Need some help finding top media buying agencies in your area? DesignRush curated this list of the top media buying companies that can help your business reach your target audience. Find the perfect match for your requirements based on client reviews, pricing, areas of specialization, location, and budgets.
You can widen your search by using our directory and filtering through more than 550 media buying agencies by hourly rates, budget, agency size, location, and other criteria. You can also learn more about our selection process at the bottom of this article.
TEC Direct Media provides media planning and buying services for high-profile brands. The agency has decades of experience with internationally renowned clients in the music, entertainment, and consumer goods sectors, using online and offline media to elevate and strengthen their brands.
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Wingman Media is a growth-minded media buying agency with expertise in launching campaigns on CTV, traditional TV, radio, and digital platforms. It also specializes in targeting niche audiences and industries. Additionally, the agency provides free media audits to help businesses optimize their ad campaigns for maximum growth and ROI.
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As the leading media planning and buying agency in the Pacific Northwest, Vision Media provides results-driven media strategies for businesses and organizations of various sizes and industries. It has decades of experience crafting tailored media strategies to help clients achieve their unique marketing and business objectives. Vision Media is also highly proficient in communicating, managing, and billing media representatives and vendors.
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Media Two Interactive offers a range of programmatic media buying, traditional media buying, social media buying, and planning services. The agency takes what it calls a bold approach to media strategy and implementation, resulting in impactful results. It also fosters a decentralized collaborative process, enabling clients to play a greater role in planning their media campaigns.
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EXL Media offers strategic media planning and buying services that cater to varying client criteria, branding, and budget. Its proprietary media process focuses on transparency, which means clients know where each dollar is spent, which audiences were reached, and how it translates into measurable results. The agency has decades of experience working with hotels, resorts, convention centers, and other businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector.
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Consistently ranked as one of the leading media buying and planning agencies worldwide, Hotspex Media offers a complete package of digital media planning and advertising services. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, Hotspex has a more strategic process that ensures brands and businesses get the most out of their media buys. This includes brand measurement, detailed audience targeting, and integrated media buying tailored to the client’s needs.
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From startups to multinational corporations, Dragon360 has helped many businesses craft paid media campaigns that drive scalable growth. Its people-first approach uses data-driven insights to generate awareness and fuel innovative and captivating ad campaigns. The agency also provides consulting services to optimize strategies and build media campaigns that generate maximum ROI.
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ChuckJoe draws from years of experience to deliver industry-leading media buying services to food and beverage companies worldwide. Its paid media strategy focuses on reaching out and engaging audiences at every stage of the media buying process, leading to increased customer loyalty and conversions. The agency also provides social media and influencer relations services, ensuring clients are connected to the right people at the right time.
Ai Media Group is a full-service media planning and buying agency that combines cutting-edge technology with years of industry expertise. It features a unique attribution platform that gathers data and insights essential to crafting ad campaigns across various channels. Its experts help clients make informed decisions and attain the best ROI possible.
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WEBITMD is a digital growth agency that provides paid media services across multiple platforms. Whether it’s Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, or YouTube, businesses can gain access to high-performing networks under a single engagement scheme. It also does all the legwork from onboarding (goal setting, competitor analysis, campaign setup) to implementation and optimization (A/B tests, fine-tuned audience details, budget reallocation), saving clients time and resources.
Our research team ranked each media buying agency using our in-house scoring system according to several key criteria. These include:
You can also visit the DesignRush Agency Ranking Methodology to learn more about our ranking system.
A media buying agency is a third-party provider that purchases ad space for a client organization. This includes ads in traditional media, such as television and print, and digital channels like websites, social media, and streaming services.
