The Social Shepherd
The Social Shepherd is a UK-headquartered social media marketing agency serving 200+ consumer brands with integrated social strategy, paid media, creative production, influencer marketing, and TikTok Shop services across hubs in Bath, London, New York, and Miami.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersBath, United Kingdom
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What The Social Shepherd does
The Social Shepherd is a UK-headquartered social media marketing agency founded in 2018 by Jack Shepherd and Zoe Stephenson, operating as The Social Shepherd Ltd from Bath with additional hubs in London, New York, and Miami. The agency delivers integrated full-funnel social-first marketing services across five practice areas: Social Strategy & Community Management, Paid Media & Performance, Creative Production (covering video, UGC, static design, motion graphics, and animation), Influencer Marketing (end-to-end campaigns and creator pool management), and TikTok Shop management. Its client base of more than 200 brands spans enterprise names including UNIQLO, ASICS, Charlotte Tilbury, Arla, The Peninsula, Hasbro's Beyblade, and Lounge by Zalando, alongside growth-stage challengers such as Passenger, Bio-Oil, BARK, Lumene, Andis, and Corston.
The agency's service delivery combines human creative production with applied AI tooling, including generative AI for creative production, semantic product-feed optimisation for TikTok/Google/Meta discovery, server-side tracking through Meta CAPI, proprietary trend and audience insight tooling, and mixed marketing modeling plus incrementality testing. Core martech infrastructure is industry-standard: Cloudflare CDN, Meta Pixel, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Meta retargeting, Mailchimp for newsletter distribution, and Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube embed plugins. The agency has held ISO 27001 information security certification and documents UK GDPR data-controller compliance. Industry recognition includes three consecutive Best Large Social Media Agency in the UK awards (2023, 2024, 2025) and UK Social Media Agency of the Year in 2025.
Commercially, The Social Shepherd operates a professional services revenue model with quote-based, customised engagements spanning organic social retainers, paid media management (managing 100M+ in annual ad spend), influencer campaigns drawing on a network of 5,000+ creators (delivering 100M+ yearly influencer impressions), and TikTok Shop commerce enablement. Go-to-market is sales-led via regional website contact funnels and direct email (hello@ for UK/Europe, hi@ for North America), with thought leadership delivered through the weekly "This Week In Social" newsletter (17,500+ subscribers), a podcast, blog, and case studies. The company is privately held and founder-led, with a leadership transition in 2024–2025 that elevated Sarah to Managing Director and repositioned Jack Shepherd into the Chief Creative Officer role; no external institutional investment has been disclosed.
The Social Shepherd firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Social Shepherd
- Legal name
- The Social Shepherd Ltd
- Website
- https://thesocialshepherd.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- The Social Shepherd is a UK-headquartered social media marketing agency serving 200+ consumer brands with integrated social strategy, paid media, creative production, influencer marketing, and TikTok Shop services across hubs in Bath, London, New York, and Miami.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
The Social Shepherd industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Social Media Marketing Services
- NAICS
- Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Advertising Agencies (541810), Media Buying Agencies (54183)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Advertising (7310)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Paid Social Advertising (BPAFACAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Paid Social Advertising Management (MPAAACAC), Social Commerce & Affiliate Influencer Programs (MPAAAHAE), Social Media & Community Management (BPAFAAAE)
Keywords
Where The Social Shepherd is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Bath
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices4 records
Markets served
The Social Shepherd business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Social Media Agency Services: Full-service social media agency offering integrated services across social strategy, paid media, creative production, influencer campaigns, and TikTok Shop management for consumer brands.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels11 records
The Social Shepherd product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Social Shepherd is an integrated social media marketing agency that delivers full-funnel social-first growth services for consumer brands. Its core offerings span five service lines: Social Strategy & Community Management, Paid Media & Performance (paid social, paid search, programmatic), Creative Production (video, UGC, motion, AI creative), Influencer Marketing campaigns, and TikTok Shop management. The agency operates as a professional services provider executing strategy, creative production, paid media buying, and influencer activation on behalf of enterprise and mid-market consumer brands.
Product overview
The Social Shepherd is an integrated social media marketing agency offering a unified platform of services across five core areas: Social Strategy & Management (organic social, community management, social listening, analytics), Paid Media & Performance (paid social, paid search, programmatic), Creative Production (video, UGC, design, motion, AI creative), Influencer Marketing (campaigns, creator pools, digital influence), and TikTok Shop services (shop management, creator affiliates, content, ads). The company operates as a service-based agency rather than a software platform, delivering full-funnel social-first growth strategies for brands. Their work is demonstrated through client case studies spanning organic social campaigns (Beyblade, BARK), influencer marketing (Bio-Oil, Lumene), paid media (Passenger), and they supplement their service offerings with a weekly newsletter (This Week In Social). The agency has been recognized as 'Best Large Social Media Agency' for three consecutive years.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Social Strategy & Community Management Always-on organic social strategy, community management, channel management, social listening, analytics, and insights for brands across social platforms. For consumer brands needing an always-on social presence and community engagement.
