Top San Francisco Ad Agencies

For the creatives of this world, San Francisco offers a lot for its copywriters.

​Apart from the history and culture, where the dual personalities of bohemian paradise and tech capital intertwine, San Francisco boasts some of the best ad agencies in the world.

​From campaigns to commercials, the best ad agencies in San Francisco focus on helping brands grow into their own.
Picture - CC0 License ​

Why Should You Venture to the Golden City?

San Francisco is one of the most progressive places in the entire world. Home to the most diverse range of cultures on the planet, you do not have to venture far to see its far-reaching influence on the world, from its food to art, fitness, fashion, and museums.

​For any copywriter looking to absorb the variety of cultures on offer to influence their writing, it is all reflected in the rich array of advertising. From a marketing perspective, there is a lot on offer here! ​

Why Should You Work for an Agency?

A copywriter earns their crust through an ad agency. A copywriter is someone who writes about food in the morning and sports in the afternoon, so you will never get bored. With the array of projects on offer for different clients, you get an insight into numerous industries, but it also drops you in at the deep end. 

As copywriters work with so many industries and sectors, you have to learn quickly, which is not easy, to begin with, but promotes disciple, but you start to discover where you work best.

An advertising copywriter tries their hand at every discipline, and many ad agencies work with the client in mind it becomes a very creative career that also focuses on results.

Let's not forget, this is a numbers game! 

Learning how to write excellent copy that transcends, caters to a certain target audience, and is also able to express a brand's message in a handful of words is not an easy thing.

​And despite the diversity of the job, as a copywriter for any ad agency, you get insight into the world of advertising through its many social functions.

Picking the Right Agency for Your Needs

When you decide on an agency to apply for, there are a number of key things to decide. For example, you need to look at the opportunities to train, possibilities to develop, the size of the agency, and also if they are a good fit for you.

You have to think about your long-term career goals. 
The best agencies will offer chances for growth and will support you in the long run.

Wherever you are in the world, it's also important to remember that many ad agencies will provide sponsorship so they can recruit the best talent from around the world.

​You should not let your geographic location hinder your ambitions!

The Best Ad Agencies in San Francisco

For anybody looking to go into advertising, or are looking for an insight into the best array of advertising agencies, here are the top agencies in San Francisco for any budding copywriter and content marketer:

1. Jives Media

Voted Agency of the Year for five years in a row, Jives Media has completed more than 500 projects for a variety of clients, including large-scale computer tech company Oracle Corporation, and have also provided a revamp of a variety of websites, from clients as diverse as lawyers to real estate, and restaurants.

​Having been featured in publications on ABC News and Forbes, this is one of the best ad agencies to focus on for business solutions.

2. Division of Labor

Providing content for the San Jose Sharks, Live Nation, the Bay Area News Group, and Kelly Nasdaq to name a few, Division of Labor is a company that certainly focuses on humor in its promotional materials.

You only have to look at their website to see that humor is the cornerstone of how they operate. They provide resources for clients including fully integrated campaigns, but also offer freelance copywriters and designers.

​If you want to work somewhere that offers quirky and inventive content, this is for you.

3. Gumas

Promoting itself as the country's foremost authority on Challenger Brand Marketing®, Gumas works with companies that are not dominant in the market, nor are a niche.

The focus is on bringing brand strategy to life and offering a variety of creative services. Since its inception in 1984, its brand campaigns have included Mattel, Hewlett Packard, SanDisk, and the San Francisco 49ers.

​As it offers a comprehensive service to clients, as a copywriter in their midst, you would find yourself as part of a thriving and dynamic agency.

4. Metric Theory

Since it started in 2012, they have primarily worked with retail and e-commerce clients, providing a variety of content to help companies boost their revenue.

Working with clients such as Carvana, GoFundMe, and LexisNexis, copywriters would be expected to write towards results.

​They are a self-proclaimed “growth-obsessed” and “numbers-obsessed” company that works with clients to improve their bottom line.

5. Hub ​

A company that focuses on true collaboration, seeing internal agencies as partners. They have a focus on developing and supporting more in-house creative departments to become more efficient and effective. Hub is truly an agency that gets to the root of understanding brand identity.

As their banner says, they offer “strategy, design & advertising (without all the bullshit).” Their client roster has been as diverse as The Monterey Bay Aquarium, Stanford Children's Health, and, more notably in recent times, the Super Bowl spot of E24 with Snoop Dogg and Gilbert Gottfried.

​This is an agency that delivers results, and all within a fraction of the typical costs of a large-scale advertising campaign. Their focus is on humor, so if your writing angle consists of funnies (and occasionally punnies), you would be right at home here!

6. Duncan Channon

Since 1990, they have been offering support for a variety of clients including Upwork, Sephora, and the Craft Brew Alliance. A Four-Time Ad Age Agency of the Year, they want to work with clients to unleash distinct positioning.

They are deliberately stepping outside the confines of advertising agencies, and through their different disciplines, including social, design, and advertising, they have not just helped new brands to launch, but have been pivotal in the resurgence of established brands.

​If you have a unique view of the world and are able to grasp the factors that make a brand different, you would fit right in here!

7. Allied Integrated Marketing

With numerous offices around the world, this is an agency focusing on entertainment, lifestyle, and culture. They have a specific emphasis on film, television, and touring shows.

Using a variety of marketing opportunities including celebrity-driven campaigns, they have worked with a number of notable clients including book publishers HarperCollins, film company Focus Features, and even UNICEF! Since its start in 1986, it has focused on working with great people and offering a diverse range of people at the heart of its ethos.

​If you are dynamic, different, and have something to offer, this is an agency that would make you feel at home.

8. Camp + King

Since its establishment in 2011, they have worked with many clients to combine brand storytelling with content development.

​There are a variety of disciplines all under one roof, and the variety of brands they have worked with, all the way from Sacramento Kings, Sling TV, and even YouTube, has meant they have earned their credentials and would be a great fit for a writer that can turn their attention to a variety of brands with different tones of voice. ​

What Is the Best Agency for You? ​

There are so many ad agencies in San Francisco, each with its own disciplines, attitudes, but also, skills that will set them apart, so you need to take the opportunity to find the right fit for you. 

Every agency works with its own unique set of quirks, attitudes, and more importantly, people. You can't expect to love the work of every agency, however, you've got to ask yourself where you feel you would be most supported.
 
Writing attention-grabbing copy is about learning the fundamentals, but then working with an agency to make sure that these fundamentals translate into the best possible message for a brand.

​This is where you need to research agencies that will provide opportunities for copywriters, but also are a good fit for your personality. ​

Do You Have What it Takes? ​

If you have dreamt of being a copywriter, and you need to learn the skills to break into the industry, you can take our Copywriting to Go Class. Hundreds of professional copywriters have used this as a springboard to work in their dream job. 

Working for an agency is not just about creating amazing copy, but it's about understanding that an industry like advertising requires you to be dynamic, flexible, and above all else, a hard worker.

​San Francisco is a paradise of diversity and is a contradiction of classes on every corner, and if you are venturing over the golden gate bridge into this copywriting cultural center, these ad agencies are some of the best to work for, not just in the Golden City, but in the entire world.