2025-01-03 07:23:05
Last updated: January 2, 2025
Our 2024 report on Cost Per Lead by Industry was prepared by our marketing research team, based on data collected between January 2022 through December 2024.
Cost Per Lead (CPL) is defined as the gross marketing cost expended to acquire a lead for your business. It can be calculated by dividing your total marketing spend by your total number of new leads acquired from a specific channel or group of channels, as shown in the equation below:
A lead is defined as a direct connection via e-mail, phone or in-person introduction to a prospective customer interested in purchasing a product or service. The cost of the lead is incurred regardless of the eventual outcome of the discussion, which is distinct from customer acquisition cost, which measures the price of acquiring closed customers and includes the cost of sales.
Cost Per Lead is a valuable but slippery metric because quality varies widely by acquisition cost. For example, some lead referral channels provide warm leads – engaged prospects who are well-primed to buy from the right company – while certain SDRs we’ve come across are selling cold leads that convert a low percentage of the time. It is necessary to carefully track and measure each paid and organic lead generation channel in which you invest, narrowing your investments to the ones that produce the customers with the highest lifetime value, rate of referral, and overall satisfaction relative to their acquisition cost.
Below, we’ve parsed our dataset to display the average CPL for 30 industries, broken out by paid vs organic.
| Industry | Average Paid CPL | Average Organic CPL | Average CPL (Blended) |
| Addiction Treatment | $380 | $213 | $297 |
| Aerospace & Aviation | $469 | $277 | $373 |
| Automotive | $295 | $271 | $283 |
| B2B SaaS | $310 | $164 | $237 |
| Biotech | $274 | $236 | $255 |
| Business Insurance | $460 | $388 | $424 |
| Construction | $280 | $174 | $227 |
| Cybersecurity | $411 | $404 | $406 |
| eCommerce | $98 | $83 | $91 |
| Engineering | $371 | $201 | $287 |
| Entertainment | $116 | $111 | $114 |
| Environmental Services | $346 | $207 | $278 |
| Financial Services | $761 | $555 | $653 |
| Fintech | $490 | $413 | $452 |
| Healthcare | $401 | $320 | $361 |
| Higher Education | $1,261 | $705 | $982 |
| Hotels & Resorts | $308 | $224 | $266 |
| HVAC | $115 | $69 | $92 |
| Industrial IOT | $590 | $404 | $497 |
| IT & Managed Services | $617 | $385 | $503 |
| Legal Services | $784 | $516 | $649 |
| Manufacturing | $691 | $415 | $553 |
| Oil & Gas | $772 | $502 | $637 |
| PCB Design & Manufacturing | $480 | $271 | $376 |
| Pharmaceutical | $124 | $135 | $131 |
| Real Estate | $480 | $416 | $448 |
| Software Development | $680 | $510 | $591 |
| Solar | $217 | $196 | $206 |
| Staffing & Recruiting | $476 | $518 | $497 |
| Transportation & Logistics | $670 | $505 | $588 |
There are many lead generation channels available to businesses, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. As a general rule, organic channels will result in higher long-term ROI than paid channels, but require a longer lead time before they produce results. This higher ROI is due to both their scalability and because the leads generated through organic channels are lower-funnel than those from paid ones. As a result, the most effective lead generation strategy is to use organic channels such as SEO and industry speaking engagements as the primary driver of new leads, while leveraging paid channels such as PPC and trade shows when in need of short-term growth.
Setting up in-house lead generation can be a difficult process, and many companies choose to outsource this task to a dedicated agency while building their internal team. If you’d like to do so, you can learn more about our services by reaching out here.
2025-01-03 07:22:25
Last Updated: January 2, 2025
What is the average conversion rate in each B2B industry? This is the question we began researching more than ten years ago, and which you’ll find answered in this report.
The conversion rates below are the result of research conducted and collected by our SEO firm, drawing from client data gathered between January 2018 and December 2024.
