What iluma Agency does

iluma Agency is a privately-held digital marketing agency headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida, that specializes in serving franchise brands, franchisors, and multi-unit business operators. Founded in 2001 (operating under the iluma brand since approximately 2012, and previously known as Illuminati Studios), the company offers fully managed franchise marketing programs covering brand marketing, franchise recruitment marketing, local franchise marketing, and corporate marketing across the franchise lifecycle from pre-open through maturity.

The core offering is the LocalLight Digital Marketing Program, a managed service that integrates digital advertising (Google Search, programmatic display, geofencing, paid social), social media management, online reputation management, email marketing, local microsites, lead-capture landing pages, and franchise recruitment websites. The proprietary LocalLight (Portal V 2.0) reporting dashboard provides franchise clients with multi-location performance tracking across impressions, clicks, leads, and lifetime value of conversions. Underlying capabilities include ML-driven audience behavior analysis, geofencing with programmatic optimization, automated lead-form fraud screening, and chatbot/email automation. The technology stack is built around standard martech integrations (Google, Yelp, Google Analytics) rather than proprietary AI models.

iluma Agency operates a B2B professional services model with quote-based, custom-tailored multi-year contracts. It reaches enterprise franchise clients through direct sales, industry events, content marketing, case studies, and referrals within the franchise ecosystem, supported by its IFA membership. Named enterprise customers include Orangetheory Fitness (100+ studios), Aveda (Estee Lauder), Massage Envy, Tapout Fitness, and Blink Fitness. The firm is founder-led by CEO Aaron Lee, has 11-50 employees, and has appeared on the Inc. 5000 list for four consecutive years through 2019, reflecting 102% three-year revenue growth.

Name

iluma Agency

Legal name

iluma Agency

Website

https://ilumaagency.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

iluma Agency is a privately-held Miami Lakes-based digital marketing agency that delivers fully managed franchise marketing programs—covering brand, recruitment, and local campaigns—for enterprise franchisors such as Orangetheory Fitness, Aveda, and Massage Envy via its proprietary LocalLight reporting platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Franchise Digital Marketing Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (54181), Advertising Agencies (541810)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Integrated Full-Service Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Brand Campaign & Integrated Communications Agencies (MPAAAAAC), Integrated Advertising (Brand + Performance + Media) (BPAFAAAA)

Keywords

• Franchise digital marketing
• Franchise brand marketing
• Local franchise marketing
• Franchise recruitment marketing
• Corporate digital advertising

Headquarters

HQ city

Miami Lakes

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Digital Marketing Services: Full-service digital marketing agency providing integrated campaigns including brand marketing, franchise recruitment marketing, local franchise marketing, and corporate marketing services. Revenue is generated through professional service fees for campaign management, creative development, advertising spend management, and ongoing account management.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

iluma Agency is a digital marketing agency specializing exclusively in franchise brands, franchisors, and individual franchisees. It delivers fully managed, integrated digital marketing programs spanning franchise brand marketing, franchise recruitment marketing, local franchise marketing, and lifecycle marketing (pre-open through mature), executed through in-house teams for creative, paid media, social media, SEO/content, email, and reputation management, and supported by the proprietary Portal V 2.0 reporting dashboard for multi-location performance tracking.

Product overview

iluma Agency offers a unified franchise marketing platform called LocalLight Digital Marketing, which integrates digital advertising, social media management, online reputation management, email marketing, and reporting into a single managed service. The platform is supported by the proprietary Portal V 2.0 reporting dashboard for tracking campaign performance. Key sub-products include local microsites for franchise units, lead-capture landing pages with referral functionality, geofencing campaigns for hyperlocal targeting, and reputation management across review platforms. Service offerings encompass franchise brand marketing, franchise recruitment marketing, local franchise marketing, and lifecycle marketing across pre-open, newly open, and mature stages.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• LocalLight Digital Marketing: Franchise marketing program offering local digital marketing services for franchisees including social media management, reputation management, lead generation, and campaign reporting.