The two main types of media buying include:Â
The goal of media buying is to acquire placements on channels that reach most of the brand’s targeted audience at the lowest cost per action (CPA), maximizing the client’s return on investment (ROI). Â
The media buying companies purchase advertising space and time across various platforms to promote their clients’ brand, products, or services. Their services include a broad range of activities that optimize the advertising spend and ensure the ads reach intended audiences effectively. Â
Media buying agencies typically provide the following services:Â
The difference between a media buying agency and an advertising agency primarily lies in their focus. Â
While media buying agencies purchase advertising space and time across different media channels, advertising agencies are focused on the creative side of things. They develop the concepts, messages, and visuals that capture the target audience’s attention. Advertising agencies often collaborate with media buying companies to determine the best channels to feature ads.Â
Media buying and advertising agencies are both crucial in planning and executing a company’s marketing campaign, but how they achieve that is different:Â
Media buying agency | Advertising agency |
Focuses mainly on media planning and procurement | Develops the overall marketing plan for clients |
Can be standalone or as a part of a marketing department | Can be divided into smaller teams including media buying and planning |
Identifies the best markets, audience, media, and publications to buy ad space | Establish broad objectives for the client’s products and services |
Provides the audience data and other technical requirements for the proposed media based on the media plan | Dictates which media and products to be targeted by the ad buy |
Typically, does not produce creatives as one of its core services | Produces the creatives and the messaging behind the ad |
The difference between media buying and media planning lies in their focus; while the first deals with execution, the latter focuses on the strategy. Media buying agencies buy ad space; on the other hand, media planners determine how, when, and where it should be used to achieve maximum audience reach and engagement. They often work together to develop and enact ad campaign strategies.Â
Here are some of the main differences between a media buying agency and a media planning agency:Â
Media buying agency | Media planning agency |
Uses the research provided by the media planner to optimize ad campaigns | Decides which channels to promote marketing campaigns |
Works with advertising channels to find cost-effective advertising solutions | Research where target audiences are most likely to see ads |
Consults media planners on the best marketing channel or vendor for a campaign | Works with media buyers to establish marketing channels |
Negotiates contracts and costs | Sets ad campaign goals and KPIs |
Ad-buying companies typically charge 15-20% of the monthly ad spend. They also follow other fee structures, such as:Â
The common factors that affect the cost of hiring a media buying agency include:Â
The top 50 media buying agencies at DesignRush charge an average of $124/hour. 10% of agencies accept projects with a minimum budget of less than $1,000, while 4% require at least $50,000.Â
You should hire a media buying agency because it possesses the knowledge, experience, relationships, and scalability to manage your advertising campaigns, regardless of their size or complexity.Â
Here are some of the convincing reasons you should hire a media buying company:Â
Continental AG’s campaign illustrates the importance of media buying services. One of the world’s leading tire manufacturers, Continental, sought the help of Shift Active Media to support the launch of their new Gravity line of mountain bike (MTB) tires. After extensive research of the MTB market, the agency rolled out a comprehensive ad campaign that included paid multi-channel ads and 84 articles published across international MTB publications.Â
The campaign had a potential audience of 21.9 million and an estimated 2.9 million readers. It also generated over 1 million impressions and 50,000 interactions through Continental’s brand ambassadors on Instagram, resulting in a 10% increase in follower growth.Â
To choose the best media buying agency for your business follow these steps:Â
If you need help finding the best media buying companies for your business, DesignRush is ready to assist. Visit our Marketplace and provide us with your key specifications. We’ll match it with five of the most suitable companies free of charge.Â
Before hiring an ad-buying agency make sure to ask the following questions:Â
The best media buying agencies in the US are:Â
Scroll up to learn more about these firms and discover additional leading media buying companies. All of them were chosen based on previous projects, industry repute, client feedback, and team expertise. Sort companies by location, budget size, hourly prices, and reviews to narrow your search.Â
A trusted B2B marketplace connecting businesses with top-tier media buying agencies, DesignRush maintains an impressive 4.7 rating on Trustpilot and Google.  
Our dedicated team of agency experts built a network of over 30,000 agencies. We simplify the agency selection process, providing value to clients and agencies alike via the DesignRush Marketplace. 
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Media buying agencies on DesignRush are highly proficient in diverse disciplines. They excel in media buying and planning, branding, digital media and advertising, web design and development, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC), product marketing, and more. 
Their specialization allows them to purchase and strategically place advertising space and time across various platforms to maximize reach and effectiveness within a specified budget.
The top media buying companies demonstrate their outstanding work through notable recognitions, including Digiday Media Buying and Planning Awards, Media Post’s Planning and Buying Awards, The Shorty Awards, The Drum Awards, AdExchanger Awards, Adweek’s Media Plan of the Year Awards, and others.
These awards indicate their capability to provide industry-leading results and reliability for companies looking to optimize their ad buying and marketing campaigns overall. 
Their expertise and proficiency are confirmed through various certifications, including the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Digital Media Buying and Planning Certification, Meta Certified Media Buying Professional, Youtube and Google Ads Certification, Trade Desk Marketing Academy Certification, and Microsoft Advertising Certified Professional.
These service providers are proficient in various industry-standard technologies, tools, and software, including but not limited to Kantar Marketplace, Nielsen, BriefBid, Semrush, Comscore, Media Plan HQ, and Bionic Advertising Systems. 
For deeper insight into these agencies, DesignRush features client testimonials that share project challenges, results, and overall feedback. Each review undergoes verification, ensuring that the insights we present are both current and accurate.  
Using the Bayesian Statistical Method, our algorithm calculates the most probable success rate for each agency. This reduces bias and promotes equity in the rating system, aligning our agency rankings more closely with the genuine quality of the services they offer. 
We make sure our content stays up to date, incorporating the latest listing data, industry trends, emerging technologies, and real-time insights supplied by agencies. It is reviewed by seasoned industry professionals who also provide their invaluable expertise – ensuring accurate and in-depth information. 
The DesignRush Agency Ranking Methodology 
Agency rankings are founded on a Base Score, consisting of several important factors:  
Visit the DesignRush Agency Ranking Methodology for more information on how we research agencies.