Digital Media Solutions

What Digital Media Solutions does

Digital Media Solutions (DMS) is a performance-driven digital marketing company that connects consumers in-market for insurance, education, and home services products with advertisers through digital channels. The company primarily serves enterprise insurance carriers, agencies, and education institutions seeking high-volume consumer acquisition across verticals including auto, home, health, Medicare, final expense, vocational and online education, consumer finance, and home services. The business model is performance-based, monetizing via cost-per-lead, cost-per-acquisition, cost-per-order, cost-per-enrollment, and pay-per-call pricing models that align advertiser spend directly with delivered leads and qualified inbound calls.

DMS's product surface is built on three integrated layers: (1) a first-party consumer data asset and proprietary ad exchange used for real-time campaign decisioning and identity resolution across devices and channels; (2) Sparkroom, an owned lead management platform with custom APIs, subID reporting, dynamic pixels, IVR qualification, and advanced call tracking; and (3) distribution infrastructure comprising a curated owned-and-operated publisher network (email, social, native, search, mobile, calls) accessed via an Everflow-backed self-serve portal, plus an inbound call platform for independent Medicare and Final Expense agents. Supporting technology includes GIS-based custom geo-targeting, Jornaya/TrustedForm lead verification, Ringba real-time call routing, and integrations with Optizmo for compliance monitoring. The company combines enterprise direct sales (Head of Enterprise Business Development, vertical GMs for U65 health and P&C), channel partnerships with agencies and carriers, and self-serve products for mid-market agents.

Following an aggressive acquisition strategy in 2022-2023 (Traverse Data for data capabilities; HomeQuote.io and ClickDealer assets in a $35M deal for home insurance lead generation), DMS filed for Chapter 11 in late 2024 and emerged in March 2025 via a court-supervised sale of substantially all assets to an investor group led by funds managed by BlackRock alongside Bain Capital, Blackstone, and Abry Partners. A $30M revolver from Wingspire Capital accompanied the emergence, and Tim Robinson was appointed CEO in April 2025, marking a transition from founder-led public-company ownership to PE-controlled private ownership under new operational leadership.

Name

Digital Media Solutions

Legal name

Digital Media Solutions, LLC

Website

https://digitalmediasolutions.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Digital Media Solutions is a performance-driven digital marketing company that connects consumers with insurance, education, and home services advertisers through first-party data, proprietary lead management technology, and a curated publisher network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Marketing Services

NAICS

Media Buying Agencies (54183), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Media Representatives (541840)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital & Programmatic Media Buying (Display, Video, CTV, Audio) (BPAFABAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Data Platform & Audience Insights (CDP, Data Warehouse, Attribution) (MPAHAJAN)

Keywords

• Performance marketing
• Lead generation
• Digital advertising
• Customer acquisition
• Inbound call marketing

Headquarters

HQ city

Clearwater

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Performance Marketing / Lead Generation: DMS generates revenue by connecting consumers with advertisers through performance-based pricing models. Advertisers pay for qualified leads, calls, or conversions. The company processes large-scale traffic and uses real-time decisioning to optimize campaign performance across multiple digital channels including email, social media, native, search, mobile and calls.
2. Pay-Per-Call Campaigns: DMS offers pay-per-call campaigns where advertisers only pay for calls meeting specified criteria (e.g., calls lasting 2+ minutes). This performance-based model provides cost predictability and aligns spending with actual results.
3. Branded Campaign Services: Revenue from owned-and-operated branded campaigns offering exclusive media monetization opportunities. Campaign types include revenue share, CPM, PPC/PPL and custom solutions designed to maximize publisher ROI and advertiser results.
4. Email Marketing Services: DMS leverages email capabilities and publisher networks to deliver AI-driven email messaging campaigns at scale while maintaining operationalized compliance. Revenue generated based on email traffic volume and performance metrics.
5. Raw Call Pricing Model: DMS offers raw inbound call pricing where advertisers pay a competitive CPL for calls, offering more financial predictability and campaign control compared to sale-based payouts. 90% of calls are typically billable under this model.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Digital Media Solutions is a performance-based digital marketing company that connects consumers with advertisers across verticals such as insurance, education, home services, and consumer finance through qualified leads and inbound phone calls. The company combines proprietary technology platforms (Sparkroom, DMS Ad Exchange, Everflow), first-party data, and a large publisher network to deliver customer acquisition outcomes on a cost-per-lead, cost-per-call, cost-per-acquisition, or cost-per-enrollment basis.