A conversion rate is the percentage of visitors to a company’s website that performed a conversion action, divided by total unique website visitors as shown in the formula below:
For example, a B2B SaaS provider may have three potential customers download a free trial of their software out of 100 unique visitors on their website in a given time period—a conversion rate of 3%. This is one of the first steps in the customer acquisition funnel as shown below:
As shown in the image above, this initial conversion from website visitor to known lead also represents the point at which marketing to that prospective customer must shift its focus from lead generation to lead nurturing.
In this section, we present the average conversion rate for 25 B2B industries. You can use these benchmarks to compare your company’s marketing performance with the average performance of your competitors. Next to each conversion rate we’ve also included a suggestion that comes from our experience working with clients in that specific industry.
| Industry | Average Conversion Rate | Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Strategy |
| Addiction Treatment | 2.1% | Publish case studies and personal stories (while protecting patient privacy) that describe how patients have worked through their addictions, sharing on social media simultaneously. |
| B2B SaaS | 1.1% | Create a presentation deck on the problem they’re attempting to solve with your software, and automatically send to customers that submit their e-mail address. |
| Biotech | 1.8% | Provide white papers and case studies describing the advantages and innovative results of your research. |
| Commercial Insurance | 1.7% | Use blog articles that contain ROI tables to illustrate how insurance is worth its price in situations businesses are likely face. |
| Construction | 1.9% | Design geotargeted, conversion-optimized landing pages for each service and subservice. |
| Engineering | 1.2% | Have a section of the website dedicated to use case pages showing how you’ve created solutions for problems your customers have faced. |
| Environmental Services | 1.3% | Create content “pods” of expertise around the major keywords that indicate an interest in your services, with each pod containing ~10 subpages tackling a more specific keyword within the pod’s container. |
| Financial Services | 1.9% | Use a FAQ approach, ensuring every question and answer has its own page, targeting specific, low-in-the-funnel searches around the type of services your company provides. Wealth management companies should also offer insights on specific investment and wealth preservation strategies such as Section 754 elections, featuring each insight in a blog post. |
| Heavy Equipment | 1.7% | Create a series of Capabilities pages featuring your equipment. |
| Higher Education & College | 2.8% | Create a pillar page containing personal success stories from students, outcome statistics, and graphics showcasing the degree program’s value not just to the student, but to communities. |
| HVAC Services | 3.1% | Geotarget all landing pages and blog posts for the area or areas served along with transactional keywords targeted to local business owners. |
| Industrial IoT | 2.6% | Utilizing thought leadership and white papers that describe the near future (1-2 years from now) and the ways in which successful businesses will modernize using industrial IoT. |
| IT & Managed Services | 1.5% | Create a series of cost-benefit analysis articles that explain why outsourcing IT is more effective than hiring an in-house. |
| Legal Services | 7.4% | Create in-depth, branded guides for the website that offer an appetizer portion of analysis around recent or highly searched for laws. |
| Manufacturing | 2.2% | Publish detailed product pages that highlight quality, price, and the ways in which the product exceeds industry benchmarks, including customer logos if possible. |
| Medical Device | 1.6% | Build a series of problem and solution pages targeting key issues that medical professionals face, citing clinical research on improved patient outcomes. |
| Oil & Gas | 2.5% | Attract in-company influencers by targeting technical keywords that only they would search for. Content should be very much “in the weeds.” |
| PCB Design & Manufacturing | 2.4% | Be a leader in educational content, publishing blog articles on the situations your target audience faces that necessitate the use of your products or services. |
| Pharmaceutical | 1.9% | Illustrate your products’ value to physicians, pharmacists, or other target markets using summaries of the health studies conducted on your products, highlighting favorable patient outcomes. |
| Real Estate | 2.7% | Write blog articles that discuss the current state of the local market along with trends in pricing and value, keeping these pieces updated quarterly. |
| Software Development | 1.1% | Create an FAQ that lists common pain points businesses face and how investing in custom software promotes efficiency and generates ROI. |
| Solar Energy | 1.8% | Given the prevalence of local searches in this industry, create original geotargeted landing pages based on local keyword searches. |
| Staffing & Recruiting | 2.9% | Target location keywords for each of the markets you work in, each type of employer, and each job position you help fill. |
| Transportation & Logistics | 1.4% | Produce custom infographics showing the value of your services over the competition, including price, durability, and logistical advantages. |
In case it’s useful, I’ve also compiled the conversion rates into a single chart. This helps you see the scale of the difference in conversion rate between, say, Education companies and Legal Services businesses.
