Catalyst Marketing Agency - Comprehensive Analysis Report

Summary

Catalyst Marketing Agency, established in 2016 by co-founders Robin Emiliani and Gem Swartz, is an award-winning integrated marketing agency focused on igniting growth and creating transformative marketing strategies for its clients. The agency aims to help marketing leaders achieve superior outcomes by providing solutions that fill sales pipelines and drive growth, effectively acting as an extension of an in-house marketing team without the associated overhead. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with regional offices across the US, Catalyst distinguishes itself as a certified women-owned enterprise by WBENC, a designation held by a small fraction of advertising agencies.

1. Strategic Focus & Objectives

Core Objectives

Catalyst Marketing Agency's core objectives revolve around driving market growth, delivering impactful marketing solutions, and generating tangible results for clients. They aim to provide full-stack, end-to-end strategic, creative, and technical marketing capabilities to support omnichannel marketing strategies. A key objective is to embed with clients' existing workflows, acting as a seamless extension of their in-house resources to deliver marketing services without friction.

Specialization Areas

The agency specializes in a comprehensive range of marketing services, including strategy development, brand positioning, content marketing, digital advertising, social media management, email marketing, SEO, public relations, marketing automation, analytics and reporting, and creative services. They particularly excel in lead generation, creating ROI-focused strategies tailored to key performance indicators (KPIs), and building conversion-optimized websites. Catalyst leverages AI-enhanced growth marketing solutions, combining AI technology with strategic and creative expertise to drive revenue faster.

Target Markets

Catalyst Marketing Agency serves a diverse range of industries and verticals, including nonprofits, technology, cannabis, and eCommerce. Their primary focus in client selection is the client's stage of organizational growth, providing tailored solutions to support their specific developmental needs. They aim to support a wide range of growing organizations across various sectors, including startups, B2Bs, SMBs, nonprofits, and government entities.

2. Financial Overview

Funding History

Catalyst Marketing Agency's estimated annual revenue is currently $6.2 million per year, with an estimated revenue per employee of $206,667. The company's employee count grew by 58% in the last year, reaching 30 employees. There is no publicly available information indicating specific funding rounds or external funding raised for Catalyst Marketing Agency (catalystmarketingagency.com).

3. Product Pipeline

Key Products/Services

Catalyst Marketing Agency offers a holistic suite of integrated marketing services:

Strategic Consulting: Development of comprehensive marketing strategies, brand positioning, and market analysis.

Content Marketing: Creation and distribution of valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience.

Digital Advertising: Management of online ad campaigns across various platforms, including search engine marketing (SEM) and social media advertising.

Social Media Management: Development and execution of social media strategies for various platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Thread).

Email Marketing: Design and implementation of email campaigns for lead nurturing and customer engagement.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Strategies to improve organic search rankings and visibility.

Public Relations: Management of public perception and media relations.

Marketing Automation: Implementation and optimization of marketing automation platforms.

Analytics and Reporting: Data analysis and performance tracking to inform strategy.

Creative Services: Design and development of visual assets, including website design and brand campaigns.

AI-Enhanced Growth Marketing Solutions: Integration of AI technologies to build and optimize digital customer journeys, accelerating growth and revenue generation.

4. Technology & Innovation

Technology Stack

Catalyst Marketing Agency leverages an "AI tech stack" and integrates AI where it makes sense to create smarter work and accelerate growth. They combine AI technology with strategic and creative expertise to drive revenue faster. This includes using AI to build and optimize digital customer journeys for SEM, social media, and SEO. The agency focuses on developing strategy-first, hypothesis-led Agentic & Conversational AI journeys. Their internal systems are designed to manage complex marketing ecosystems and integrate seamlessly with client workflows, balancing human creativity with technological efficiency.

5. Leadership & Management

Executive Team

The Catalyst team comprises over 60 integrated marketing specialists. Key members of the leadership team include:

Robin Emiliani: Co-Founder, Chief Marketing & Growth Officer (CMGO).

Gem Swartz: Co-Founder.

Rion Haber: Co-Founder, Chief Strategy Officer. Rion possesses over a decade of experience as a consulting Director, CMO, and SVP of marketing at startups in the Pacific Northwest.

Doug McIntyre: Co-Founder, Chief Operations Officer. Doug has 20 years of event and entertainment-based project management experience, overseeing the full portfolio of clients and all project teams globally, having planned and brought to market over 300 individual marketing campaigns.

Michael Nelson: Head of Growth.

Katharine Kemp: Director, Public Relations.

Peyton Robinson: Director, Social Media.

Tevin Anderson: Director, Digital Strategy.

Sean Majors: Director of Content.

Jasmin Jacobs: Director, Finance.

Dendy Tri: Designer, Creative.

Jennifer Sturgill: Communications Director.

Jose Moreno: Director, Strategic Communications.

Ammar Ul Haq: Director, Marketing Technology.

Recent Leadership Changes

Michael Nelson was welcomed to the team as the new Head of Growth on November 30, 2025.