Product overview

Digital Media Solutions (DMS) operates as a performance-driven digital marketing company offering a unified platform that connects consumers and brands through data, technology, and proprietary media. The core offering consists of Customer Acquisition and Data Solutions services powered by a first-party data asset, proprietary advertising technology, and a significant proprietary media distribution network. Key products include the DMS Proprietary Ad Exchange for branded ad distribution, the Sparkroom lead management system for campaign tracking and optimization, the Everflow-based Publisher Portal for affiliate and publisher management, and the Medicare/Final Expense Inbound Call Platform for insurance agents. Additional services include multi-channel campaign solutions (revenue share, CPM, PPC/PPL, pay-per-call), inbound call campaigns with IVR qualification, and access to ZipQuote for insurance agents. The company also offers a dedicated publisher network for campaign inventory and a TCPA-compliant SMS messaging capability.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Customer Acquisition Services
• Data Solutions
• DMS Proprietary Ad Exchange
• Sparkroom

Quantifiable outcome

• 33.6% increase in conversion rates for national insurance brand over 6-month period
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability9 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• HomeQuote.iominorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 March 2023DMS announced acquisition of HomeQuote.io as part of a $35 million deal alongside assets from ClickDealer, supporting strategic growth initiatives in the home insurance vertical.
• ClickDealerminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 March 2023DMS announced acquisition of assets from ClickDealer as part of a $35 million deal alongside HomeQuote.io, aiming to support strategic growth initiatives.
• Traverse DataminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 May 2022Digital Media Solutions acquired Traverse Data to strengthen its data capabilities and expand its technology assets for digital performance advertising.
• SparkroomcoreTechnology or IntegrationSparkroom is DMS-owned lead management technology that provides multi-layered advertising intelligence to streamline campaign management and boost ROI. Features include rejection and validation rules, GIS integration for geo-targeting, and comprehensive analytics.

Scale indicators19 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• QuinStreet: Public performance marketing company (NASDAQ:QNST) focused on insurance and education verticals — directly comparable in vertical mix, pay-for-performance model, and large publisher/affiliate network. Closest public-market comparable to DMS.
• MediaAlpha: Public insurance customer acquisition marketplace (NYSE:MAX) operating a real-time bidding platform connecting insurance carriers with consumer traffic. Directly comparable insurance-vertical focus and technology-enabled transaction model.
• Bankrate (Red Ventures): Consumer financial services and insurance lead-generation platform owned by Red Ventures. Comparable in vertical mix (insurance, credit cards, banking) and performance-based monetization across owned-and-operated media properties.
• LendingTree: Public online lending marketplace (NASDAQ:TREE) operating lead-generation and matching for financial and insurance products. Comparable business model of monetizing high-intent consumer traffic via per-lead and per-acquisition pricing.
• Thryv: Public SMB software and digital marketing platform (NASDAQ:THRY) providing marketing automation and customer acquisition tools to small businesses. Comparable in serving the small-business advertiser and home-services verticals.
• Marchex: Public call analytics and marketing company (NASDAQ:MCHX) with conversational intelligence for inbound call optimization. Directly comparable call-routing and inbound-call monetization capabilities used in performance campaigns.
• ReachLocal: Digital marketing services provider (acquired by Gannett) offering end-to-end campaign management and lead generation for SMBs. Comparable in providing technology-enabled digital advertising and lead-gen services across multiple verticals.

Broad incumbents

• Ziff Davis: Public digital media and internet company (NASDAQ:ZD) with portfolio of performance marketing and lead-generation brands including ConsumerNet and Everyday Health. Broader incumbent with overlapping digital media buying and data capabilities.
• The Trade Desk: Public programmatic advertising technology leader (NASDAQ:TTD). Comparable as a broad incumbent in digital media buying and programmatic infrastructure; competes for advertising dollars though not focused on DMS's vertical niches.

Emerging players

• Invoca: Private call tracking and conversation intelligence platform. Comparable in call-routing, IVR qualification, and AI-driven call analytics that DMS also uses for its pay-per-call Medicare and Final Expense verticals.

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@digitalmediasolutionsdms7897
• Facebookfacebook.com/170463923159850
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/digital-media-solutions-llc
• Instagraminstagram.com/digitalmediasolutions
• Xx.com/dmsgrp

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A11 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Digital Media Solutions