249 |
SmartSites | Paramus, NJ | $100 | 100 - 249 |
SocialSEO | Colorado Springs, CO | Inquire | 100 - 249 |
SmartSites | Paramus, NJ | $100 | 100 - 249 |
Dotlogics Inc. | New York City, NY | $125 | Under 49 |
Ramotion | San Francisco, CA | $150 | 50 - 99 |
Ignite Visibillity | San Diego, CA | $150 | 100 - 249 |
HigherVisibility | Memphis, TN | Inquire | 50 - 99 |
PKG Brand Design | Chicago, IL | $150 | Under 49 |
How We Picked The Best Creative Agencies
The best creative agencies listed above were selected through a string of key performance indicators. We looked into their extensive portfolio, case studies, and client reviews to evaluate their ability to produce desirable results.
Our agency experts also take into account their awards and recognitions, the types of clients they serve, and their output. In addition, we made sure they display the following qualities:
- Knowledge of multi-disciplinary branding and design
- Ability they stay abreast of the latest design and marketing trends
- Project management and communications skills
- Attention to detail and problem-solving skills
- Reliability and transparency
- And more
Read more about our agency selection criteria here.
Sources
DesignRush sustains a directory of over 20,000 agencies categorized by service category, location, expertise and reviews. We build our database in two ways:
- Our dedicated team of agency experts actively search the web for top performing companies. We then pull information from their websites, online presence and client testimonials to verify their status and qualifications prior to listing.
The agencies listed get notified of their profiles on the website and they can choose to claim it or not, which suggests their availability for more collaborations. - Agencies can also reach out to DesignRush and must go through the verification process prior to being listed.
About the Author
Kristina Vjetrovic is a Client Relationship Manager working directly with Branding & Creative agencies. It allows her to provide industry insights that help business owners make informed hiring decisions, which she proactively manages to nurture long-term B2B customer relationships. For further inquiries, contact her at [email protected].