Sell your marketing agency. Digital, creative, PR, media buying, content or social.
Buyers of marketing agencies include individuals using SBA 7(a) loans, other marketing agencies adding clients and staff, private-equity-backed agency platforms and holding companies such as Publicis and Havas. A free, confidential valuation estimates what yours could sell for and what could raise the price.
What you send is not shared with buyers without your permission. Requesting a valuation does not list your agency for sale.
What happens when you ask for a valuation
Tell us about your marketing agency
What kind of marketing agency you run, your revenue range, your state and how to reach you. It takes about two minutes and stays confidential.
A follow-up conversation
Someone from the team follows up to learn what a form cannot: how much of your revenue is on retainer, how concentrated your clients are, whether pass-through media sits in your revenue and who holds the client relationships.
Your valuation
A value range based on your numbers and published multiples for marketing agencies of your size, and what could move it up or down.
Your decision
There is no obligation. If you decide to sell, the sale runs through Wraith Brokerage, LLC, confidentially.
What do buyers look for in a marketing agency?
Buyers pay more for a marketing agency whose clients stay and margins hold up once you step back.
- A healthy margin
In a TobinLeff study of more than 60 buyers of digital and marketing communications agencies, a strong EBITDA margin was the top value driver and client retention the second, Axial reports.
Before a sale, TobinLeff suggests reviewing three years of monthly margins: spikes or dips you cannot explain come up in due diligence.
- Clients spread out, many on retainer
When no client is a large share of revenue, buyers tend to pay more and lean less on an earnout. BizBuySell counts retainers as recurring revenue and says strong recurring income typically earns a higher valuation.
Start early: TobinLeff suggests working on client concentration at least 12 to 18 months before a sale.
- A marketing agency that runs without you
A management team that wins new business and runs client accounts without you supports a higher price, FE International says.
Google Partner status rests partly on your account strategists' own Google Ads certifications.
- Clean books and clear ownership of the work
TobinLeff says a Quality of Earnings review of your books, not the headline EBITDA, decides what the buyer pays. Document every add-back you plan to claim.
FE International's red flags include contracts that end on a change of control and freelancer work with no signed IP assignment. Have your attorney check both before a buyer does.
How is a marketing agency valued?
A founder-run marketing agency is usually priced on seller's discretionary earnings (SDE): the profit plus one owner's pay. Larger ones are often priced on EBITDA, because the buyer expects to pay a manager. Revenue and margin are often measured on adjusted gross income (AGI): what you keep after media, production and freelancer costs, not gross billings.
Guides for marketing agency owners
For the whole sale, from getting the books ready to closing, start with how to sell a marketing agency, step by step.
- Earnouts and cash at close in marketing agency sales
How much is paid at closing, what earnouts are tied to, what they tend to pay out, and seller notes.
- Client concentration, retainers and contracts
The concentration thresholds buyers use, why retainers matter, and the contract clauses that decide whether clients transfer.
- Selling a digital or performance marketing agency
How buyers price digital and performance agencies, partner badges, ad accounts and founder-led sales.
- Selling a PR firm
How PR firms are valued, why net revenue and retainers matter, and how deals keep senior account leads in place.
- Selling a media buying or advertising agency
Gross billings vs agency gross income, media payables and credit, client tenure and what buyers check.
Request your free, confidential valuation
Tell us about your marketing agency and how to reach you. Someone from the team follows up to go through your client mix and numbers. For a rough range first, use the two-minute estimator.
Looking to buy a marketing agency instead? Join the buyer list.
Loading the valuation request form
Confidential. Details about your agency are not shared with prospective buyers without your permission. Requesting a valuation does not list your business or commit you to anything. How your details are handled.
SellMarketingAgency.com is operated by a non-licensed entity and is an affiliate of Wraith Brokerage, LLC (a Delaware LLC). We specialize in marketing agency M&A for performance marketing, creative agencies, and marketing technology companies.