What Harger Howe Advertising does

Harger Howe Advertising is a Burlington, Massachusetts-headquartered, private-for-profit recruitment advertising and marketing agency founded in 1983. The firm operates full-service offices in Burlington, MA (Boston area, led by President and Owner Michael Walsh) and Houston, TX (co-led by account managers Michelle Swarts and Jennifer Sopczak), and serves enterprise and mid-market clients across the healthcare, energy, and manufacturing verticals.

The firm delivers integrated recruitment marketing campaigns spanning inbound marketing (content creation, SEO, career-site optimization), digital media services (website development, hosting 40+ client sites, SEM, and web analytics), social media strategy and advertising, traditional media placement (print, direct mail, outdoor, TV, radio), employer branding, hiring-event promotion, and targeted candidate search. Its foundational technology is the HubSpot marketing automation platform, where it holds the only inbound recruitment marketing Agency Partner certification, providing data-driven tracking and ROI reporting across client engagements.

Harger Howe generates revenue through project-based professional services fees, retainer engagements, and pass-through media buying on behalf of clients, with pricing quoted per engagement rather than published rate cards. Its go-to-market is sales-led, combining direct phone outreach (Boston line 781-425-5005; Houston line 713-623-2030), website inquiry forms, and an inbound content-marketing engine on a dedicated microsite (inbound.hargerhowe.com) that drives qualified leads via long-form resources such as the Nursing Recognition Days Calendar and Allied Health Conferences Calendar.

Name

Harger Howe Advertising

Legal name

Harger Howe Advertising

Website

https://hargerhowe.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Harger Howe Advertising is a privately held U.S. recruitment marketing agency, founded 1983, operating from Burlington, MA and Houston, TX, that delivers integrated inbound, digital, social, and traditional media recruitment campaigns to enterprise clients in healthcare, energy, and manufacturing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Recruitment Marketing Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (54181), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Media Buying Agencies (54183)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Employer Brand & Recruitment Marketing Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Recruitment Marketing & Employer Branding for RPO (BPACABAL), Reputation Management & Online PR (BPAFADAN)

Keywords

• Recruitment marketing services
• Employer branding agency
• Talent acquisition advertising
• Inbound recruitment marketing
• Recruitment media placement

Headquarters

HQ city

Burlington

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. Recruitment Marketing Services: Full-service recruitment marketing agency providing digital, traditional and social solutions. Revenue generated through project-based fees, retainer engagements, and media buying services for clients seeking to attract qualified candidates.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Harger Howe Advertising is a full-service recruitment marketing agency that plans and executes targeted multi-channel campaigns (digital, traditional, and social) to help employers attract qualified candidates. Its offerings include recruitment marketing campaigns, inbound marketing, digital media (websites, SEO/SEM, analytics), social media strategy and community building, and traditional media placement and creative services, anchored by HubSpot-certified inbound recruitment marketing methodology. The firm serves healthcare, energy, and industrial clients nationally from offices in Burlington, MA and Houston, TX.

