If you are shopping for a performance marketing agency in 2026, you are not really shopping for “media buying.”

You are shopping for a system that can do three hard things at once:

1. Turn creative into a repeatable growth lever (because creative drives a massive share of ad impact).

2. Win across more surfaces, especially retail media and marketplaces (because budgets are flowing there fast).  

3. Prove what is working without hiding behind dashboards, attribution debates, or vanity ROAS.

That is the lens behind this list. It is built for ecommerce and omnichannel operators first. If you are a B2B pipeline team, you can still use this guide, but you will likely shortlist differently.

How this list is built (so it is actually useful)

Most “top agency” lists are basically directories. That is fine, but it does not help you answer the only question that matters:

Who will drive profitable growth for a business like mine, with my constraints, without wasting 90 days?

So we weighted agencies based on:

• Commerce fluency: marketplaces, retail media, and direct-to-consumer realities (offers, inventory, margins, creative fatigue).

• Creative operating system: testing cadence, concept throughput, and a real feedback loop between creative and media.

• Measurement discipline: clarity on what they optimize to (profitability, LTV, MER) and how they communicate performance.

• Team model: who is actually doing the work and how decisions get made.
  
  

Quick shortlist table

Now the context that actually helps you choose.

1) Darkroom (Top pick for ecommerce performance in 2026)

If you are an ecommerce or omnichannel brand, Darkroom is the best “one partner” option on this list because the model matches how performance is won now: creative velocity + channel execution + marketplace fluency.

Paid media: Darkroom positions itself as a full-funnel paid media partner across platforms like Meta, Google, AppLovin, Pinterest, TikTok, and more, and describes itself as a “recognized top 1% performance marketing agency” for that work. Darkroom Agency

Performance creative: This is where Darkroom is unusually explicit about the operating system. Their performance creative service describes a workflow led by a creative director using AI tooling, with briefing and delivery embedded into tools like Notion and Slack. They also publish clear starting tiers, including $7,500 per month for 40 to 50 assets, and $14,000 per month for 90 assets, spanning statics, motion, video, and AI creative.  

Marketplaces and social commerce: Darkroom is not pretending marketplaces are “extra.” Their Amazon service explicitly calls out full-funnel Amazon ads, including Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands, plus DSP and Amazon Marketing Cloud strategies as part of an omnichannel approach. Darkroom Agency
On TikTok Shop, they position their approach around an affiliate flywheel designed to grow TikTok Shop revenue while creating halo effects onto Amazon, DTC, and retail. Darkroom Agency

Who Darkroom is best for

Brands that need a partner who can connect the dots between:

• creative production,

• paid media performance,

• and commerce surfaces (Amazon, TikTok Shop, and retail media style ecosystems).
  
  
  

Who Darkroom is not best for

If you are looking for a narrow “one channel, one deliverable” vendor and you want everything else handled internally, you might prefer a specialist shop. Darkroom is built to run an integrated program. Darkroom Agency+1

CTA (on-brand, not pushy):
If you want a performance marketing partner that can run the media, build the creative system, and scale commerce growth across Amazon and TikTok Shop without coordination overhead, reach out to Darkroom and book a call. Darkroom Agency

2) Tinuiti

Tinuiti is a strong pick when retail media is a major part of the plan and you want a partner who talks about retail data, platforms, and full-funnel activation like it is the core job. Their commerce services describe a unified team that supports retail media networks across strategy, activation, and even product page development. Tinuiti

3) Wpromote

Wpromote is a good fit for brands that want full-funnel paid media with a measurement and attribution narrative baked in. Their paid media positioning leans into cross-channel performance and advanced attribution, and they highlight Google Partner status at the top tier on their paid search page. Wpromote+1

4) Power Digital

Power Digital is built for brands that want a broad service bench with an integrated approach. Their services positioning emphasizes channels working together and a structure where an executive sponsor aligns teams across the funnel. Power Digital Marketing

5) Common Thread Collective

If you are a DTC brand and you want a profit-first growth partner that speaks in systems and financial outcomes, Common Thread Collective belongs on your shortlist. They position themselves directly as an ecommerce growth agency, including a focus range for DTC brands doing meaningful online revenue and a rubric-like approach to diagnosing growth constraints. Common Thread Collective+2Common Thread Collective+2

6) Disruptive Advertising

Disruptive is a strong pick when you want structured PPC execution and a wider suite that can include paid search, paid social, SEO, Amazon, lifecycle marketing, CRO, and creative services. Disruptive Advertising

7) Ignite Visibility

Ignite Visibility is a solid option if you want ecommerce growth support that blends earned and paid, especially if SEO and CRO are part of the mandate. Their site explicitly calls out ecommerce brands and tailored strategies across SEO, paid media, and conversion optimization. Ignite Visibility

8) WebFX

WebFX is a common choice for teams that want full-service breadth. Their service positioning spans SEO, PPC, social media advertising, and conversion rate optimization as part of a broader digital marketing stack. WebFX

9) JumpFly

JumpFly is worth considering when you want a PPC-centric partner with clear channel coverage. Their PPC management page explicitly references Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook as platform areas. JumpFly, Inc.

10) Right Side Up

Right Side Up is not a traditional agency in the classic sense. It is a flexible model designed around access to strong marketing talent and custom team structures, which can work well for companies that want senior operators without a big agency wrapper. Right Side Up+1

11) Amsive

Amsive stands out if you want a data-led performance marketing agency that spans both digital and direct, including capabilities like direct mail alongside digital media and analytics. Amsive

12) SevenAtoms

SevenAtoms is a reasonable shortlist add if you want PPC specialization, particularly across Google and paid social platforms, with a positioning that includes Google Premier Partner status. SevenAtoms

How to choose the right agency (without overthinking it)

If you only do one thing before signing, do this:

Ask each agency to walk you through one recent win and explain it in a way that proves they understand causality, not just correlation.

Listen for:

• what the hypothesis was,

• what changed in creative,

• what changed in targeting or structure,

• what they measured,

• and what they would do next if results softened.

If the story is only “we optimized,” you are about to buy expensive ambiguity.

7 questions to ask before you sign

Use these in your first serious call:

1. What does your weekly creative testing cadence look like at our spend level?

2. How do you prevent creative fatigue, and what are your early warning signals?

3. What is your measurement north star: MER, CAC, ROAS, contribution margin, payback period?

4. Who is the day-to-day owner, and who actually makes decisions?

5. How do you decide budgets across channels as retail media grows?  

6. How do you handle marketplaces if we sell on Amazon or TikTok Shop?

7. What does the first 30 days look like, and what do you need from us to move fast?
   
   

Final thought

In 2026, performance marketing is not “buying ads.” The hard part is building a machine that keeps learning as platforms automate more of the levers. Creative matters more than most teams want to admit, and retail media is only getting bigger.  

If you are an ecommerce brand and you want a partner built around that reality, Darkroom is the cleanest top pick because the offering is designed to connect performance creative, paid media, and commerce channels into one operating system. Book a call with Darkroom today.