Tuscaloosa's GRO Marketing To Merge With OuterBox

TUSCALOOSA, AL — GRO Marketing, a Tuscaloosa-based digital marketing agency that has grown into a national player in the student housing and multifamily sectors, announced a major milestone Friday as the company joins forces with OuterBox.

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GRO Marketing CEO Matt Pavlick said the merger represents a defining moment for the agency, which launched in 2018 as a one-person operation and has since expanded into a 50-employee firm serving hundreds of clients nationwide.

As Patch previously reported, GRO has expanded beyond Tuscaloosa with offices in Detroit and Nashville, earned four Inc. 5000 honors and received multiple Innovator Awards.

Pavlick noted that GRO has recorded seven consecutive years of growth, driven largely by referrals.

"GRO has built a strong reputation for delivering best-in-class digital marketing performance and service across the housing industries we serve," he told Patch on Friday. "Our focus has always been on measurable results, from accelerating lease-ups to driving meaningful ROI for both operators and ownership groups."

He then said partnering with OuterBox, which was named the Best Large Integrated Search Agency at the 2025 U.S. Search Awards, will allow the Tuscaloosa firm to preserve the culture and client-first mindset that define GRO while expanding its capabilities and scale.

"Together, we’re creating a more powerful, performance-driven platform that delivers stronger outcomes and long-term value for our clients," Pavlick said.

OuterBox, led by CEO Jeff Allen, was founded in 2004 and grew to land on the Inc. 500 as one of the top 500 fastest-growing companies in America, along with being ranked among the Inc. 5000 list in 2024.

OuterBox prides itself on helping companies build award-winning websites. It has also secured more than two million page #1 Google rankings and managed more than $50 million in paid search spend.

“Everything you love about GRO, supercharged,” Pavlick said, adding that OuterBox’s focus on performance, transparency and outcomes closely aligns with GRO’s operating philosophy.

Pavlick also thanked long-standing clients for their trust and praised the company’s employees for their role in GRO’s growth and success.

“I’m so proud of you,” he said of the GRO team. “Every one of those moments led us here.”

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