Product overview

Harger Howe Advertising is a full-service recruitment marketing agency offering a unified portfolio of advertising and marketing services rather than a modular software platform. Their core offerings include Recruitment Marketing Services (targeted campaigns for healthcare, corporate, and industrial clients), Inbound Marketing Services (content-driven attraction marketing), Digital Media Services (website development, SEO/SEM, analytics), Social Media Services (strategy, management, and advertising), and Media Placement/Creative Services (traditional advertising across print, direct mail, outdoor, TV, and radio). These services work together as an integrated recruitment marketing solution, with HubSpot inbound methodology as the foundational approach, supported by content creation, hiring event marketing, employer branding, and direct candidate search capabilities. The agency operates primarily in the healthcare recruitment sector, with offices in Houston and Boston.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Recruitment Marketing Services Specialized targeted recruitment marketing campaigns designed to attract qualified candidates, including strategic hiring campaigns for healthcare, corporate, and industrial clients. Includes hiring event marketing, targeted candidate search, and content creation support for recruitment goals.
• Inbound Marketing Services Attraction-based marketing that creates and promotes engaging content to bring visitors (potential candidates) to client websites using blogs, SEO, and social media. Powered by HubSpot inbound marketing methodology.
• Digital Media Services Website development and design, microsite development, SEO/SEM, blog development, web content analytics, and email marketing across all devices including mobile. The agency builds, manages, and hosts more than 40 different sites for its clients.
• Social Media Services Social media strategy and network building, page development and management, social ad creation, and comprehensive analytics for building social communities tailored to client markets.
• Media Placement and Creative Services Traditional advertising services including printed collateral, copywriting, targeted direct mail, brand development, media placement, outdoor/TV advertising, advertising campaigns, market research, and retention programs.
• Employer Branding Identification and promotion of employer brand identity, including differentiation factors, relevance to candidates, and competitive positioning in recruitment.

Quantifiable outcome

• 40+ years in business with clients staying for decades vs 4 year industry average
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• HubSpotcoreTechnology or IntegrationHarger Howe is the only inbound recruitment marketing HubSpot Agency Partner. This partnership provides access to HubSpot's marketing automation platform, inbound methodology certification, and technology tools for delivering data-driven recruitment marketing campaigns for clients. The partnership enables comprehensive solution delivery from website conception to talent pipeline management.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Recruitics: Recruitics is a recruitment marketing analytics and media agency focused on programmatic job advertising, employer branding, and recruitment SEO/SEM. It is a tightly comparable peer serving mid-market and enterprise employers with data-driven recruitment marketing.
• Cielo (formerly TMP Worldwide): Cielo is a global RPO and talent acquisition partner that originated as TMP Worldwide, one of the largest legacy recruitment advertising agencies. It is the most direct large-scale peer in recruitment marketing and employer branding, competing for the same healthcare and enterprise accounts Harger Howe serves.
• Radancy: Radancy is a global talent acquisition software and services platform combining employer branding, media, and recruitment marketing technology. It is a direct peer in the recruitment advertising and employer brand space, with a stronger technology/SaaS layer than Harger Howe.
• Appcast: Appcast is a programmatic recruitment marketing platform specializing in paid job advertising and candidate generation. It overlaps directly with Harger Howe's media buying and digital recruitment marketing offerings, though with a stronger technology focus.
• NAS Recruitment Innovation: NAS is a long-standing recruitment advertising and employer branding agency serving large employers across healthcare, retail, and other verticals. It competes with Harger Howe in healthcare-focused employer brand and recruitment media work.
• Broadleaf Results: Broadleaf is a recruitment advertising and employer branding agency that provides media buying, creative, and digital services. It is a comparable direct peer competing for healthcare and skilled-trades employer clients.

Broad incumbents

• iCIMS: iCIMS is a large talent acquisition platform that includes recruitment marketing, candidate attraction, and employer branding capabilities. It is a broad incumbent that increasingly encroaches on the agency layer Harger Howe operates in.
• Bernard Hodes Group (Omnicom): Bernard Hodes Group is the legacy recruitment advertising arm of Omnicom, offering employer branding, recruitment media, and talent communications. It is a broad incumbent competing for large healthcare and enterprise recruitment marketing budgets.
• Wunderman Thompson Recruitment: WPP-owned Wunderman Thompson operates a recruitment marketing practice that provides employer branding, media, and content services. It is a broad incumbent competing for the same enterprise and healthcare recruitment marketing RFPs.
• Jellyfish (recruitment media arm): Jellyfish is a global digital marketing agency that has built out recruitment media capabilities and competes for paid media and employer brand budgets. It is a broad incumbent rather than a pure recruitment specialist.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hargerhoweadv
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/hargerhowe
• Facebookfacebook.com/HargerHoweAdvertising
• Instagraminstagram.com/hargerhoweadv

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Harger Howe Advertising