Top 10 marketing agencies in the UK - 99Graphics Design

Top 10 marketing agencies in the UK

Yeash

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Marketing agency in the UK
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Published On: December 30, 2024

Finding marketing agencies in the UK is easy. Choosing one that actually fits your business is harder. A retailer looking to scale paid social needs a very different agency from a SaaS company building a B2B pipeline. A local business may need SEO, Google Ads and website support from one team, while an established eCommerce company may be better served by specialists in Shopify, paid media and conversion optimisation.

This guide compares ten agencies based on their current service focus, target clients, UK presence, specialist strengths and publicly available information as reviewed in August 2026.

There is no single agency that is the right choice for every company. The useful question is not simply, “Which is the best marketing agency in the UK?” It is, “Which agency is best equipped to solve the marketing problem we have right now?”

Quick Comparison: Marketing Agencies in the UK

Agency Best Suited For Main Strength
99Graphics Design Businesses wanting one remote team for digital marketing and web SEO, PPC, social, content, and development
The Social Shepherd Consumer brands with a strong social focus Social, creators, paid media, and creative
Gripped B2B SaaS, AI, and technology companies Demand generation and B2B growth
The Good Marketer Small and medium-sized businesses Full-service digital marketing
The Small Biz Expert SMEs needing practical marketing support SEO, PPC, LinkedIn, and consultancy
Cheshire Cat Marketing SMEs wanting direct senior agency support Web, SEO, PPC and content
Digital Litmus B2B businesses using HubSpot RevOps, ABM, and HubSpot
Atomic Digital Marketing Growing brands needing integrated digital support SEO, PPC, web, social and CRO
Herd eCommerce and Shopify businesses Performance marketing and Shopify
tmp Enterprise and complex B2B organisations Brand-to-demand, ABM and B2B strategy

How This Guide Was Put Together

marketing agency in the UK

Rather than repeating the same “award-winning”, “results-driven,” or “leading agency” descriptions that appear across hundreds of agency pages, we looked at practical differences between the companies.

The comparison considers:

  • Current services listed by each agency
  • The type of businesses they are set up to work with
  • Geographic presence where publicly available
  • Specialist capabilities
  • Published pricing where available
  • Case studies and evidence are available through company websites
  • Whether the agency is a generalist or a specialist

Publisher disclosure: 99Graphics Design is included in this guide. If this article is published on the 99Graphics Design website, that relationship should remain clearly disclosed rather than presenting the list as an independent third-party ranking.

1. 99Graphics Design

99Graphics Design should not be described as a UK-based marketing agency

Best for: Businesses that want digital marketing, creative, and website work managed by one team.

99Graphics Design is a Kolkata-founded digital marketing and web development company working with businesses across different markets. Its current service offering includes SEO, Google Ads, social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing, and website development.

An important distinction should be made here: 99Graphics Design should not be described as a UK-based marketing agency unless a genuine UK office can be independently verified. Its public website currently identifies its Kolkata operation and also displays international contact information. For UK companies, it is better described as an international agency that can provide services remotely.

Where 99Graphics Design Fits

The agency is most relevant when a business does not want to coordinate several different suppliers for:

  • SEO
  • Google Ads
  • Social media marketing
  • Content
  • Landing pages
  • Website design and development
  • Creative work

Keeping development and marketing within the same team can also be useful when campaigns regularly require landing page changes, tracking implementation, conversion improvements, or technical SEO fixes.

What to Check Before Hiring

UK businesses considering an overseas agency should ask for:

  • Relevant UK or comparable-market case studies
  • Clear working and communication hours
  • Ownership of Google Ads, GA4, and Search Console accounts
  • Conversion-tracking setup
  • A UK-specific competitor analysis
  • Exact monthly deliverables
  • Reporting frequency and point of contact

That gives a much clearer picture than choosing an agency simply because it describes itself as “full-service.”

2. The Social Shepherd

Best for: Consumer brands that rely heavily on social media, creators, and paid campaigns.

The Social Shepherd is a social-first agency with UK locations in London and Bath alongside teams in New York and Miami. Its current services centre around social strategy, content and community management, paid media, social-first creative, influencer marketing and TikTok Shop.

This makes it a particularly relevant option for consumer brands where Instagram, TikTok, creators, and paid social play a major role in customer acquisition.