6. Talent and Growth Indicators

Hiring Trends and Workforce

Catalyst Marketing Agency is a fast-growing, full-service marketing agency that experienced a 58% growth in its employee count last year, reaching 30 employees. The company is actively recruiting for various roles, including Social Media Coordinator (part-time, remote), Business Development (full-time, remote), Social Media Manager (full-time, remote), Communications Director (full-time, remote), Account Coordinator, and Studio Artist. The agency emphasizes an innovative environment, a team-oriented culture, and flexibility with work options, seeking candidates with a 4-year college degree, strong communication skills, and attention to detail.

7. Social Media Presence and Engagement

Digital Footprint

Catalyst Marketing Agency maintains an active digital footprint across multiple social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Thread. Their brand messaging focuses on being a creative, strategy-driven team shaping the future of digital marketing. They leverage their website to share case studies and provide insights, which are then amplified through their social media channels to establish thought leadership and foster community engagement.

8. Recognition and Awards

Industry Recognition

Catalyst Marketing Agency has received significant industry recognition, demonstrating its leadership and innovation:

2024 Colorado Companies to Watch Winner: Recognized for exceptional growth, innovation, and contribution to Colorado's economic landscape.

2023 'Top Marketing Agency to Watch': Named by CIO Times for its success in helping brands connect with their audience and willingness to take creative risks.

Multiple awards for a brand campaign for Streamlabs (a division of Logitech) in May 2024, including:

Silver Telly Award for Online Commercials.

Silver American Advertising Award for Internet Commercials.

Platinum Muse Creative Award for Social Media.

Gold Hermes Creative Award for Strategic Campaigns.

9. Competitive Analysis

Major Competitors

Key competitors in the digital marketing agency landscape include:

KlientBoost: Specializes in pay-per-click marketing and landing page solutions.

INFUSE: A performance marketing agency.

SmartSites: Provides full-service digital marketing including website design, SEO, and PPC.

webdew: Offers various digital marketing services.

WebFX: A full-service digital marketing agency.

Otter PR: Focuses on public relations services.

CIENCE: Specializes in human-driven and machine-powered managed services for outbound sales.

Martal Group: A B2B lead generation company.

10. Market Analysis

Market Overview

The global digital marketing agency market is experiencing robust growth. It was valued at USD 6 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 21 billion by 2033, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.32% from 2025 to 2033. Alternative estimates place the market size at US$ 15.7 billion in 2023, growing to US$ 70.1 billion by 2034 with a CAGR of 14.5%. This growth is primarily driven by the increasing need for businesses to establish a strong online presence, effectively engage with consumers digitally, and the rising adoption of video marketing for increased engagement. North America is a leading region, benefiting from a mature digital ecosystem and a tech-savvy population. Digital marketing services accounted for 62.26% of 2024 revenue, indicating a strong preference for measurable, omnichannel engagement. Full-service agencies are observing the fastest growth, as clients increasingly seek unified governance across disparate media and content. Moreover, technological advancements in AI and data analytics are enabling the execution of more accurate and efficient marketing campaigns.

11. Strategic Partnerships

Catalyst Marketing Agency employs various partnership models, including Managed, Tactical, Consulting, and Long-Term, allowing clients to select a collaborative framework that best suits their organizational structure. Their integrated marketing framework emphasizes deep vertical and horizontal integration between teams to build integrated campaigns at scale, moving away from fragmented agency relationships. They aim to provide clients with a secondary layer of full-stack marketing resources that are deeply familiar with their brand, enabling the creation of new messaging on an on-demand basis.

12. Operational Insights

Catalyst Marketing Agency differentiates itself through its integrated marketing approach, providing an end-to-end solution that mirrors the capabilities of an in-house marketing team without the considerable overhead costs. Their operational strengths include a focus on outcome-driven strategies tailored to clients' specific KPIs, rather than vanity metrics. They prioritize deep collaboration, embedding their team within client workflows to deliver seamless omnichannel communications. As a certified women-owned enterprise, Catalyst also offers value to partners seeking to demonstrate commitment to Diversity and Inclusion initiatives. Their expertise spans strategy, operations, creative, and technical aspects of marketing, providing a holistic and integrated service delivery model.

13. Future Outlook

Strategic Roadmap

Catalyst Marketing Agency's strategic roadmap is centered on continued growth and impact, particularly through the expanded leverage of AI-enhanced growth marketing solutions to drive faster revenue generation for clients. The agency plans to expand its integrated marketing solutions to support a wide array of growing organizations across diverse sectors, including startups, B2Bs, SMBs, nonprofits, and government entities. A key focus is the ongoing development of methodologies that facilitate deep collaboration and allow for the scaling of integrated campaigns, positioning the agency to effectively address the increasing complexity of the communications ecosystem. Through their Strategy Mapping program, they emphasize defining the entire customer experience, from discovery to loyalty and advocacy, indicating a commitment to comprehensive, long-term client success. They also highlight their capability to construct plans that integrate analyses of customer expectations versus brand delivery, prioritize high-impact marketing areas, and ensure functional alignment across sales, marketing, service, and production.