Do you build custom tools for every client?

No. Most growth problems are solved with tools that already exist. We build only when the off-the-shelf option doesn't fit the problem — and when the build pays for itself.

When should we build versus buy?

Buy by default. Build when the tool you need doesn't exist, when an integration is missing, or when your data lives in a shape no dashboard can read. The test is simple — will the build compound, or is it a one-off?

You do. The tools we build for you are yours — the source, the data, and the accounts. The method is what we reuse; the implementation belongs to you.

Can you build on Shopify, Airtable, or our existing stack?

Yes. We've built on Shopify, Airtable, and custom React/TypeScript apps, and we integrate with external APIs like the U.S. Census. We build on the stack you already run rather than forcing a migration you don't need.

Is this separate from our marketing engagement?

No. We ship tooling as part of the engagement, not as a walled-off software project. The build serves the campaign — that's the point.

Jump sections

Custom Marketing Tooling

We build the tool the problem needs.

The campaign is the visible layer. The infrastructure underneath — the tracking, the data, the integrations, the apps — is what makes growth compound. We build that layer. Then we operate it.

Book a call

Most agencies run campaigns. We build the software underneath them.

Most agencies are boxed in by whatever levers a SaaS dashboard already gives them. When the problem doesn't fit an off-the-shelf tool, they work around it. We build the missing piece — the integration, the decision tool, the clean re-platform. We call it marketing engineering: building the software a growth problem actually needs.

That's the moat, and it's also a buying signal. A brand that needs a custom integration or a data-backed decision tool doesn't want a deck. It wants something built — and almost no marketing agency can build it.

The judgment that matters is build versus buy. Most of the time, you buy. Knowing the few times you should build — and being able to — is the core of our growth-engineering method.

Booking-intelligence tool

Scored markets for 150+ events a year using Census data + custom scoring.

Re-platforming pipeline

Magento to Shopify — 99.96% success, zero ranking equity lost.

Portfolio command center

Runs Lightdrop's own client ops on the same stack we build for clients.

What we've built

Three tools shipped because the problem needed one.

Geographic Booking-Intelligence Tool

A live-events operator running 150+ events a year across multiple states was choosing markets on instinct. We built a tool that pulled U.S. Census demographic data through an API, scored candidate locations against existing coverage, and surfaced where and when to schedule for the best return.

AirtableU.S. Census APICustom Market Scoring

Outcome

Replaced gut-feel scheduling with a data model across 150+ annual events.

Geographic Booking-Intelligence Tool

AirtableU.S. Census APICustom Market Scoring

Outcome

Replaced gut-feel scheduling with a data model across 150+ annual events.

Zero-Loss Re-platforming Pipeline

A specialty e-commerce retailer needed off legacy Magento and onto Shopify without losing catalog or search equity. We built a custom extraction-and-import pipeline — SQL dump to scripted CSV extraction to bulk import — that moved the whole store cleanly.

SQL ExtractionScripted ImportRedirect Mapping

Outcome

99.96%migration success

38,708URL redirects mapped

277collections rebuilt automatically

Zero-Loss Re-platforming Pipeline

SQL ExtractionScripted ImportRedirect Mapping

Outcome

99.96%migration success

38,708URL redirects mapped

277collections rebuilt automatically

Internal Portfolio Command Center

We built our own dashboard to run our client portfolio — on the same React and TypeScript stack we deploy for clients.

ReactViteTypeScript

Outcome

We hold ourselves to the standard we sell. We build the infrastructure we'd build for you.

Internal Portfolio Command Center

We built our own dashboard to run our client portfolio — on the same React and TypeScript stack we deploy for clients.

ReactViteTypeScript

Outcome

We hold ourselves to the standard we sell. We build the infrastructure we'd build for you.

The numbers

Four data points from a full re-platform and a market model informed by 150+ live events a year.

99.96%

Magento → Shopify with near-zero data loss

38,708

URL redirects mapped — SEO equity preserved

277

Smart collections rebuilt automatically

150+

Live events a year, modeled for market selection

Custom tooling rarely ships alone. It plugs into the rest of the engagement — e-commerce growth, B2B marketing, and crowdfunding marketing.

Questionsbuyersask

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I've worked with Lightdrop on multiple projects over the last 5 years and am always amazed with the level of strategy, guidance and execution they bring to the table. Lior and his team are masters in digital and brand marketing.