Key Capabilities

  • Organic social strategy
  • Community management
  • Paid social and paid search
  • Social-first video and creative production
  • Influencer campaigns
  • UGC creator programmes
  • TikTok Shop strategy and management
  • Social listening and analytics

Who Should Consider It?

The Social Shepherd makes the most sense for brands that already understand the commercial importance of social media and need a specialist team to scale it.

A company looking primarily for technical SEO or traditional B2B lead generation may find a more specialised agency elsewhere.

3. Gripped

Best for: B2B SaaS, AI, and technology companies.

Gripped is a London-based B2B digital marketing agency focused strongly on SaaS and technology businesses. Its services cover go-to-market strategy, positioning, paid media, SEO, content, website design, account-based marketing, and demand generation.

That positioning is much more specific than that of a standard full-service digital agency.

Gripped is built around the longer buying journey common in B2B, where marketing needs to support pipeline and revenue rather than simply generate website traffic.

Key Services

  • Go-to-market strategy
  • Positioning and messaging
  • B2B SEO
  • Google Ads
  • LinkedIn advertising
  • Content
  • Account-based marketing
  • Website design and development
  • Conversion optimisation
  • Sales and marketing alignment

Gripped also publishes indicative pricing. At the time of review, its advisory model starts from £3,500 per month plus project fees, performance engagements from £7,500 per month, and its broader scale programme from £15,000 per month.

That pricing makes the agency more relevant to established B2B companies than to very small businesses looking for a low-cost marketing package.

4. The Good Marketer

digital marketing in UK

Best for: Small and medium-sized businesses wanting broad digital marketing support.

Based in Whitechapel, London, The Good Marketer offers services across paid advertising, SEO, social media, email marketing, website development, CRO, content and digital PR.

One useful difference is that the agency publishes its package pricing rather than requiring every potential customer to contact sales before getting any idea of cost.

As of August 2026, its published monthly packages range from £845 + VAT to £4,225 + VAT, depending on the level of support required.

Services Include

  • Google Search Ads
  • Google Shopping
  • Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok Ads
  • SEO and eCommerce SEO
  • Digital PR
  • Email marketing
  • Social media management
  • Content marketing
  • WordPress and Shopify development
  • Conversion rate optimisation

The Good Marketer is worth considering for smaller businesses that need access to several marketing disciplines without building a full internal marketing department.

Its website currently states that contracts have a minimum six-month term, so companies comparing proposals should factor that commitment into the decision.

5. The Small Biz Expert

Best for: Small and medium-sized companies that want hands-on digital marketing support.

The Small Biz Expert focuses specifically on SMEs rather than trying to serve every type of organisation.

Its current services include SEO, Google Ads and PPC, LinkedIn marketing, social media, YouTube marketing, PR, email marketing, content, consultancy, and marketing training. It also offers support around AI search visibility.

The agency’s Google Ads service is positioned specifically for smaller businesses and includes audits, setup, and ongoing campaign management.

Why It Stands Out

Some SMEs do not need a large retained agency team. They need someone who can identify what should be fixed first, manage the most important channels, and explain what is happening without unnecessary jargon.

The Small Biz Expert’s mix of consulting, execution, and training can be useful in that situation.

Suitable For

  • Professional service firms
  • Smaller eCommerce companies
  • Local businesses
  • Growing SMEs
  • Teams that want internal marketing training alongside agency support

6. Cheshire Cat Marketing

Best for: SMEs looking for a smaller UK agency with direct senior involvement.

Cheshire Cat Marketing is based in Northwich and works with businesses across the UK. The company says it has operated since 2016 and provides web design, SEO, PPC, social media, email marketing, content, and branding.

Its model differs from agencies where a sales team wins the account before handing the client to a separate delivery team. Cheshire Cat Marketing positions senior team involvement as part of the working relationship.

Core Services

  • WordPress and eCommerce websites
  • Search engine optimisation
  • Local SEO
  • Google Ads and PPC
  • Social media management
  • Email marketing
  • Content
  • Branding

The agency also promotes rolling monthly support rather than long contractual tie-ins for some ongoing services.

For smaller businesses that value direct access to the people doing the work, that structure can matter as much as the service list itself.

7. Digital Litmus

Best for: B2B businesses trying to fix HubSpot, RevOps, and revenue operations.

