Directive

B2B Marketing Agency Servicesdirectiveconsulting.com

Directive is a privately held, US-based B2B marketing agency operating three divisions (Performance, Commerce, Communications) that deliver enterprise search, paid media, content, PR, and revenue operations for technology, industrial, and professional-services firms via its Stratos AI platform and DiscoverabilityOS methodology.

Company typePrivate
Founded2013
HeadquartersIrvine, United States
Headcount101–250
GTM typeB2B
OfferingServices

What Directive does

Directive is a privately held B2B marketing agency founded in 2013 and headquartered in Irvine, California, with additional delivery offices in Austin, New York City, Toronto, London, and Mexico City. The firm sells enterprise and mid-market B2B marketing services through three branded divisions — Directive Performance (content, paid media, performance creative, programmatic, revenue operations, startups), Directive Commerce (marketplace, lifecycle, shopping), and Directive Communications (PR, organic and paid social, influencer) — targeting technology, industrial/manufacturing, and professional-services buyers with complex, multi-stakeholder purchase cycles. Its commercial model is bespoke professional services sold on multi-year custom retainers, with go-to-market run through enterprise field sales and inside-sales motions aimed at pipeline-accountable CMOs; the company reports 65%+ of revenue from returning customers and a 4.9 CSAT score.

At the technical core, Directive operates the Stratos AI platform, an AI-powered customer generation system that unifies CRM, paid media, SEO, finance, and operations data to deliver predictive intelligence, MMM-based budgeting, ICP discovery, and automated reporting. The platform is built on native integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Google Ads, Google Analytics, LinkedIn Ads, ZoomInfo, Gong, SEMrush, and Ahrefs, and is powered by $461M in proprietary channel intelligence accumulated across 420+ client engagements. Layered on top is DiscoverabilityOS, a five-stage proprietary methodology (Model, Define, Captivate, Convert, Scale) that aligns brand and demand activity to qualified pipeline; the firm reports its own brand holds the #1 LLM visibility share across tracked agency prompts. The company invests approximately $2.2M annually in marketing R&D, holds no disclosed external funding, and remains independent.

Directive firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Directive
Legal name: Directive
Website: https://directiveconsulting.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2013
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 101–250 employees
Short description: Directive is a privately held, US-based B2B marketing agency operating three divisions (Performance, Commerce, Communications) that deliver enterprise search, paid media, content, PR, and revenue operations for technology, industrial, and professional-services firms via its Stratos AI platform and DiscoverabilityOS methodology.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Directive industry classification

Industry

Product category: B2B Marketing Agency Services
NAICS: Media Buying Agencies (541830), Media Representatives (541840)
SIC: Services-Management Services (8741)
akta.pro primary industry: B2B Demand Generation & Lead Nurture Agencies (BPAFAKAA)
akta.pro secondary industries: Content Strategy & Planning (BPAFAIAG), Product & Brand PR (Consumer & B2B) (BPAFADAH)

Keywords

B2B marketing agency
Search engine optimization
Paid media management
Account-based marketing
Generative engine optimization

Where Directive is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Irvine
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

Directive business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

B2B Marketing Agency Services: Directive generates revenue through professional services engagements as a B2B marketing agency. Services span Performance (content, paid media, programmatic, RevOps), Commerce (marketplace, shopping, lifecycle), and Communications (PR, social, influencer) divisions. The company operates on retainer and project-based fee structures typical of enterprise marketing agencies.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Other	Multi-year contract	Enterprise B2B marketing services - custom engagement based on scope and requirements

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels12 records

Directive product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Directive is a B2B marketing agency that helps mid-market and enterprise companies scale pipeline and revenue through performance marketing, commerce, and communications services. The agency operates three divisions (Performance, Commerce, Communications) supported by its proprietary Stratos AI-powered customer generation platform and DiscoverabilityOS methodology. Engagements span content marketing, paid media, programmatic advertising, SEO, GEO, AEO, RevOps, PR, and influencer programs delivered on retainer or project basis.

Product overview

Directive is a B2B marketing agency operating as a platform-plus-services model with three main divisions (Performance, Commerce, Communications) supported by two proprietary products: Stratos (AI-powered customer generation platform) and DiscoverabilityOS (methodology framework). The Performance Division covers content marketing, paid media, performance creative, programmatic advertising, revenue operations, and startup programs. The Commerce Division manages marketplace presence, lifecycle marketing, and shopping campaigns for B2B ecommerce. The Communications Division handles PR, organic/paid social, and B2B influencer partnerships. All divisions and services are unified under the DiscoverabilityOS methodology, while Stratos serves as the AI intelligence layer powering the entire operation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

Stratos: AI-powered intelligence platform that unifies CRM, paid media, SEO, and ops data for real-time decision-making and predictive analytics.
DirectivePerformance
DirectiveCommerce
DirectiveCommunications
DiscoverabilityOS

Products and services

Stratos AI Platform
DirectivePerformance Division
DirectiveCommerce Division
DirectiveCommunications Division
Content Marketing Agency
Paid Media / PPC Agency
Performance Creative
Programmatic Advertising
Revenue Operations
Startup Package
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) Agency
Generative Engine Optimization Agency
Marketplace Agency
PR Agency
DiscoverabilityOS Methodology

Quantifiable outcome

109% increase in Closed/Won Revenue QoQ (Arctic Wolf case study)
+11 more outcomes

Companies that use Directive

Customer profile

Named customers34 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Directive technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

AI capability7 records

Feature10 records

Directive partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core.