As businesses grow, it’s typical to deal with low conversion rates, and the process of improving these rates is called conversion rate optimization (CRO for short). Even Salesforce, with its stellar reputation, converts less than 5% of its traffic into qualified leads. Most B2B conversion rates aren’t higher than this, particularly in industries with longer sales cycles. But this isn’t a bad thing. In my 17 years studying conversion rates, I’ve found that the biggest issue for B2B marketers is simply understanding what conversion rate to expect at scale. From there, if you have a good marketing team, it’s rather systematic to push leads into the top of the funnel.
This confusion is exemplified by many of our SEO clients, particularly those in tech manufacturing (semiconductors, chips, circuit boards). Given their target audience of large enterprises, they have sales cycles of 6-12 months. Many of their marketers calculate conversion rate on a year basis, meaning that sales that started in Q4 2023, for instance, and didn’t close until Q2 2024, aren’t included in their conversion rate figure. This is a problem of interpretation, not conversion.
If you’re analyzing the data correctly and you actually have a low conversion rate, the reasons are likely too specific to your business to opine on in an overview article like this one. However, conversion issues tend to come down to a (1) lack of understanding what your target audience members genuinely desire from a website like yours or (2) lack of execution on satisfying these desires. Too many websites fall prey to things like:
With our clients, we begin by refining their website’s UI so it’s as accessible and easy to read as possible, highlighting the information the target audience member would want to see first (using plenty of white space around each text or visual element). We then devise a thought leadership content strategy that utilizes the corpus of content organizational technique to establish your website as an authority in Google’s search results for the most transactional keywords in your niche or market. Our goal is to lift conversion rate by .5% – 1% in 6 months.
Once you’ve optimized your web pages for conversion, it makes sense to return to generating new B2B leads for the top of your marketing funnel. This can be accomplished through advertising, but the ROI of thought-leadership based SEO is among the highest of all B2B lead generation strategies. Here are some quick tips with links to longer reads, should the subject be of interest to you:
Overall, increasing conversion rate is a full time job, so unless you have this expertise in house, you may wish to consider working with a firm that understands how to improve conversions for your specific industry. That is what we do at First Page Sage. If you’d like to learn more, feel free to get in touch.
For more information on B2B marketing and conversion rates, see our other reports:
2025-01-03 05:32:34
Last updated: January 2, 2025
Our team recently conducted a meta-analysis to determine the top SEO consultants working in 2025. We used publicly-available data, narrowing experts down into categories that correlate with SEO expertise: years of SEO experience, # of SEO books written, # of SEO keynotes given, and social media followers. We also considered each consultant’s client portfolio.
Below are the 8 top-ranking SEO consultants in our dataset. In the table below, we included all the data we uncovered as well as a link to their blog.
| Name | # Years Experience | SEO Books | SEO Keynotes | Social Media Followers | Specialty | Active SEO Blog? | |
| 1 | Evan Bailyn | 18 | 3 | ~280 | ~149,000 | Thought Leadership Content & SEO | Yes |
| 2 | Rand Fishkin | 18 | 3 | ~190 | ~465,000 | SEO Tools | Yes |
| 3 | Dana DiTomaso | 20 | 0 | ~200 | ~12,000 | Brand Uniformity | Yes |
| 4 | Neil Patel | 16 | 2 | ~80 | ~1,500,000 | SEO Analytics | Yes |
| 5 | AJ Ghergich | 17 | 0 | ~15 | ~102,000 | Technical SEO | No |
| 6 | Marie Hines | 11 | 2 | ~30 | ~32,000 | Backlinking | Yes |
| 7 | Robert Rose | 15 | 2 | ~300 | ~40,000 | Storytelling | No |
| 8 | Barry Schwartz | 17 | 0 | ~60 | ~147,000 | Google Algorithm, Web Design | Yes |
Evan is the founder and CEO of First Page Sage, the top SEO firm in the US. He is a recognized leader in the industry and highly sought after for consulting engagements and keynote speeches. Evan’s approach centers on SEO strategy and long-term lead generation, and he has also pioneered the field of Generative Engine Optimization, demonstrating the continued need for SEO in the age of AI.
