Ladder review

Adequate — 3 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 25% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 37 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 14 · Strong 6 · Adequate 14 · Weak 3. The typical agency here scores Strong, and 20 of them score higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Does the agency have named clients in the buyer's vertical at the buyer's stage? Tangential vertical or adjacent stage scores 3. Mismatched (e.g.

Scores high — Direct sector + stage match scores 5.

Scores low — lifestyle B2C agency pitched for B2B SaaS) scores 1-2. Generic 'we serve everyone' positioning scores 2.

What we found — Full-funnel growth across startups/scale-ups; not single-vertical. That is between the two bands, which is why it scored Adequate.

B2B — business-to-business: selling to companies rather than consumers — longer deals, more decision-makers.

SaaS — software as a service: subscription software; as a client type it brings recurring revenue and metrics like churn and lifetime value.

funnel — the path from stranger to customer — awareness at the top, purchase at the bottom. “Full-funnel” means owning the whole path, not one stage.

Evidence: inferred — our reading of indirect evidence, not a documented fact.

Adequate — 3 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 15% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 37 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 13 · Strong 5 · Adequate 14 · Weak 5. The typical agency here scores Adequate, and 18 of them score higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Best agencies are deep on 2-3 named channels, not jacks-of-all-trades.

Scores high — A single-channel specialist or 2-3 channel specialist matching the buyer's needed channels scores 4-5.

Scores low — An agency claiming Google + Meta + LinkedIn + TikTok + programmatic + CTV + Reddit usually scores 1-2 (spread thin). If the agency's deep channels don't match the buyer's need, score 2-3.

What we found — Full-funnel and multi-channel by design. That is between the two bands, which is why it scored Adequate.

programmatic — automated auction-buying of ad space across the web, rather than direct placements.

funnel — the path from stranger to customer — awareness at the top, purchase at the bottom. “Full-funnel” means owning the whole path, not one stage.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Strong — 4 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 20% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 37 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 13 · Strong 12 · Adequate 7 · Weak 5. The typical agency here scores Strong, and 13 of them score higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Does the agency use server-side tracking, MMM, incrementality testing, or proper multi-touch attribution?

Scores high — Sophisticated measurement (server-side tracking, GA4 + warehouse, incrementality lifts) scores 4-5.

Scores low — In 2026 platform-reported ROAS (in-platform Meta/Google numbers) is increasingly broken — reliance on it as primary measure scores 1-2. Silence on attribution scores 2.

What we found — 8,000+ experiments and a systematic testing methodology. That is the high band above, which is why it scored Strong.

On the record — “Ladder runs an Adaptive Growth methodology with 8,000+ experiments and $40M+ in managed ad spend, with in-house design and copywriting.” ladder.io ↗

attribution — working out which marketing touch actually caused a sale. Good practice names its model and its blind spots; bad practice quotes each ad platform’s self-graded numbers, which overlap and overclaim.

ROAS — return on ad spend: revenue per dollar of advertising. Platform-reported ROAS overstates; independently measured ROAS is the honest version.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Strong — 4 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 15% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 37 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 3 · Strong 14 · Adequate 13 · Weak 7. The typical agency here scores Adequate, and 3 of them score higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: In 2026 creative is the lever, not bidding. Look for video creative capability specifically — most B2B agencies are weak here.

Scores high — In-house creative team that ships and iterates ads weekly scores 4-5.

Scores low — Agencies that hand creative back to the client or rely on stock template variations score 1-2.

What we found — In-house design + copy for ad creative and landing pages. That is the high band above, which is why it scored Strong.

B2B — business-to-business: selling to companies rather than consumers — longer deals, more decision-makers.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Adequate — 3 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 10% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 37 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 6 · Strong 9 · Adequate 12 · Weak 9 · Poor 1. The typical agency here scores Adequate, and 15 of them score higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Who actually runs the buyer's account day-to-day? Look for who would be on the kickoff call vs. who would be in the trenches.

Scores high — Named senior strategist with 5+ years on the account scores 4-5.

Scores low — Account-manager-only with a strategist behind the scenes scores 2-3. Unnamed pool / no clear owner scores 1.

What we found — Senior involvement; team size unclear. That is between the two bands, which is why it scored Adequate.

Evidence: inferred — our reading of indirect evidence, not a documented fact.

Adequate — 3 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 10% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 37 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 12 · Strong 15 · Adequate 6 · Weak 4. The typical agency here scores Strong, and 27 of them score higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Check if named clients still publicly use the agency (LinkedIn employer connections, recent campaigns).

Scores high — Named clients with concrete dated results (CAC delta, ROAS, attributable revenue, cohort metrics) score 4-5.

Scores low — Testimonials without numbers score 1-2. Case studies dated 2024 or earlier used as primary evidence score 1-2 — the agency probably peaked.

What we found — Positive but thin Clutch base (14); $40M+ managed spend. That is between the two bands, which is why it scored Adequate.

On the record — “Ladder runs an Adaptive Growth methodology with 8,000+ experiments and $40M+ in managed ad spend, with in-house design and copywriting.” ladder.io ↗

CAC — customer acquisition cost: total sales and marketing spend divided by customers won — the number that says whether growth is affordable.

ROAS — return on ad spend: revenue per dollar of advertising. Platform-reported ROAS overstates; independently measured ROAS is the honest version.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Adequate — 3 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 5% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 37 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 3 · Strong 8 · Adequate 14 · Weak 12. The typical agency here scores Adequate, and 11 of them score higher than this one.

Scores high — Month-to-month or 3-month terms with published retainer or % of spend pricing score 4-5.

Scores low — 12-month lock-ins score 2 (yellow flag). Bespoke-only quoting with no published anchor scores 1-2 — usually correlates with extracting more from less-savvy buyers.

What we found — $10-25k minimum; pricing via consultation. That is between the two bands, which is why it scored Adequate.

retainer — a fixed monthly fee regardless of hours or output — predictable, but worth tying to a defined scope.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.