Google AdscoreTechnology or IntegrationZero-lift integration with Google Ads platform through Stratos AI platform, enabling real-time campaign management and performance data unification.
Google AnalyticscoreTechnology or IntegrationDirect integration with Google Analytics for web traffic and conversion data feeding into Stratos unified reporting dashboard.
LinkedIn AdscoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration for B2B paid social advertising data, enabling targeting insights and campaign performance tracking within Stratos.
SalesforcecoreTechnology or IntegrationCRM integration connecting sales pipeline data with marketing performance for revenue attribution modeling.
HubSpotcoreTechnology or IntegrationMarketing automation and CRM integration for lead tracking, email marketing, and revenue operations workflows.
ZoomInfocoreTechnology or IntegrationB2B contact and company data enrichment for ICP targeting, account identification, and lead quality enhancement.
GongcoreTechnology or IntegrationSales conversation intelligence integration for revenue attribution and pipeline impact analysis.
SEMrushcoreTechnology or IntegrationSEO and competitive intelligence data integration providing keyword research, site auditing, and backlink analysis within Stratos.
AhrefscoreTechnology or IntegrationSEO tool integration providing backlink analysis, keyword research, and site performance monitoring for content strategy.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Directive competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Emerging players

Demandbase: ABM platform that also offers agency/professional services. Competes with Directive's ABM services and overlaps in technology integrations (CRM, intent data, AI agents).

Direct peers

Ironpaper: B2B marketing agency focused on demand generation, content, and ABM for industrial and technology clients. Comparable vertical mix (industrial + tech) to Directive's served segments.
iPullRank: Technical SEO and content marketing agency focused on enterprise B2B clients. Comparable to Directive's Content and SEO agency offerings, with similar ICP and technical depth.
WebFX: Full-service digital marketing agency serving mid-market and enterprise B2B clients across SEO, paid media, content, and conversion optimization. Closely matches Directive's service mix and customer profile.
Single Grain: B2B SaaS-focused digital marketing agency specializing in SEO, content, and paid media; explicitly named alongside Directive in industry rankings. Direct comparable on services, ICP, and tech/SaaS vertical focus.
Section Partners: Fractional CMO and B2B marketing advisory firm serving mid-market and enterprise SaaS clients with demand-gen, ABM, and content focus. Overlap with Directive's pipeline-accountable go-to-market.
Jellyfish: Global B2B digital marketing agency offering media, creative, and analytics services across enterprise clients. Highly comparable to Directive's full-funnel, multi-division structure with similar mid-market and enterprise customer focus.

Broad incumbents

WPP: Largest advertising holding company with Ogilvy, GroupM, and VMLY&R delivering media, creative, and digital services. Represents scale incumbents Directive competes against for enterprise B2B marketing budgets.
Omnicom Group: Global holding company whose agencies (e.g., BBDO, DDB, FleishmanHillard) provide marketing, advertising, and PR services. Represents the consolidated incumbent competitive threat to independent agencies like Directive.
Publicis Groupe: Global communications and marketing group (Leo Burnett, Saatchi, Starcom) offering integrated media and digital services. Incumbent competitor for enterprise marketing mandates, particularly with similar data/AI capabilities through Epsilon.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Directive financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Directive leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Directive funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

Directive M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Directive

What does Directive do?

Is Directive a public or private company?

Directive is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.

When was Directive founded?

Directive was founded in 2013. It employs 101 to 250 people.

Where is Directive based?

Directive is headquartered in Irvine, United States, in the North America region.

How does Directive make money?

One revenue line is on record: B2B Marketing Agency Services.

Who are Directive's main competitors?

Demandbase is listed as an emerging player. Direct peers are Ironpaper, iPullRank, WebFX, Single Grain, Section Partners and Jellyfish. Broad incumbents are WPP, Omnicom Group and Publicis Groupe.

Does Directive have an API?

No public API is recorded for Directive.

What industry is Directive in?

Directive's product category is B2B Marketing Agency Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFAKAA, B2B Demand Generation & Lead Nurture Agencies, with a secondary code of BPAFAIAG, Content Strategy & Planning. Its NAICS code is 541830 and its SIC code is 8741.