Products and services

• LocalLight Digital Marketing Program A fully managed franchise marketing program that delivers integrated digital advertising, social media management, online reputation management, PR, email marketing, and broadcast media across local, regional, and national levels for franchise brands and individual franchisees. Designed for franchisors and multi-unit operators who need brand-compliant, replicable local execution at scale.
• Franchise Brand Marketing Franchise brand storytelling service that builds a brand identity, from strategy and guidelines to website and content marketing, positioning the franchise for a consistent customer experience and growth across markets. Targets franchisors and corporate marketing teams that need to attract customers, franchisees, employees, and investors.
• Franchise Recruitment Marketing & Development Targeted recruitment marketing service that builds a custom marketing strategy based on franchisee qualifications and market expansion goals, using targeted messaging, compelling content, multi-platform brand health, and full-funnel lead generation to attract qualified new franchisees. Designed for franchisors aiming to grow their franchisee base.
• Local Franchise Marketing Replicable local digital marketing service for individual franchisees across pre-sales to mature-open and co-op stages, delivering cost-effective digital ads, social media content, and lead generation that is localized and brand compliant. Designed for franchisees and multi-unit operators who need local market customer acquisition.
• Lifecycle Marketing Lifecycle-stage marketing service for franchise units covering pre-open (up to 4 months before opening), newly open (first year), and mature (open 1+ year) stages, with tailored tactics for awareness, conversion, and retention. Built for franchisees and franchisors who want stage-appropriate marketing at each unit phase.
• Portal V 2.0 (Reporting Dashboard) Proprietary reporting dashboard for franchise clients that tracks campaign performance including impressions, clicks, leads, and lifetime value of conversions across multiple studio/location franchises. Features include expandable graphs, drag-and-drop date range filters, multi-location tracking, and exportable leads data. Used by franchisors and franchisees that need multi-location performance visibility.
• Corporate Marketing (Illuminati Studios) Corporate marketing service delivered through the related Illuminati Studios brand, supporting corporate-level marketing needs outside the franchise-specific service lines, including website and application development along with corporate-level digital marketing. Targeted at franchise brand corporate marketing teams and the broader iluma Group portfolio.

Quantifiable outcome

• 102% three-year growth rate, ranked No. 3,457 on Inc. 5000 list for fourth consecutive year
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability10 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• International Franchise Association (IFA)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2017iluma Agency has been an IFA member since 2017, providing access to franchise industry events, networking, and thought leadership opportunities within the franchise community.
• Orangetheory FitnesscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerApproved agency partner for Orangetheory Fitness providing local franchise digital marketing services. Works with 100+ studios on social media, digital advertising, online reputation management, email marketing, and pre-open lead generation. Has helped 53 studios reach the 500 Club milestone.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Scorpion: Scorpion is one of the largest U.S. agencies specializing in franchise and SMB digital marketing, offering local SEO, paid media, websites, and AI-driven lead management — a near-direct competitor to iluma's franchise marketing offering.
• RevLocal: RevLocal provides digital marketing services (SEO, paid media, websites) to local businesses and franchisees — competing for the same local-franchisee marketing budget that iluma addresses via its LocalLight program.
• Bigeye Agency: Bigeye is a creative and digital marketing agency serving franchise and multi-unit brands with brand strategy, paid media, and content production — overlapping with iluma's integrated franchise marketing offering.
• TheeDigital: TheeDigital is a digital marketing agency with franchise and multi-location experience in web design, SEO, and paid media — a similarly sized peer competing for franchise brand engagements.
• Imaginuity: Imaginuity is a Dallas-based digital marketing agency with deep franchise and multi-location experience spanning paid media, web development, and creative — comparable in size and vertical focus to iluma.
• Brandmuscle: Brandmuscle is a franchise and channel marketing platform providing local marketing automation, brand compliance, and co-op funds management — overlapping with iluma's LocalLight offering for multi-location franchise brands.
• Location3: Location3 is a digital marketing agency with a dedicated franchise practice offering paid media, SEO, and local marketing services to franchise brands — directly comparable to iluma's franchise customer base and service mix.
• Vitamin (Agency): Vitamin is an integrated digital agency with franchise and multi-location brand experience spanning paid media, creative, and web — comparable in scope and vertical focus to iluma.

Broad incumbents

• Wpromote: Wpromote is a large, established performance marketing agency that serves franchise and multi-location brands among its enterprise clients — broader and larger than iluma, but overlapping on franchise digital marketing engagements.

Emerging players

• Sageflo: Sageflo is a smaller-scale digital marketing and web agency serving franchise and multi-unit brands — an emerging peer competing in the same niche with a more limited service breadth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ilumaAgency
• YouTubevimeo.com/ilumaagency
• Facebookfacebook.com/ilumaAgency
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ilumaagency
• Instagraminstagram.com/iluma_agency

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 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 iluma Agency