The problem with most marketing agencies
Most agencies sell hope. A sleek pitch deck, a pile of "strategy," some charts, and a retainer that bills whether results come or not. The incentive isn't to grow your business — it's to keep the retainer alive.
We've watched this play out hundreds of times. Businesses sign six-figure agreements. Campaigns launch. Reports arrive monthly. Rankings and impressions go up. Revenue doesn't. The agency cites "brand-building" or "long-term strategy" and the retainer renews for another quarter.
Eventually, the founder fires the agency, decides marketing doesn't work, and goes back to referral-only. Which is a shame, because marketing — done right — is the highest-leverage thing most businesses can do.
What we do differently
Three commitments that define how we work:
- We measure revenue, not activity. Reports open with leads, sales, and ROAS. Impressions and clicks are context, not the scorecard.
- We give you the audit before the pitch. Every engagement starts with a written diagnostic. You see exactly what we think is broken, what we'd fix, and in what order — before you pay us a dollar in retainer.
- You own everything. Ad accounts, domains, CRMs, creative files, landing page builds — all in your name. If the relationship ends, you walk away with everything we built together.
What we believe
Performance marketing is a craft, not a dashboard.
Anyone can buy software that generates reports. The work — the actual work — is the thousand small judgment calls between "this ad is tired, swap it" and "this ad is in a learning dip, hold the line." That's experience and taste. It's what you're hiring us for.
The fundamentals win.
We've watched a hundred shiny tactics come and go. What keeps working: clear offers, proper tracking, relentless testing, well-written copy, pages that load fast, and ads that tell the truth. Everything else is garnish.
Small, senior teams beat big, junior ones.
We don't run an account management layer that translates between you and the people doing the work. When you work with us, you work with the strategist running your account. No handoffs, no telephone game.
Not every business needs us.
If your economics don't support meaningful paid spend, if your offer isn't validated, or if you need someone to define your product for you — we're the wrong partner. We'll tell you that on the first call and point you somewhere better. It's not a sales tactic. It's just the right answer.
"44 was the third agency we hired. They were the first one that told us, in month one, which parts of our previous marketing were lies. That alone was worth the retainer."
Who we work with
We're best for established businesses with a validated offer and real revenue, looking to move marketing from a cost center to a profit center. Typical clients:
- Service businesses doing $500K–$20M in annual revenue
- E-commerce brands with proven product-market fit looking to scale ad spend
- B2B SaaS companies with defined ICP and at least a rough sense of LTV
- Local businesses looking to dominate their service area
- Founders who want a senior operator, not an account manager