Short answer
The Cleveland metro area had 240 advertising, PR and related agency offices with paid staff in 2023, employing 1,985 people, according to the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns. Cuyahoga County has 182 of them; 154 have fewer than five employees and three have 100 or more. Another 273 offices are marketing consultancies. To choose one, decide first whether you need an agency at all, then call three references, including a former client.
- Cleveland's 240 agency offices employ 1,985 people and paid $141.1 million in 2023.
- Cuyahoga County holds 182 offices and 1,702 jobs; Lorain and Lake counties come next.
- Only three Cleveland agency offices have 100 or more employees, and none has 250 or more.
- Advertising agencies are 104 of the 240 offices; marketing consultancies add 273 more.
- Ask every finalist for a reference from a client that left, and ask that client why.
On this page
This report is for Northeast Ohio businesses deciding whether to hire a marketing agency and which one, and for companies that sell to agencies. It covers the Census count by county and size, the kinds of agencies, when an agency is the right call, how to check references, published rates, and a prospecting example.
Cleveland's agencies by county
County Business Patterns 2023 reports NAICS 5418 (advertising, public relations and related services) for the Cleveland metro area:
| County | Offices | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Cuyahoga | 182 | 1,702 |
| Lorain | 20 | 124 |
| Lake | 17 | 94 |
| Geauga | 11 | 32 |
| Medina | 9 | 31 |
| Metro area | 240 | 1,985 |
The five counties shown hold 239 offices; the metro total includes one more. The metro's agency offices paid $141.1 million in 2023, $71,100 per employee on average, and average 8.3 employees each. They are 0.62% of the 38,864 agency offices in the US.
CBP counts establishments with paid employees, not companies: an agency with an office downtown and another in Akron would count as two, in two metros, and freelancers without payroll are left out.
Mostly small, with three large offices
| Employees at the office | Offices |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 154 |
| 5 to 9 | 42 |
| 10 to 19 | 24 |
| 20 to 49 | 12 |
| 50 to 99 | 5 |
| 100 to 249 | 3 |
The Census Bureau doesn't publish the cells for 250 or more employees here, but the published cells already add up to the metro's 240, so there are none. Only 20 offices in the metro have 20 or more employees.
The kinds of agencies, by code
The Census Bureau assigns each office the code for its main activity. Cleveland's 240 split this way:
- Advertising agencies, including digital (541810): 104 offices, 1,070 employees.
- PR agencies (541820): 41 offices; employment not reported (high-noise figure).
- Other advertising services, such as promotional products and in-store demonstrations (541890): 45 offices, 377 employees.
- Direct mail (541860): 15 offices, 176 employees.
- Out-of-home display advertising (541850): 12 offices, 85 employees.
- Media representatives (541840): 9 offices, 25 employees.
- Flyer and sample distribution (541870): 9 offices; employment not reported (high-noise figure).
- Media buying agencies (541830): 5 offices; employment not reported (high-noise figure).
"Not reported" means the Census Bureau published the figure but flagged it as high-noise: the noise it adds for confidentiality changed it by 5% or more. Outside 5418, the metro has 273 marketing consultancies (541613) with 3,516 employees and 106 graphic design studios (541430). Firms selling custom SEO often register as custom programming (541511).
Agency, freelancer or in-house hire?
| Your situation | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You need several skills at once (strategy, design, media, analytics) for a campaign | Agency | You buy a share of several specialists for less than hiring them |
| You need one skill, steadily, every week | In-house hire | Cleveland agency offices paid $71,100 per employee in 2023, a guide to the salary you'd compete with |
| You need one skill for a short project | Freelancer | No retainer, but you manage the work and the files yourself |
| You buy media nationally | Agency with buying scale, or a media buying agency | Rates and inventory improve with volume; only five Cleveland offices are media buyers |
| You already have a marketing team but no time | Agency on a project basis | Keeps strategy inside, execution outside |
A marketing agency is worth it when the work needs more skills than one person has, or comes in peaks a permanent team can't absorb. It usually isn't when the work is steady and specialized enough for a single hire.
How to check references and case studies
- Ask for three references you choose from a list, not three the agency picks. Include one client that left in the past two years.
- Call, don't email. Ask: what did the agency get wrong, and how did it fix it? Who did the work day to day? Did the senior people from the pitch stay on the account?
- Check one case study against public facts. If an agency claims it grew a client's leads, ask what the starting point and the measure were, and whether the client will confirm it.