For more info or to contact (through First Page Sage).
| Summary of Online Reviews |
| Evan’s consulting style prioritizes “a deep strategic analysis” of keywords, site layout, and conversion content. He is a “master of understanding how to create content that ranks #1”, which is particularly useful in today’s age of generative AI. |
Rand is another familiar voice in the digital marketing industry. He helped found Moz in 2004 and now heads Sparktoro which creates SEO tools to aid companies in identifying and connecting with their target audience. He is an accomplished author and is available for speaking as well as consulting.
| Summary of Online Reviews |
| Rand is “fun and engaging” and gives “insightful” advice, drawing on his “deep” knowledge of SEO. |
Dana’s approach to SEO focuses on the importance of knowing your audience. She emphasizes using market research, the application of digital tools to leverage data and establishing brand uniformity. She is available for consulting, GA4 workshops, and speaking.
| Summary of Online Reviews |
| Dana is “engaging, funny, and informative“, as well as a “consummate professional“. Her consulting style is “top quality, thorough, and grounded in immense experience“. |
Neil is best known for providing advice and insight on SEO content marketing on his blog. As the founder of Crazy Egg and Kissmetrics, he often stresses the importance of good analytics tools. He has also authored two books and is available for consulting.
| Summary of Online Reviews |
| Neil delivers “actionable advice on both technical and on-page SEO”, leading to a “rewarding and positive experience” for his clients. |
AJ is VP Consulting Services at Botify, an SEO platform that combines SEO analytics with machine learning to help enterprises better optimize large websites. Prior to Botify, he was Chief Digital Officer at Brado, where he focused on the role of content in digital marketing strategy.
For more info or to contact (through Botify).
| Summary of Online Reviews |
| AJ Ghergich is a “proactive, accessible” consultant who provides thought provoking conversations” about SEO. |
Dr. Marie Haynes is both an author and consultant. She heads a team of SEO professionals at Marie Haynes Consulting and consistently creates content that covers how to build links, improve reader time on-page and understanding Google algorithms. Dr. Haynes is an expert in backlink audits and is a regular speaker at SEO conferences.
| Summary of Online Reviews |
| Marie Haynes is “completely obsessed with trying to understand how Google assesses quality” which leads her to conduct “detailed website review containing a range of practical solutions” for various client types. |
Robert’s approach to SEO and content marketing emphasizes engaging and educating the audience through storytelling. He has published two books on content strategy and is the founder of The Content Advisory.
| Summary of Online Reviews |
| Robert’s “deep marketing expertise“ leads to “transformational experiences” that guide companies to “think differently“ about SEO. |
Barry leads web development company RustyBrick. He’s best known for his work reporting on SEO news via Search Engine Land and on social media. He also founded the Search Engine Roundtable which provides news about SEO and the content marketing industry.
For more info or to contact (through RustyBrick).
| Summary of Online Reviews |
| Barry is someone with “their pulse on the Search Engine Industry,” which has made them “one of the leading voices in the SEO industry globally.” |
Our team has also compiled lists of the top SEO consultants for 4 different industries. Their results are shared below.
| The Top SaaS SEO Consultants of 2025 | ||
| # | Name | Clients |
| 1 | Evan Bailyn | Salesforce, Equinix, US Bank, Verisign |
| 2 | AJ Ghergich | Github, Owler |
| 3 | Aleyda Solis | Krisp, Turo |
| 4 | Jono Alderson | Microsoft |
| The Top Healthcare SEO Consultants of 2025 | ||
| # | Name | Clients |
| 1 | Barry Schwartz | Alternative to Meds Center, CPR Certified |
| 2 | Evan Bailyn | Dignity Health, City of Hope, Institute on Aging |
| 3 | Pete Meyers | N/A |
| 4 | Cyrus Shepard | N/A |
| The Top Real Estate SEO Consultants of 2025 | ||
| # | Name | Clients |
| 1 | Evan Bailyn | Corcoran, Apollo Group, We Buy Ugly Houses |
| 2 | Pete Meyers | N/A |
| 3 | Aleyda Solis | Sniffspot |
| 4 | Cyrus Shepard | N/A |
| The Top Financial SEO Consultants of 2025 | ||
| # | Name | Clients |
| 1 | Barry Schwartz | FM Home Loans, Collectibles Exchange |
| 2 | Evan Bailyn | US Bank, Capital One, SoFi |
| 3 | Aledya Solis | Trade Republic |
| 4 | Jono Alderson | N/A |
2025-01-03 04:09:26
Last updated: January 2, 2025
Our team has compiled a listing of the top B2B content marketing agencies of 2025, and ranked them based on the following 7 factors:
Our findings are presented in the table below.