- Paid Media & Performance Performance multi-channel paid social, paid search, programmatic advertising, media buying, audience modeling, retention strategy, and analytics. For brands looking to drive measurable commercial outcomes through paid social and search channels.
- Creative Production Social-first creative for organic and paid social including video production, UGC content, static design, motion graphics, animation, CGI, and AI-powered creative. For brands needing social-native creative assets at scale.
- Influencer Marketing End-to-end influencer campaigns, UGC creator pools, creator recruitment and management, digital influence including podcast sponsorships and meme partnerships. For brands seeking to scale creator-led content and influencer activations.
- TikTok Shop Management Full TikTok Shop management including shop strategy, product optimization, creator affiliates, content creation, live streams, TikTok ads, and GMV campaigns. For brands looking to drive social commerce sales through TikTok Shop.
Quantifiable outcome
- 92% of brands grow within 90 days of working with The Social Shepherd
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use The Social Shepherd
Customer profileNamed customers18 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
The Social Shepherd technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
AI capability10 records
The Social Shepherd partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators9 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
The Social Shepherd competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Brainlabs: London-based digital marketing agency combining paid media, SEO, programmatic and analytics. Direct competitor in paid social and performance, with comparable enterprise client roster and UK origin.
- The Goat Agency: UK-headquartered social-first agency offering social media, influencer and content services to consumer brands. Closest direct peer given similar size, geography, channel mix and enterprise consumer brand client base.
- Fanbytes: Gen Z and TikTok-focused social media agency acquired by Brainlabs. Comparable influencer and TikTok-led offering targeting enterprise brands, overlapping with The Social Shepherd's influencer and TikTok Shop capabilities.
- Born Social: UK and EMEA social media agency offering strategy, content, community management and paid social for consumer brands. Direct peer in geography, service mix and target customer profile.
- Obviously: Global influencer marketing and creator agency with enterprise clients across beauty, fashion and CPG. Highly comparable in influencer campaigns, UGC and content production for similar consumer verticals.
- Disrupt Agency: Social media and influencer marketing agency serving consumer brands. Direct peer in channel mix and client type, with similar focus on social-first integrated campaigns.
Broad incumbents
- Jellyfish (The Brandtech Group): Global digital marketing agency offering paid media, creative, content and social at much larger scale. Competes for the same enterprise social-first briefs, with broader geographic and capability footprint.
- Craft Worldwide (WPP): WPP-owned digital and social agency serving global brands. Adjacent incumbent that pitches for the same enterprise social and creative mandates, leveraging WPP's media buying scale and production capacity.
- Dentsu Social (formerly Social Chain): Dentsu's social and influencer marketing arm, built largely on the Social Chain acquisition. Direct competitive overlap in social-first campaigns, influencer strategy and creator commerce for large consumer brands.
Regional players
- Tinuiti: US-based independent digital marketing agency specializing in paid social, retail media and performance. Comparable in performance social capabilities, primarily serves North American clients, complementing The Social Shepherd's US expansion.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
The Social Shepherd social profiles
Digital presenceThe Social Shepherd compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
The Social Shepherd financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Social Shepherd leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
The Social Shepherd funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Social Shepherd M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Social Shepherd
What does The Social Shepherd do?
The Social Shepherd is an integrated social media marketing agency that delivers full-funnel social-first growth services for consumer brands. Its core offerings span five service lines: Social Strategy & Community Management, Paid Media & Performance (paid social, paid search, programmatic), Creative Production (video, UGC, motion, AI creative), Influencer Marketing campaigns, and TikTok Shop management. The agency operates as a professional services provider executing strategy, creative production, paid media buying, and influencer activation on behalf of enterprise and mid-market consumer brands.
Is The Social Shepherd a public or private company?
The Social Shepherd is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was The Social Shepherd founded?
The Social Shepherd was founded in 2018. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is The Social Shepherd based?
The Social Shepherd is headquartered in Bath, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does The Social Shepherd make money?
One revenue line is on record: social Media Agency Services.
Who are The Social Shepherd's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Brainlabs, The Goat Agency, Fanbytes, Born Social, Obviously and Disrupt Agency. Broad incumbents are Jellyfish (The Brandtech Group), Craft Worldwide (WPP) and Dentsu Social (formerly Social Chain). Tinuiti is listed as a regional player.
Does The Social Shepherd have an API?
No public API is recorded for The Social Shepherd.
What industry is The Social Shepherd in?
The Social Shepherd's product category is Social Media Marketing Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFACAB, Paid Social Advertising, with a secondary code of MPAAACAC, Paid Social Advertising Management. Its NAICS code is 5418 and its SIC code is 7311.