Mike Mothner

FOUNDER & CEO

Team

A man stands on stage giving a presentation at the Wpromote Challenger Summit, with a floral arrangement and a vintage airplane graphic in the background.

Ahead Of The Curve

An entrepreneur from childhood with a constant drive for success, Mike Mothner started his first company in middle school, wrote his first piece of commercial software in high school, and entered into the domain name and web design business all before age 20.

Three men sit on a red couch against a wall with business-themed graphics; two are reading magazines and one is smiling at the camera.

Wpromote’s Humble Beginnings

While attending Dartmouth College in 2001, Mike recognized the need for a greater digital visibility for all businesses. Wpromote was born out of Mike’s Dartmouth College dorm room in 2001 as a way to help companies garner and increase their online presence through online advertising.

After narrowly avoiding the pull to investment banking and graduating with a degree in Economics and Computer Science in 2003, Mike returned to his hometown in Los Angeles to grow Wpromote. After recruiting two childhood friends to join the Wpromote team (who remain the COO and CRO and, ironically enough, are both named Mike), the three men began expanding.

Challenging The Status Quo

Since his dorm room days, Wpromote evolved from a search engine marketing firm, to an innovator and disruptor in the agency world. Grounded in performance, Wpromote has continued to be one of the most sought after partners to work with. Wpromote helps companies Think Like A Challenger, driving smarter digital marketing decisions to break through revenue barriers.

Mike deeply values “Making Mondays Suck Less,” his employees who are the foundation of his business, and will always deeply care about the small businesses that are part of the Wpromote family. Although he’s graduated from a dorm room into a 500 person agency across 8 offices in the US, he still deeply cares about the companies he works with and continues to drive meaningful growth for their business.

A man wearing a name badge speaks into a microphone and raises his left arm while standing indoors under a paneled ceiling.
Modern office lobby with a wooden reception desk, a red circular "W" logo on a wood-paneled wall, and "VPMOT E" sign on a green plant wall. Striped overlay effect distorts view.
Two solid circles, one dark maroon on the left and one bright pink on the right, placed side by side on a white background, evoke the balance of full-funnel marketing from awareness to conversion.

2001 | Launch

Providing search engine submission service out of a dorm room at Dartmouth.

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2004 - 2008 | PPC Agency

Driving customer acquisition through ppc for small companies.

Two solid-colored circles, one dark green on the left and one bright green on the right, set against a white background, visually represent the stages of a full-funnel marketing approach.

2008 - 2012 | Search Agency

Delivering integrated PPC & SEO services across diverse client sizes & industries.

Two solid circles side by side on a white background represent full-funnel marketing; the left circle is dark blue, while the right circle is light blue.

2012 - 2016 | Digital Agency

Driving profitable growth through all paid & earned digital channels: PPC, SEO, Social & Email.

Two solid circles, one dark maroon on the left and one bright pink on the right, placed side by side on a white background, evoke the balance of full-funnel marketing from awareness to conversion.

Today | Think Like A Challenger

Leading digital agency focused on Turning Challengers Into Champions with data-driven solutions.

Pioneer In Digital Marketing

Today, Mike is one of the most respected leaders in the tech and online industry. He is a trusted speaker and a regular columnist in Inc. Magazine. In addition, Mike spends a great deal of his time providing thought leadership by giving briefings to Forrester and Gartner, and providing Google and Facebook product and agency feedback.

Mike’s areas of expertise include:

  • Digital Marketing
  • Performance Marketing
  • Paid Media: Seach, Social,
  • Amazon, Programmatic, Display
  • Earned Media: SEO, Content Marketing, Social
  • Performance Creative
Text reads: "The Drum Digital Advertising Awards USA. Most Effective Use of Data" on a plain white background.
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Google Partner Premier 2022 badge with text stating "Winner: Brand Awareness (United States)" on a light gray background.
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The Digiday Awards logo with the text "Best Search Campaign" displayed below it on a white background.
Adweek Fastest Growing Agencies 2023 badge next to text stating "4x Winner Fastest Growing Agencies" on a light background.
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Just Sit Right ThereWe’ll Tell You How We Ended Up With So Many Awards to Share

This here’s a story all about how our teams have earned a Drum Award for our innovative use of data and twice claimed the title of Search Engine Land’s Agency of the Year. Our commitment to pushing the industry forward so we can give our clients the edge while building a better kind of workplace for our employees made Wpromote both Adweek’s Fastest-Growing Digital Agency and a 7x winner of Ad Age’s Best Place to Work.

Check Our Work