| Rank | Company | Established | Founder Led | Leadership Experience Score | Average Review Score | Median Employee Tenure | Media References | Notable Clients | Approach to Content Marketing |
| 1 | First Page Sage | 2009 | Yes | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.3 years | ~600 | Salesforce, LinkedIn, Cadence Design Systems | Combining thought leadership content & SEO for high-ROI lead generation |
| 2 | AMP Agency | 1995 | No | 4.5 | 4.6 | 2.8 years | ~200 | Amazon, Southwest Airlines, LinkedIn | Video-focused content marketing |
| 3 | REQ | 2008 | No | 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.7 years | ~220 | Mastercard, Johnson & Johnson, Waymo | Content marketing for brand awareness & demand generation |
| 4 | Viral Nation | 2014 | Yes | 4.3 | 4.5 | 1.5 years | ~250 | Coca Cola, Disney, Anheuser Busch | Combining influencer marketing with content marketing |
| 5 | Sociallyin | 2011 | Yes | 4.2 | 4.5 | 2.8 years | ~50 | TGI Fridays, Edible Arrangements, Dicks Sporting Goods | Social media content marketing |
| 6 | Contently | 2010 | No | 4.0 | 4.3 | 4.9 years | ~4,000 | Dell Technologies, Marriot, RBC | Content marketing distribution and analytics |
| 7 | Metric Theory | 2012 | Yes | 3.5 | 4.0 | 3.2 years | ~120 | Zenefits, GoFundMe, Carvana | Content-based paid social media marketing |
| 8 | Power Digital Marketing | 2012 | Yes | 3.3 | 3.9 | 1.3 years | ~370 | AirBNB, MyFitnessPal, DropBox | Data analytics for content marketing |
First Page Sage specializes in creating ghostwritten thought leadership for their clients, emphasizing content quality in order to earn high rankings on Google. They have an in-depth discovery process in which they build customer personas and refine their clients’ value propositions. They excel at working with companies that operate in complex industries such as medical devices, fintech, and B2B SaaS.
| Summary of Online Reviews |
| First Page Sage’s content is “head and shoulders” above other content marketing agencies because of their “fixation“ on creating “content worthy of a #1 ranking” and heavy focus on ROI; however, clients that are in a hurry “will have to be patient” as First Page Sage’s attention to detail takes time. |
AMP Agency offers a wide range of digital marketing services, with their content marketing prioritizing video. They specialize in building video-first online campaigns for consumer brands, combining their video content production expertise with PR and experience design.
| Summary of Online Reviews |
| AMP is “collaborative and brings new ideas to the table.” Their in-house talent allows the agency “to change plans at a moment’s notice” which whether it be “timing, tactic, or budget”. |
REQ thrives when creating and growing brand awareness. They use content marketing to attract organic and paid traffic by leveraging a well-managed online reputation, which includes public relations and targeted social media and SEO.
| Summary of Online Reviews |
| REQ teams are “very organized and responsive.” REQ has a reputation of being “good at picking up the ball and running with it”; however, they “could improve the speed of creative ideas.” |
Viral Nation combines influencer marketing with a robust content program. They work with high profile experts to promote brand awareness for their clients, helping them to connect with wider audiences on social media platforms.
