Next Step
Next Step is a San Francisco-based behavioral design and digital marketing agency founded in 2004 that applies behavioral science research to marketing, growth, and product design for tech companies and social impact organizations.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2004
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Next Step does
Next Step (legal entity NextStep, LLC) is a privately held behavioral design and digital marketing agency founded in 2004 by Shirin Oreizy and headquartered in San Francisco, with additional offices in Silicon Valley and Cambridge. The firm applies behavioral science — the study of how people actually make decisions — to marketing, growth, and product design for two primary client segments: technology companies and social impact organizations, with secondary work in fintech, education, enterprise B2B, and public-sector clients (logos include GitHub, Bill.com, IGEL, AppSense, Even, Reali, Icon Collective, ShotSpotter, Credit Karma, AAA, LG Electronics, Cal Water, and the United Nations). Since founding, the firm states it has served more than 400 clients.
The firm's core offering is its trademarked Science of Design™ methodology, a four-step proprietary framework: (1) Behavioral Science Assessment drawing on a curated database of more than 300 research-backed interventions; (2) Qualitative Interviews to surface decision-making hypotheses; (3) Quantitative Testing across channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook, email, and in-product experiences to validate which behavioral principles work at scale; and (4) Creative Execution that translates tested hypotheses into marketing assets, websites, landing pages, demand generation campaigns, sign-up flows, and product designs. Supporting service modules include Website & Product Experience Design, Digital Marketing & Growth Experimentation, and Brand & Messaging Strategy. The team combines behavioral scientists (including a Chief Behavioral Scientist with prior work alongside Dan Ariely and at Columbia and Duke), UX researchers, senior designers, copywriters, and developers, with academic credentials spanning the London School of Economics, the University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley, and Columbia.
Next Step generates revenue through bespoke professional-services engagements sold via a sales-led, consultative motion — clients initiate through a "Request a Consult" entry point and engagements are scoped and priced through custom statements of work rather than published pricing tiers. The firm markets itself through earned media contributions in Forbes, Inc., and The Huffington Post, a proprietary Science of Design Talks webinar series, white papers (including "The B2B Marketer's Ultimate Guide to Behavioral Science"), and speaking engagements at Stanford, NYU, TechCrunch, and other industry venues. The company is bootstrapped (no funding rounds disclosed), operates as a California LLC, and is owned and led by its founder-CEO. Notable proof points include an 890% increase in software sales for IGEL within six months of a behavioral-science-based website repositioning, a 600% increase in web inquiries for AppSense, a 90% increase in app installs for Even, and a 10X return on ad spend for Vectorform, alongside a Silver Stevie Award won in 2017 for the IGEL campaign.
Next Step firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Next Step
- Legal name
- NextStep, LLC
- Website
- https://hellonextstep.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2004
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Next Step is a San Francisco-based behavioral design and digital marketing agency founded in 2004 that applies behavioral science research to marketing, growth, and product design for tech companies and social impact organizations.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Next Step industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Marketing Consulting Services
- NAICS
- Advertising Agencies (541810), Marketing Consulting Services (541613), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191), Management Consulting Services (54161)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Advertising (7310)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Digital Marketing Strategy & Channel Mix Advisory (MPAAAFAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX) (MPAAAAAD), Creative Concepting & Campaign Development (BPAFAEAD), Content Strategy & Planning (BPAFAIAG)
Keywords
Where Next Step is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Next Step business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Behavioral Design & Digital Marketing Consulting: Professional services revenue generated through consulting engagements and project-based work applying behavioral science to client marketing, growth, and product design initiatives. Engagements include research projects, website/UX design, demand generation campaigns, and creative execution.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels9 records
Next Step product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Next Step is a behavioral design and digital marketing agency that sells project-based professional services to tech companies and social impact organizations. Its core offering applies proprietary behavioral science research—assessment, qualitative interviews, quantitative experimentation, and creative execution—to redesign websites, run demand-generation campaigns, optimize growth channels, and shape product experience and brand messaging. Engagements are custom-scoped through direct consultation and priced per project, with no published rate cards.
