Clever Girl Marketing

What Clever Girl Marketing does

Clever Girl Marketing, LLC is a Cleveland, Ohio-based, privately held full-service marketing agency operating as an Ohio LLC since 2015, with a team of approximately six named specialists led by Founder and CEO Heather Drago. The firm delivers eight integrated service lines — marketing strategy, branding, website development, SEO, SEM, social media marketing, email marketing, and campaigns — primarily to mission-driven organizations including nonprofits, family-owned and chain retailers, small businesses, and government entities. Underlying technology is built on WordPress for website development, augmented by standard third-party analytics and listening tools (Google Analytics, Google Search Console, social platforms, email platforms), with specialty expertise in accessible (ADA-compliant) web design.

The agency's commercial model combines project-based engagements with fixed fees and milestone payments, monthly Strategic Partnership retainers typically running 6-12 months, and a 20% markup on third-party vendor costs. Billing is formalized under Net 15 terms with 1% early-payment discounts and a 1.5%-per-month (18% APR) late fee, with mandatory auto-pay scheduled for agreements signed after January 1, 2026. Distribution is consultative and direct: website contact forms, phone outreach, and the founder's personal speaking and podcast presence, with geographic concentration in Ohio and selected national clients.

Strategic positioning rests on an explicitly ethical, values-filtered brand that refuses engagements lacking positive social impact. Customer evidence spans retail (Value World, a 30+ store chain), conservation (Bat Conservation International), violence-prevention and child-care nonprofits, veteran services, public-sector campaigns (Westlake Porter Public Library levy, won by the largest margin in Cuyahoga County in 2018 and repeated in 2023), and small-business clients. The firm has no disclosed external funding, no M&A activity, no app or API surface, and no proprietary AI capabilities, operating as a bootstrapped, founder-led professional services business.

Name

Clever Girl Marketing

Legal name

Clever Girl Marketing, LLC

Website

https://clevergirlmarketing.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Clever Girl Marketing is a Cleveland, Ohio-based, founder-led full-service marketing agency delivering strategy, branding, WordPress website development, SEO, SEM, social media, email, and campaign services primarily to nonprofits, mission-driven small businesses, retail chains, and government clients across Ohio and the broader United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marketing Agency Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (54181)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Integrated Full-Service Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Creative & Brand Campaign Development (BPAFAAAB), Digital Performance Marketing (SEM, Paid Social, Programmatic) (BPAFAAAD)

Keywords

• Marketing strategy consulting
• Brand identity design
• Website development services
• Digital marketing agency
• Search engine optimization

Headquarters

HQ city

Cleveland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Project-Based Services: Fixed-fee project pricing based on scope, technical complexity, and strategic value. Deposit of one-third or one-half required upon acceptance, with remaining payments at milestones and completion.
2. Strategic Partnership Retainers: Monthly retainer arrangements (typically 6-12 month terms) for ongoing strategic partnership. Total retainer amount evenly divided over the contract period. Includes services like account management, strategy, and coordination.
3. Third-Party Vendor Services: Markup on third-party vendor costs (20% above cost) when company advances payment on behalf of client for services like hosting, plugins, software, photography, and advertising.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Clever Girl Marketing is a full-service ethical marketing agency that provides marketing strategy, branding, website development (WordPress-based), SEO, SEM, social media marketing, email marketing, and campaign management. Services are customized per client and sold as project-based engagements or monthly retainers, primarily to mission-driven organizations such as nonprofits, small businesses, and retail chains in Ohio and across the United States.

Product overview

Clever Girl Marketing is a full-service ethical marketing agency offering a portfolio of eight integrated marketing services. The core offering comprises Marketing Strategy (discovery, research, and planning), Branding Services (visual identity and messaging), Website Development (WordPress-based), Search Engine Optimization (organic), Search Engine Marketing (paid), Social Media Marketing, Email Marketing, and Marketing Campaigns. These services are customized for each client rather than offered as standardized packages, and are designed to work together as a comprehensive marketing solution for mission-driven organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Marketing Strategy

Quantifiable outcome

• Increased sales for retail client during pandemic with 11 new store acquisitions
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small BusinessesminorOthersFounder/CEO Heather Drago is an alumnus of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. This affiliation is noted on the company website footer as recognition of the founder's entrepreneurial development.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• M+R: Large nonprofit-focused digital marketing and advocacy agency offering strategy, creative, media, and analytics to mission-driven organizations — the same core client base and service mix Clever Girl Marketing targets, but at significantly greater scale.
• Big Duck: Branding and communications agency exclusively serving nonprofits and mission-driven organizations; comparable in ethical positioning and nonprofit specialization, with deeper brand-strategy infrastructure.
• Firespring: Marketing, website, and print/fulfillment provider dedicated to nonprofits and small businesses, offering integrated strategy, web development, and campaign execution similar to Clever Girl Marketing's full-service model.
• Heller Consulting: Consulting and digital services firm focused on nonprofits, with overlapping capabilities in CRM, marketing automation, and digital strategy that compete for the same nonprofit tech-stack budgets.
• SmartCause Digital: Digital marketing agency specializing in paid media, SEO, and lead generation for nonprofits and causes; directly comparable digital services but more narrowly focused on performance channels.
• Pursuant (formerly Russ Reid): Full-service fundraising and marketing agency serving nonprofits with strategy, creative, and media; competes for similar nonprofit campaign budgets with stronger fundraising analytics capabilities.
• Redstart Creative: Boutique marketing and creative agency serving nonprofits and mission-driven organizations, with comparable ethical positioning and integrated service delivery.
• Elevation Marketing: Full-service B2B marketing agency offering strategy, branding, web development, and demand generation — similar integrated service model but serving a different (B2B for-profit) client base.
• DNL OmniMedia: Digital agency providing web, SEO, paid media, and content for nonprofits, membership organizations, and B2B clients — overlapping service portfolio and nonprofit-segment focus.

Broad incumbents

• Hero Digital: Large digital transformation and customer experience agency with a nonprofit and public-sector practice; broader portfolio than Clever Girl Marketing and a relevant competitor for larger RFPs in the same vertical.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/clever-girl-marketing-llc
• Instagraminstagram.com/CleverGirlCle

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Clever Girl Marketing