| Summary of Online Reviews |
| Delivering project “success that exceeded our expectations” is a common theme from clients who consider the company as problem solvers that listen to client concerns and then devise “the plan and the best way to achieve my goals.” |
Sociallyin strives to use social media and personalized content to connect with their clients’ target audiences. Their strategies are backed up by a strong foundation of statistics and data analysis. In addition to their social media and content marketing services, they also offer community management, social selling, and influencer marketing for their clients.
| Summary of Online Reviews |
| Sociallyin is known for being “flexible and open” to their client’s ideas and “isn’t just one-sided and understands other dynamics“. They have also impressed clients with their commitment to working toward defined goals “no matter how much time it takes to do it.” |
Contently offers a software platform that generates story ideas and content type recommendations for clients, helping short-staffed teams increase content production efficiency. Additionally, Contently also offers a platform that can connect companies with freelance writers.
| Summary of Online Reviews |
| Companies use Contently “to contract creative writers and designers to generate content” for in-house teams, which saves marketing departments “significant time and effort” and the agency “delivers good value for the price.” |
Metric Theory works best with B2B companies that want to see rapid returns on their marketing spend, and are comfortable paying for it. They make heavy use of paid marketing channels such as PPC and paid social to drive short-term growth, leading to faster results than other content marketing companies but lower ROI.
| Summary of Online Reviews |
| Metric Theory is “very accessible” and responsive, moving “quickly if clients have questions or concerns“. |
Power Digital Marketing utilizes a proprietary data analysis tool to develop and track custom content marketing strategies for their clients. Their platform employs machine learning to continually improve campaign decisions, and work best with clients who have well understood audiences.
| Summary of Online Reviews |
| In addition to their custom campaign strategy development process, “they’re very good at implementing strategies.” The company is also good at seeing “the bigger picture” and identifying “improvement opportunities.” |
2025-01-03 03:37:34
The following report rank-orders the top M&A consulting firms in the US based on data collected by our research team between August 2022 and January 2025. For this report, we focused on firms that offer M&A services to small to mid-sized private businesses, ranging from $5M – $200M in revenue.
Our criteria for the rankings were as follows:
The firms were given raw scores in each of these categories and subsequently our team normalized the dataset.
In the table below, we include each firm’s EBITDA range for the clients they represent as well as their specialty.
| # | M&A Consulting Firm | Total Annual Deals (Estimated) | Principal Experience Scores | Notable Rankings & Awards | EBITDA Range | Specialty |
| 1 | PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) | 300-400 | 5.0 | Best M&A Management by China Merge and Acquisition Association | $50M+ | M&A advisory for large public & private companies |
| 2 | Intrepid | 15-25 | 4.5 | #9 in Asia Pacific M&A Advisory League Tables | $5-50M | Sell-side advisory for consumer goods and beauty products |
| 3 | Houlihan Lokey | 500-600 | 4.5 | Boutique M&A Financial Advisor of the Year, Mergermarket Japan M&A Awards | $30-50M | Buy/sell–side advisory for Japanese M&A and upper mid-market companies |
| 4 | BMI | 5-10 | 4.0 | #17 in Canada’s Top Investment Banks | $10-100M | Sell-side advisory construction specialists |
| 5 | Clairfield | 100+ | 4.0 | #1 in M&A Mexico Transaction Volume (2020) | $5-30M | Cross-border advisory for Mexican M&A |
| 6 | Maine Pointe | 25-50 | 3.5 | #1 in “Top Supply Chain Consulting Firms in the US” by consulting.us | $10-40M | Strategic growth advisory for supply chain and logistics |
| 7 | Troutman Pepper | 150-200 | 3.5 | Outstanding M&A Advisory Firm from M&A Atlas Awards | $1-15M | Buy/sell-side advisory for corporate governance and securities firms |
In the following analysis, we present an overview of each M&A consulting firm above, based on our research.
PWC’s M&A division utilizes the size and scope of PWC in order to provide “tailored deals” directed towards the client. Their teams provide advisory services for every stage of the M&A deal process (e.g. strategy, due diligence, valuation, financing) They primarily focus on cross-border services for companies conducting international transactions.
PWC’s teams are trained to handle deals involving extensive legal obstacles, making them a good fit for companies going public for the first time needing to manage SEC regulations.
