Most agencies charge you whether they win or not. MTHD doesn't.
Here's the full story behind our performance-based ads model, our free ROI Calculator, and why we think it's time the industry caught up.
The Agency Model Is Broken - And Everyone Knows It
Let's be direct about something the industry doesn't like to say out loud.
Most marketing agencies are structured so they win regardless of what happens to your business. You sign a retainer. You fund the ad spend. You take all the risk. And every month, the invoice lands in your inbox - results or no results.
It's not a hidden secret. It's just how things have always been done, so nobody questions it.
But think about it from a business owner's perspective. You're paying someone to grow your revenue, but they get paid whether your revenue grows or not. That's not a partnership. That's a vendor relationship with zero accountability baked in.
The model survives because most business owners assume that's just the cost of getting help with marketing. You pay for time and expertise, not outcomes. You take the hit if the campaigns underperform.
We think that's backwards. And we built MTHD to prove it.
What "Best Marketing Agency of the Year 2025" Actually Means
In February 2026, MTHD was named Best Marketing Agency of the Year 2025 by the Consumer Ratings Institute.
We're proud of it. But we want to be clear about what that recognition actually reflects, because it's not about being the biggest agency, or having the flashiest brand.
Before MTHD existed, our leadership team built, scaled, and sold multiple businesses. We took an e-commerce brand to the top 1% of all Shopify stores globally. We took a failing San Francisco business and flipped it for a 12x return. We turned a struggling vineyard into a sold-out wedding venue.
The recognition reflects that operator background. When you've run businesses yourself - when your own money was on the line, when your own brand was at risk - you approach marketing completely differently from someone who's only ever managed campaigns for other people's companies.
We didn't build MTHD to be an agency. We built it because clients started asking for the system we were already using. So we packaged it and made it available.
Within seven months of launching, MTHD earned official partnerships with Google, Meta, and Shopify. Not from networking. From results.
The Performance-Based Ads Model - How It Works
This is the part of what we're doing that the industry hasn't seen before.
MTHD now manages paid advertising campaigns for clients at zero upfront cost and zero management fees. We build the campaigns. We run them. We optimise them. And we only get paid a percentage of the revenue our ads generate.
That's it.
If the campaigns don't perform, we don't get paid. If they do, we earn alongside you - not ahead of you.
Why can we offer this?
Because we've already used this exact system to build our own businesses. We're not guessing. We're not testing ideas on your budget. We're applying a method that has already produced documented, verifiable results across hundreds of clients and over $100 million in revenue.
"We're not gambling on anyone's business. We're applying a proven system we've already used to build our own.
That's why we can afford to tie our income directly to client results."
— Geraint Clarke, Co-Founder and CEO
Who is this model for?
It's designed for business owners and e-commerce operators who are tired of paying retainers to agencies that treat their budget as guaranteed income. If you're scaling and you want a team with skin in the game, this is built for you.
The Free Marketing ROI Calculator
Alongside the performance-based model, we've launched a free Marketing ROI Calculator - available here
Here's the problem it solves: most business owners don't actually know their marketing ROI.
They know how much they're spending. They might know their revenue. But they can't tell you their revenue-to-marketing ratio, which channels are pulling their weight, or whether their current spend efficiency is above or below where it should be.
That missing clarity is one of the main reasons bad agencies keep clients for longer than they should. If you can't measure what's working, you can't challenge what you're paying for.
The calculator changes that. In a few minutes, you get instant insights into your spend efficiency, your revenue-to-marketing ratios, and your channel-specific ROI potential. No cost. No signup required.
Think of it as a starting point. Once you know your numbers, you can have a very different kind of conversation with any agency - including us.
The Numbers Behind the Model
We maintain a 6x average Return on Marketing Spend across our client portfolio.
The industry standard sits at 3–4x. We're consistently running at double that.
Beyond ROMS, the numbers that matter:
$100M+ in documented client revenue generated
600+ projects delivered for clients including BrewDog, Nike, Global AI, and DYNAMO
25+ years of combined experience across the team
and official partnerships with Google, Meta, and Shopify - all earned within the first seven months.
These aren't vanity metrics. They're the reason we can afford to offer a performance-based model in the first place. The system has to work before we can tie our income to it.
What This Means If You're Paying a Retainer Right Now
Here's a simple question worth asking your current agency: what happens to your fee if this month's campaigns underperform?
If the answer is "nothing changes" - that's worth sitting with.
You don't have to accept a model where you absorb all the risk and share none of the upside. There's now an alternative where the agency's success is tied directly to yours.
Start by running your numbers through our free ROI Calculator. Find out where your marketing stands right now.
If you want to explore the performance-based ads model, book a free consultation here. No retainer. No upfront cost. Just a conversation about what's possible.
The old model had a good run. But it's time for something better.