- Check the platform badges. A Google Partner badge requires $10,000 of ad spend across managed accounts over 90 days and certified strategists; click the badge on the agency's site to confirm it.
- Check the reviews. The FTC's rule on consumer reviews, in effect since 21 October 2024, bans fake and bought reviews, and agencies can be liable for writing them. A wall of five-star reviews posted in the same week is a reason to ask questions.
What Cleveland agencies charge
Omnicom's 10-K lists the ways agencies are paid: a fee or hourly rate for the effort, commissions on media bought, incentive payments, and reimbursed third-party costs. Smaller agencies mostly quote projects or monthly retainers. Few publish rates; the clearest public figures are the General Services Administration's schedule contracts, which list a vendor's maximum hourly rates for federal work. One firm in the metro holds such a contract with a marketing category: Ibility of Avon Lake, which lists a project manager at $171 an hour. National medians for small businesses on these contracts (our calculation from GSA's data, 30 October 2026) are $141 an hour for an account manager or executive, $147 for an art director and $104 for a graphic designer.
Selling to Cleveland agencies
At most of these offices the founder or a partner signs for anything new. Agencies buy for their clients as much as for themselves, so a product that fits into a client project or can be billed to the client gets approved faster.
Illustrative example. The company, prices and response rates are fictional.
Lakeshore Print (lakeshoreprint.example) manages print and mail production for agencies on a per-job fee. Its targets are the 104 advertising agencies and 15 direct mail offices, 119 in all. If 40% run print or mail for clients, about 48 fit, and an illustrative average of $12,000 a year in fees per agency puts the market near $576,000. The first email cites a recent client campaign the agency published on its site. Sorting 119 offices by whether they still produce print is the research step Bebop handles for each account.
Where to check Cleveland agencies
- AAF-Cleveland, the local American Advertising Federation club, for creative professionals and agency events.
- PRSA Greater Cleveland, the Public Relations Society of America's chapter.
- The Ohio Secretary of State's business search showed a maintenance page to our automated check; search it directly to confirm an agency's legal name and status.
Next step: see how Cleveland's agencies compare with the national groups in the largest advertising agencies and holding companies.
Sources
- County Business Patterns 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- North American Industry Classification System 2022: definitions and cross-references, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Omnicom Group Inc. Form 10-K for 2025, Omnicom Group, via SEC EDGAR, 20 February 2026
- How to become a Google Partner or Premier Partner, Google Ads Help, accessed 30 October 2026
- The Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: Questions and Answers, Federal Trade Commission, November 2024
- CALC+ Labor Ceiling Rates (Marketing and Public Relations export), US General Services Administration, accessed 30 October 2026
- USAspending.gov award search (contract recipient addresses), US Department of the Treasury, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many marketing agencies are in Cleveland?
The Cleveland metro area had 240 advertising, PR and related agency offices with paid staff in 2023, employing 1,985 people, according to County Business Patterns. Cuyahoga County had 182, Lorain 20, Lake 17, Geauga 11 and Medina 9. Another 273 offices were marketing consultancies. Freelancers without payroll aren't counted.
How much do marketing agencies usually charge?
Most charge project fees or monthly retainers; larger agencies also earn commissions on media and incentive payments, as Omnicom's 10-K describes. Few publish hourly rates. On federal GSA schedules, small businesses' median ceiling rate is $141 an hour for an account manager or executive. Ask each agency to estimate the hours and roles behind its quote, so you can compare like with like.
What are the big 5 marketing companies?
There's no official list. By reported revenue the three largest agency groups are Omnicom, Publicis Groupe and WPP; lists of five add the next-largest groups, which vary with the measure used. Omnicom completed its merger with Interpublic, once the fourth-largest, on 26 November 2025. Our page on the largest advertising agencies and holding companies has the reported figures.
Is a marketing agency worth it?
Usually, when you need several skills at once or the work comes in peaks: an agency spreads strategists, designers and media buyers across clients. Usually not, when the work is steady and needs one skill a single hire could cover. Cleveland agency offices paid an average of $71,100 per employee in 2023, a guide to the salary you'd be weighing an agency retainer against.
How do I check a marketing agency's references?
Pick the references yourself from a client list, including one client that left, and call them. Ask what went wrong and how the agency handled it, who did the day-to-day work, and whether the senior people from the pitch stayed involved. Check one case study's claims against the client's own account, and confirm any Google Partner badge by clicking it on the agency's site.