Intrepid specializes in various consumer goods (e.g. toys, food, healthcare products) for which they conduct deal types like tender offers, consolidations, and stock purchases. Recent transaction data from the last several years suggests a special interest in companies in the Asia Pacific beauty market; a sector in which they have made several notable deals resulting in institutional recognition.
Intrepid’s early involvement in this now-booming sector suggests a research team capable of intensive valuation practices, identifying areas of opportunity in industries and prospective clients early on in the deal process.
One of the larger firms on this list, Houlihan Lokey utilizes a large team of professionals to represent companies of varying sizes across diverse industries and subsectors. In addition to M&A consulting services, the firm also provides funding and growth strategies for clients seeking to maximize their earnout over a longer deal period. This is exemplified by the complex deal types listed among their online transaction histories, including board advisory and capital raising.
Historically, Houlihan Lokey specializes in the consumer industry, however, their recent deal history suggests a special interest in Japanese M&A, prioritizing companies within this sphere.
Providing M&A consulting services as an addition to a larger fundraising catalog, the investment banking services provided by BMI make them a good fit for clients requiring growth prior to a sale. The scope of services offered also makes them ideal for companies navigating SEC regulations while going public. Because of these specialties, BMI’s transaction history is filled with deals managed on behalf of larger companies with a greater number of assets and considerations.
According to their website, BMI specializes in companies within construction, particularly interior design and architecture firms.
Clairfield works primarily on cross-border M&A. In recent years, their transaction history (as well as their awards) indicate a preference for working with Mexican companies as they navigate complex LBO and MBO deals, including client valuations and joint ventures. While many M&A consulting firms specialize in only sell-side activity, the teams at Clairfield also work with clients in buy-side M&A.
Although Clairfield tends to work with companies squarely in the middle market, the lower ends of their transaction history would suggest a lesser emphasis on smaller, likely family-owned companies.
Maine Pointe specializes in global supply chain M&A, working with companies in mining and raw materials as well as transportation and logistics. Primarily working with a close network of private equity firms as their main buyers, the teams at Maine Pointe prioritize a longer deal duration with growth advisory strategies for owners to grow their business prior to an eventual acquisition.
The M&A teams at Maine Pointe also provide post-transaction services to facilitate management team implementation and personnel transitions.
Working primarily with buyers in the world of corporate governance, Troutman Pepper manages buy-side interactions such as joint ventures, corporate divestitures, and strategic alliances. The firm highlights their “deal-specific” approach to transactions. Based on their transaction history, these deals include unsolicited acquisition attempts, including hostile takeovers and proxy contests, making them an ideal firm to work with for aggressive buyers looking to expand their presence within their industry.
2025-01-03 03:32:09
Last Updated: January 2, 2025
Our analysts collected data on the top boutique M&A firms operating in 2025 and rank ordered them based on a variety of factors. We define a boutique M&A firm as having a) fewer than 50 employees and/or b) a specialization in a specific industry or niche.
There were ~100 firms that qualified for this list. We assessed them based on three criteria determined by our preliminary research, which we then weighted as shown below, then narrowed down to the 7 that had the highest total score. (Sources) Our criteria entails:
| # | Name | EBITDA Range | Total Annual Deals | Principal Experience Score | Notable Awards & Rankings | Industries & Specialties |
| 1 | Intrepid | $5-50M | 10-20 | 4.5 | #9 in Asia Pacific M&A Advisory League Tables | Beauty & Personal Care |
| 2 | Perella Weinberg Partners | $5-40M | 45-55 | 4.5 | Top Financial Advisor for Financial Services Deals in Merger Markets Middle Eastern M&A Awards | Consumer & Retail, Energy Technology, and Healthcare |
| 3 | Loeb & Loeb LLP | $10-40M | 60-80 | 3.5 | #2 in top legal advisors to DeSPAC deals in North America | Media & Entertainment |
| 4 | Clairfield | $5-30M | 100+ | 4.0 | #1 in M&A Mexico transaction volume in 2020 | International M&A and Buy- and Sell-Side Advisory for Mexican M&A |
| 5 | Financo | $5-20M | 15-25 | 4.5 | N/A | Retail, eCommerce, Consumer Services |
| 6 | Woodbridge International | $1-10M | 20-40 | 4.0 | Most Active Intermediary Firm of 2007 | Forestry, Manufacturing, and Transportation |
| 7 | La Piana | $500K – $1M | 1-10 | 3.5 | N/A | Nonprofits, Foundations, and Social Enterprises |
The following sections outline each of the boutique M&A firms above, including a brief synopsis of the firm, additional services they might offer, as well as an analysis of who might make ideal clients for them.
