Hiring Guide: How to Choose a Leading Media Buying Agencies in the US

What should I look for in a company’s track record or case studies?

As programmatically sold advertising is projected to reach over $400 billion in the US by 2026, evaluating a company’s track record requires a sharper focus on scale, sophistication, and measurable impact.

Case studies should go beyond isolated wins and demonstrate repeatable performance across channels, budgets, and market conditions.

• Quantified results such as ROAS, CPA reduction, revenue lift, or pipeline impact, with specific numbers
• Channel and media mix clarity, including how platforms were selected and sequenced
• Creative and testing strategy, showing how messaging, formats, or audiences were iterated to improve performance
• Scalability evidence, proving results held or improved as spend increased
• Attribution and measurement approach, explaining how success was tracked and validated
• Industry or use-case relevance, especially experience with similar budgets, markets, or buying models

Can a media buying agency manage both creative and media, or do I need additional vendors?

With 50% of connected TV advertising budgets expected to be transacted programmatically in 2025, the line between creative and media execution continues to blur, especially as campaigns increasingly combine CTV, digital, and traditional channels.

Traditional media continues to play a major role in large-scale reach, with more than 125 million TV households in the US and radio reaching 85.6% of American men over 55 each week. As a result, creative alignment becomes especially critical when managing campaigns that span linear TV, CTV, and digital platforms.

Many full-service media buying agencies now manage both creative and media to support this convergence, handling everything from ad development to placement, optimization, and performance measurement.

Others specialize strictly in media execution, requiring brands to bring creative in-house or work with additional vendors. The right model depends on how integrated and fast-moving the campaign needs to be, but as programmatic CTV scales, tighter creative-media coordination is increasingly a competitive advantage.

How do you choose the best agency in the United States for your goals?

1. Define your objectives

Clarify the business outcomes you want from paid media campaigns. Identify target audiences, key channels, budget ranges, timelines, and any internal constraints or dependencies.

2. Shortlist candidates

Identify 3 to 5 agencies with proven experience in your industry and media channels that match your objectives. Review case studies, client rosters, campaign outcomes, and awards to assess past performance.

3. Assess reputation and client feedback

Check independent review platforms, client testimonials, and references to evaluate reliability, service quality, and the ability to meet deadlines, KPIs, and budget commitments. Look for evidence of transparent media reporting and optimization practices.

4. Send a request for proposal (RFP)

Provide a detailed brief including campaign goals, target audiences, deliverables, reporting expectations, and timelines. A clear RFP ensures you receive comparable, actionable proposals from shortlisted agencies.

5. Conduct discovery and capability sessions

Meet with the shortlisted agencies to discuss their media buying approach, targeting strategies, creative-testing processes, programmatic or CTV capabilities, attribution frameworks, and collaboration model. This helps gauge their strategic fit and operational expertise.

6. Select an agency partner

Choose the agency that demonstrates strong strategic alignment, relevant experience, contemporary practices, and the ability to optimize campaigns as your business and market evolve. Ensure they can provide both performance-driven insights and transparent reporting.

If you need help finding a US media buying agency for your brand, visit our Marketplace and send us your project scope. We’ll match you with five providers that best match your criteria for free.

How can you find the best agency on DesignRush that fits your budget and campaign scope?

We’ve curated a list of top media buying agencies on DesignRush across multiple price points, making it easier to find a partner that fits your budget.

Beyond cost, our agency directory lets you filter by location, industry, client type, verified reviews, team size, and hourly rates, so you can quickly narrow down the agencies best aligned with your needs.

What questions should you ask before hiring a media buying agency in the United States?

Before hiring a company, we recommend asking the following questions to assess expertise, transparency, and campaign fit:

Relevant Background

1. What are the most successful media buying campaigns you’ve executed recently? Can you walk us through the brief, targeting strategy, and results?
2. Which media channels are your strongest competencies? Is it Meta, TikTok, Google, YouTube, CTV, or programmatic?
3. In which industries do you have the deepest experience (e.g., DTC, fintech, sports tech, B2B)
4. How do you stay informed about shifting CPMs, algorithm changes, and attribution trends?

Services and Processes

1. What is your process for media planning and budget allocation across channels?
2. What tools and platforms power your buying (DSPs, attribution tools, analytics dashboards)?
3. What does reporting look like: frequency, depth, KPIs, and transparency of media costs?
4. How do you handle programmatic fees, platform markups, and pass-through costs?

Related to Your Project

1. Based on our goals, what risks or constraints should we be aware of (budget levels, creative volume, data quality, timeline)?
2. How many team members will work on our account, and what is their experience with similar media budgets?
3. How will you measure and attribute ROI, especially across cross-channel or CTV campaigns?
4. What level of involvement is required from our internal team during the engagement?

Sources

DesignRush sustains a directory of over 40,000 agencies categorized by service category, location, expertise, and reviews. We build our database in two ways:

• Our dedicated team of agency experts actively searches 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.