Digital Litmus deserves a different description in 2026 than it may have had several years ago.

Its current website positions the company primarily as a HubSpot and Revenue Operations partner, rather than as a conventional agency offering every digital channel. Its principal solutions now include RevOps programmes, systematic account-based marketing and HubSpot foundations.

Digital Litmus also identifies itself as a certified Platinum HubSpot partner.

Key Areas

  • Revenue operations
  • HubSpot implementation
  • HubSpot migrations
  • CRM architecture
  • Account-based marketing
  • Sales and marketing alignment
  • Pipeline reporting
  • Revenue-system design

This makes Digital Litmus particularly relevant when the real marketing problem is not simply “we need more traffic.”

For example, a B2B business may already be generating enquiries but struggle with fragmented CRM data, poor lead handoffs, unclear attribution or unreliable forecasting. That is the type of problem Digital Litmus is currently positioned to address.

8. Atomic Digital Marketing

Best for: Businesses wanting an integrated UK digital agency covering marketing and website performance.

Atomic Digital Marketing is headquartered in Warrington and also lists offices in Southampton, Cardiff, and Edinburgh.

Its broader service mix includes SEO, PPC, social media marketing, website design and development, email marketing, conversion rate optimisation, and strategic consulting.

Why Businesses May Shortlist Atomic

Atomic sits between a specialist channel agency and a broad digital partner.

A business could use the agency for paid search or SEO alone, but the wider mix becomes more useful where website performance and marketing performance need to be improved together.

That could include:

  • Redesigning underperforming landing pages
  • Improving organic visibility
  • Running paid campaigns
  • Improving conversion rates
  • Reworking a wider digital strategy

Atomic’s current public positioning also emphasises flexible engagements rather than long-term lock-ins for some services.

9. Herd

Best for: eCommerce businesses, particularly companies using Shopify.

There are several UK agencies using variations of the name “Herd,” so this entry refers specifically to Herd at herd.io.

Herd combines performance marketing with Shopify design and development. Its current services include SEO, paid media, content, digital PR, design, development, and conversion-focused eCommerce work.

The company states that it has a team of 25 specialists, has delivered more than 100 Shopify projects, and has been operating for 13 years.

Where Herd Is Strongest

The combination of acquisition and eCommerce development is particularly useful when poor marketing performance cannot be separated from the website itself.

For example, increasing ad spend will not solve a weak product page, poor mobile experience, or checkout friction. Having performance marketers and Shopify specialists working together can address both sides of the problem.

Key Capabilities

  • Shopify design and development
  • SEO
  • Paid media
  • Content
  • Digital PR
  • Conversion optimisation
  • eCommerce growth

For established retail and eCommerce businesses, Herd is therefore a more relevant option than a general agency built mainly around local lead generation.

10. tmp – The Marketing Practice

Best for: Enterprise B2B organisations with complex marketing programmes.

The Marketing Practice now operates publicly under the tmp brand.

Its current service offering is heavily focused on B2B and includes brand-to-demand marketing, partner marketing, ABM, paid media, creative, data and analytics, digital experience, strategy, sales activation and AI consulting.

This is a different type of proposition from an SME digital marketing agency.

Main Services

  • B2B strategy
  • Account-based marketing
  • Partner marketing
  • Paid media
  • Creative
  • Data and analytics
  • Digital experience
  • Sales activation
  • AI consulting
  • Brand-to-demand programmes

Its website highlights work with large organisations including AWS, ServiceNow, Thomson Reuters, Capgemini and other enterprise brands.

For enterprise technology businesses with multiple markets, sales teams, partner networks, and long buying cycles, tmp deserves consideration.

For a small local business looking for basic SEO or social media management, it would generally be far more capability than required.

Which UK Marketing Agency Is Best for Your Business?

The answer depends on what you are trying to fix.

For Social Media and Influencer Marketing

The Social Shepherd has one of the clearest specialist propositions in this list, particularly for consumer brands using social, creators, and paid media as major growth channels.

For B2B SaaS and Technology

Gripped is built specifically around B2B SaaS, AI, and technology growth rather than adapting a general consumer marketing model.

For Small Businesses

The Good Marketer, The Small Biz Expert, and Cheshire Cat Marketing all have service models that can suit SMEs, although their working styles and specialisms differ.