One of the larger companies on this list, Intrepid has made much of its successes by cornering the Asian-Pacific beauty market. Because of the expected growth of this sector (CAGR of 4.64%), Intrepid has strategically positioned themselves to be in a power position within a remarkably profitable industry. Their services target both sell-side and buy-side clients, specializing in liquidy transactions including minority sales, majority recapitalization, and full sale transactions working with PE firms or strategic acquirers.
Although they specialize in beauty and cosmetics, Intrepid also services consumer industries including food, toys, and healthcare. Their specialization with Asian-pacific companies would also correlate clients requiring an advisor with working knowledge of that market.
Perella Weinberg Partners works primarily within consumer industries such as retail, food, beverage, alcohol, and personal care products. Their services focus primarily on sell-side advisory, assisting clients negotiate the pitfalls of company sales, corporate divestitures, carve-outs, and spin offs. Their experience also stems into the energy sector, where they work with renewable energy companies to oil field services, demonstrating the firm’s ability to master a wide variety of client needs.
Perella Weinberg Partners is an M&A advisory firm that doubles as an investment bank, which makes them ideal partners for larger companies requiring assistance working through SEC regulations as well as public companies having to deal with formal broker-dealer licensing.
Loeb & Loeb LLP provides clients with buy side and sell side services specializing in strategic legal advisory. They utilize this specialty to navigate complex negotiations, including corporate takeovers, roll-ups, and stock purchases. In addition, they offer a variety of related services for clients to take advantage of, including corporate governance, brand protection, and cross-border discovery.
Loeb & Loeb LLP targets companies in advertising, media, and entertainment.
Focusing primarily on mid market deals, Clairfield specializes in sell-side advisory, including searching for buyers and sponsors, executing LBO and MBO deals, joint ventures, and client valuations. Since their founding in 2004, they have used this skillset to negotiate deals both domestically and internationally, closing several notable cross-border deals over the last several years. Buy side prospects will also find a capable partner in Clairfield, including acquisition strategy development and seller valuations.
Clairfield’s specialization in international M&A, particularly their exceptional work in Mexican M&A over 2020, makes them an ideal fit for clients in this market. They also represent family businesses or those in need of debt capital advising.
Financo is a boutique sell-side and buy-side M&A advisor focusing predominantly on the consumer goods sector. Their status as a “boutique” firm is somewhat questionable; they partnered with Raymond James in 2021, which has greatly increased their ability to offer clients access to capital raising and strategic advisory. Despite these resources, however, the firm remains lean; online profile put their total employees at around 20-30 people.
As such, Financo is a great option for business owners seeking to grow their business for a few years prior to a sale while maintaining contact with a relatively small team.
Woodbridge International has worked in M&A for three decades, specializing in sell side engagements for various industries pertaining to the outdoors. In addition to direct advisory services, they also offer “management training,” which provides sellers with workshop experience for how to go about selling their companies on their own, should they decide to move forward without the aid of a firm.
Sellers who work with their specialists, however, will find experienced advisors with experience in restoration, forestry, and waste management.
La Piana not only specializes in non-profit M&A; they are the reason it exists at all. By taking the blueprint of the practice (then known as strategic restructuring) La Piana created a framework by which charitable organizations and foundations can buy and sell businesses without losing the often complex nuances of working within the social sector. They assist clients in undertaking strategic alliances, restructuring, and inter-organizational collaborations in order to
Because this particular niche is especially uncommon, their services are in especially high demand within that sector. Charitable organizations, foundations, or title holding trust corporations are likely to find a great deal of expertise within La Piana’s staff.