Product overview
Next Step is a Behavioral Design & Digital Marketing Agency that offers a unified service portfolio built around its Science of Design™ Methodology. The core offering combines four service modules: Behavioral Science Assessment (leveraging a database of 300+ research-backed interventions), Qualitative User Research/Interviews, Quantitative User Research at Scale/Testing, and Creative Execution in Marketing & Product. These modules support three primary service areas: Marketing (customer research, brand awareness, acquisition, branding, websites/UI/UX, sales assets), Growth (market expansion, channel optimization, pricing, paid social/search), and Product (adoption, engagement, trust, UX, behavior change, habit formation, churn reduction). The company operates as a behavioral science consultancy that also executes creative work, differentiating itself from firms that only provide recommendations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Behavioral Science Consulting (Science of Design™ Methodology)
Quantifiable outcome
- 890% increase in software sales for IGEL within 6 months of behavioral science marketing implementation
- +8 more outcomes
Companies that use Next Step
Customer profileNamed customers18 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Next Step technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Next Step partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators14 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Next Step competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Huge: Digital experience agency providing strategy, design, and marketing services to enterprise brands — overlapping service offering with Next Step's website/UX and digital marketing work, but at holding-company scale.
- Barkley: Independent creative and digital agency known for challenger-brand and behavioral insight-driven campaigns — comparable creative + research orientation to Next Step but with broader full-service scale.
- R/GA: Global digital creative and experience design agency offering digital product, brand, and marketing services — broader incumbent with overlapping digital experience design and creative capabilities, competing for the same enterprise brand and tech clients.
- VML (formerly Wunderman Thompson): Large full-service digital agency network with strong capabilities in data-driven marketing, CX, and brand strategy — competes with Next Step on enterprise tech marketing engagements but at significantly greater scale.
Direct peers
- Irrational Labs: Boston-based behavioral science design and consulting firm that applies behavioral economics research to product, marketing, and customer experience decisions — virtually identical service model to Next Step with the same target buyer (CMOs and product leaders at growth-stage and enterprise companies).
- ideas42: Behavioral science design nonprofit that consults on applying behavioral economics to commercial and social impact challenges, with documented work in financial inclusion, health, and consumer marketing — closely mirrors Next Step's hybrid commercial/social impact positioning.
- The BEM Group: Behavioral economics consulting firm focused on marketing strategy, messaging, and customer engagement — directly comparable to Next Step's science-of-design methodology applied to acquisition and retention.
- BEworks: Behavioral economics consulting firm that helps organizations apply insights from behavioral science to marketing, pricing, and customer engagement — directly comparable offering and client base to Next Step.
Emerging players
- Humu: Behavioral science-driven company that uses nudge technology and people analytics to drive behavior change — overlapping methodology with Next Step but primarily productized rather than agency-delivered.
- Catalyst UX Research: Boutique UX research and design consultancy serving enterprise and tech clients — partial overlap with Next Step's qualitative research and UX design capabilities.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Next Step social profiles
Digital presenceNext Step financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Next Step leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Next Step funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Next Step 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 Next Step
What does Next Step do?
Next Step is a behavioral design and digital marketing agency that sells project-based professional services to tech companies and social impact organizations. Its core offering applies proprietary behavioral science research—assessment, qualitative interviews, quantitative experimentation, and creative execution—to redesign websites, run demand-generation campaigns, optimize growth channels, and shape product experience and brand messaging. Engagements are custom-scoped through direct consultation and priced per project, with no published rate cards.
Is Next Step a public or private company?
Next Step is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Next Step founded?
Next Step was founded in 2004. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Next Step based?
Next Step is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Next Step make money?
One revenue line is on record: behavioral Design & Digital Marketing Consulting.
Who are Next Step's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Huge, Barkley, R/GA and VML (formerly Wunderman Thompson). Direct peers are Irrational Labs, ideas42, The BEM Group and BEworks. Emerging players are Humu and Catalyst UX Research.
Does Next Step have an API?
No public API is recorded for Next Step.
What industry is Next Step in?
Next Step's product category is Marketing Consulting Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAAAFAF, Digital Marketing Strategy & Channel Mix Advisory, with a secondary code of MPAAAAAD, Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX). Its NAICS code is 541810 and its SIC code is 7311.