For HubSpot and RevOps

Digital Litmus is the clearest specialist choice on this list if the problem involves CRM architecture, attribution, HubSpot, or revenue operations.

For eCommerce and Shopify

Herd combines performance marketing with Shopify design and development.

For Enterprise B2B Marketing

tmp is built for more complex B2B organisations running multi-channel and multi-market programmes.

For Integrated Digital Marketing and Website Support

Businesses wanting SEO, paid advertising, content, social media, and development managed under one relationship can compare 99Graphics Design, Atomic Digital Marketing, and The Good Marketer, depending on budget, location preferences, and the level of specialist support required.

How to Choose a Marketing Agency in the UK

Agency websites often look similar. Most mention strategy, results, creativity and growth.

Those words tell you very little about what working with the agency will actually be like.

Before signing a contract, ask more specific questions.

1. What Business Outcome Are We Paying For?

Define the objective before discussing channels.

Are you trying to:

  • Increase qualified sales enquiries?
  • Reduce cost per acquisition?
  • Improve organic revenue?
  • Increase eCommerce sales?
  • Generate a B2B pipeline?
  • Improve local visibility?
  • Rebuild an underperforming website?

An agency should be able to explain how its proposed work connects with that outcome.

2. Can They Show Relevant Work?

A successful fashion campaign does not automatically prove that an agency understands B2B SaaS.

Ask for examples that resemble your:

  • Industry
  • Business model
  • Sales cycle
  • Customer value
  • Geographic market
  • Marketing challenge

Relevant experience is more useful than a long logo wall.

3. Who Owns the Accounts and Data?

Your business should normally retain appropriate access to assets such as:

  • Google Ads
  • Meta Business Manager
  • GA4
  • Google Search Console
  • Google Tag Manager
  • CRM
  • Website
  • Creative assets

Do not discover after ending a relationship that important business data sits inside an account you cannot access.

4. How Will Conversions Be Measured?

Traffic and impressions are not enough for most businesses.

Agree in advance which actions count as meaningful conversions:

  • Form enquiries
  • Qualified calls
  • Purchases
  • Booked appointments
  • Demo requests
  • Sales-qualified leads
  • Revenue

The reporting should connect marketing activity with these outcomes wherever the available data allows it.

5. What Is Included in the Fee?

Ask what the quoted price actually covers.

For example:

  • Strategy
  • Account management
  • Creative production
  • Copywriting
  • Landing pages
  • Development
  • Reporting
  • Tracking
  • Ad management
  • Media budget

An inexpensive proposal can become expensive once essential items are charged separately.

6. What Happens When Performance Is Below Target?

This question often tells you more about an agency than its sales presentation.

A good answer should explain how performance is diagnosed and what gets reviewed—targeting, keywords, creative, landing pages, tracking, offer, search terms, conversion quality, or another relevant factor.

7. Are the Promises Realistic?

Be cautious with guarantees such as:

  • “Page-one rankings in 30 days”
  • “Guaranteed number-one position”
  • “Guaranteed leads”
  • “Instant SEO results”

SEO and advertising both involve variables that an agency cannot completely control.

A credible agency can explain its process, targets, and past results. It cannot guarantee Google’s rankings or customer behaviour.

How Much Does a Marketing Agency Cost in the UK?

There is no single standard agency fee.

Pricing changes according to:

  • Number of marketing channels
  • Amount of content or creative required
  • Advertising spend
  • Business size
  • Competition
  • Technical complexity
  • Geographic reach
  • Reporting requirements
  • Strategy and senior-team involvement

Public pricing also shows how wide the gap can be.

For example, The Good Marketer currently lists packages from £845 + VAT per month to £4,225 + VAT per month, while Gripped’s published B2B engagements start from £3,500 per month for advisory support and rise to £15,000 per month for broader demand-generation support.

This is why choosing an agency solely by the lowest monthly quote is rarely useful.

Compare the scope, expertise, and commercial objective behind the price.

Final Thoughts

The UK marketing agency market is too varied for one company to be the “best” at everything.

The Social Shepherd has a clear social-first proposition. Gripped specialises in B2B SaaS and technology. Digital Litmus now focuses heavily on HubSpot and RevOps. Herd brings together eCommerce development and performance marketing. tmp works at the more complex end of B2B marketing.

Full-service agencies such as Atomic, The Good Marketer, and 99Graphics Design suit a different requirement: businesses that want multiple digital channels coordinated through fewer suppliers.

The right decision starts with your own problem.

Write down what needs to change, what outcome matters, what you can realistically invest in, and how success will be measured. Then compare agencies against those requirements rather than against their homepage claims.

Looking for an Integrated Digital Marketing Team?

If your business needs SEO, Google Ads, social media, content, and website support working under one plan, 99Graphics Design can review your current digital setup and prepare a strategy around your target market, competition, and priorities.

Before any campaign begins, make sure the scope, conversion tracking, account access, communication process, and reporting expectations are clearly agreed upon.

That makes the agency relationship easier to evaluate from the beginning—and much easier to improve over time.

Wrapping It Up

Here’s a look at some of the UK’s leading marketing agencies. Choosing the right one isn’t always easy — what matters most isn’t just getting tasks completed, but finding a team that genuinely understands your brand and supports your goals. Some of these agencies are larger, established players better suited to bigger businesses and multinationals; others are smaller, more agile teams that work well with startups. Take the time to research and ask questions — the right partner makes a real difference to long-term marketing success.

If you want to take the Digital Marketing service in the UK, London, then visit Us – 99Graphics Design
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Last Reviewed: August 2026

Recommended editorial practice: Review all agency descriptions, pricing, office locations, and service offerings periodically because these details can change.

FAQs (SEO Optimised for Featured Snippets)

How much does it cost to hire a marketing agency in the UK?

Costs vary widely depending on the scope of work. A small business running a single service, such as SEO or social media management, might pay anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand pounds a month. Full-service retainers with larger agencies, covering strategy, paid media, and content, tend to start higher and scale with campaign budget and team size. It's worth asking any agency for a breakdown of what's included before comparing quotes, since "full-service" can mean different things from one agency to another.

What's the difference between a digital marketing agency and a traditional advertising agency?

A digital marketing agency typically focuses on online channels — SEO, PPC, social media, email, and content marketing. A traditional advertising agency often works across a wider mix, including offline formats like billboards, print, and broadcast, alongside brand strategy and creative campaigns. Many UK agencies today blend both, so it's worth checking an agency's actual portfolio rather than relying on the label alone.

How long does it take to see results from SEO?

Most agencies are upfront that SEO is a medium- to long-term investment. Meaningful movement in rankings and organic traffic usually takes three to six months, and competitive industries or keywords can take longer. Be cautious of any agency promising fast, guaranteed rankings — that's often a sign of tactics that risk falling foul of search engine spam policies rather than sustainable growth.

Should a small business choose a specialist agency or a full-service agency?

It depends on what you need. A specialist agency (for example, one focused purely on SEO or PPC) often brings deeper expertise in that one area. A full-service agency can manage multiple channels together, which can help keep strategy consistent, but may mean less depth in any single discipline. Many small businesses start with one specialist service and expand into a broader retainer as their needs grow.

How do I check if a marketing agency is legitimate before signing a contract?

Ask for case studies or references from past clients, check independent reviews rather than only testimonials on the agency's own site, and look at their own online presence — a marketing agency with a poorly maintained website or inconsistent contact details is worth questioning. It's also reasonable to ask how they measure success and how often they'll report on progress.

Do UK marketing agencies work with businesses outside the UK?

Many do. Agencies based in cities like London, Birmingham, and Edinburgh often serve clients across Europe, the US, and further afield, particularly for digital services like SEO, PPC, and content marketing that don't require an in-person presence. If location-specific work is involved, such as local SEO or in-person events, it's worth confirming the agency has relevant experience in that market.

What should I look for in an agency's SEO practices?

Reputable agencies focus on genuinely useful, well-researched content and technical improvements rather than shortcuts like keyword stuffing or mass-produced pages with little real value. Search engines have become increasingly effective at identifying content made primarily to manipulate rankings rather than help users, so an agency that prioritises quality and relevance over volume is generally a safer long-term partner.

Author

Article by:Yeash

Yeash is a digital marketing professional and SEO Specialist with 8+ years of hands-on experience in local SEO, search visibility, content optimisation, and lead-focused digital strategy. He has worked with businesses across different industries to improve rankings, strengthen local presence, and generate sustainable online growth. His work focuses on practical SEO methods, user intent, and long-term performance aligned with modern search standards.

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