Quick answer
Frontal handles go-to-market (GTM) execution for B2B tech companies, with operators running outbound, account-based marketing, paid media, content engineering, and revenue operations (RevOps) from one shared account list in your CRM and Clay. The Kiln focuses on GTM engineering, building Clay-based outbound automation, lead enrichment, and RevOps workflows for growth-stage and enterprise teams.
Methodology
Where Our Frontal and The Kiln Facts Come From
If Clay is already part of your stack, you know it can do a lot and you also know it doesn’t run itself. Choosing between Frontal and The Kiln mostly comes down to how much of that running you want off your plate, so we looked at what each partner builds and what it keeps doing after launch.
Everything about The Kiln comes from its own site, its Clay partner directory profile, and other public sources, while our side draws on Frontal’s service descriptions and case studies. We reviewed both in October 2026.
We’re one of the two agencies on the table, so weigh our framing with that in mind. Any claim we make about our own work is tied to a named client result.
[ At a glance ]
Frontal and The Kiln Side by Side
| Criteria | Frontal | The Kiln |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Go-to-market partner that joins your team, runs campaigns across channels on top of your Clay setup, and owns the reporting. | GTM engineering agency that designs and builds the Clay, data, and automation layer behind your outbound and inbound. |
| Built for | B2B tech companies with proven demand and a focused set of target accounts, often already on HubSpot, Salesforce, or Clay. | Growth-stage (Series B to C) and mid-market or enterprise teams that already run their own outbound or marketing motion. |
| Services | Signal-based outbound, account-based marketing, paid media, content engineering, and RevOps, all working one list. | GTM tech architecture, total addressable market (TAM) mapping, lead enrichment, automated outbound systems, lead qualification, and RevOps workflows. |
| After Launch | We stay on, running the campaigns and passing qualified conversations to your reps. | Builds the systems your team runs on, with outreach and deliverability among its listed services. |
Frontal and The Kiln in Brief
Frontal
Frontal is the go-to-market team B2B tech companies bring in when Clay is set up and pipeline still isn’t where it needs to be. Our operators run signal-based outbound, account-based marketing, paid media, content, and RevOps from one account list, so every channel speaks to the same buyers.
That list lives in your CRM, so the account your reps call this week is the same one seeing your ads. We stay on after launch and keep tuning whatever isn’t converting for as long as we run it.
- Tools we build with
- ClayHubSpotSalesforceSmartleadInstantlyHeyReach
- Partner status
- Clay Elite Studio PartnerHubSpot Solutions PartnerSalesforce PartnerLinkedIn Ads CertifiedGoogle Partner
The Kiln
The Kiln works on the engineering side of go-to-market, building the data and automation systems a sales team runs on. It joined 2X, a marketing-as-a-service firm, through an acquisition in January 2026 and kept its own name.
Most of its work happens in Clay, connected to your existing CRM, and covers GTM tech architecture, TAM mapping, lead enrichment, automated outbound systems, and RevOps workflows. Its marketing work covers paid ad audience building, and content production doesn’t appear among its services.
- Tools they build with
- ClaySmartleadInstantlyHeyReachApollo
- Partner status
- Clay Elite Studio Partner
[ Coverage ]
How Much of Your Go-To-Market Each Partner Covers
Most of the difference between Frontal and The Kiln shows up once the build is done. We run the campaigns that use it across outbound, ads, and content, while The Kiln’s published services stay focused on the architecture, enrichment, and automation underneath.
If you’re still sorting software from managed services, our best AI lead generation services article splits the two.
| GTM Work | Frontal | The Kiln |
|---|---|---|
| Outbound (email and LinkedIn) | Yes. Our operators run signal-based campaigns from your own sending accounts on both channels. | Yes. Automated outbound across email and LinkedIn, built in Clay and aimed at the accounts its enrichment surfaces. |
| Account-based marketing | Yes. Coordinated programs across outbound, ads, and content. | Not listed. |
| Paid media | Yes. LinkedIn and Google ads aimed at your target accounts. | Builds paid ad audiences from your data. Running the campaigns isn’t listed. |
| Content engineering | Yes. Founder and team content that warms the same accounts. | Not listed. |
| Inbound lead enrichment | Yes, as part of RevOps. | Yes. Listed as a core service, with account scoring for incoming leads. |
| RevOps | Yes. CRM data, routing, reporting, and attribution. | Yes. TAM mapping, data cleanup, and workflow automation across your CRM and Clay. |
| Reply handling | Yes. Our team reads every reply, separates real interest from noise, and routes the interested ones to your reps. | Not listed. Its published scope covers the systems behind outbound and inbound. |
You can start small with us. Clients often begin with one service aimed at their most pressing gap, and when they’re ready to add another, it picks up the same account list instead of starting over.
$7.83M in qualified pipeline in 10 months for AirOps, with $1.52M already closed won, from our outbound, ABM, and paid media running side by side.
[ Key differences ]
Where Frontal Goes Further Than The Kiln
Both companies build in Clay, and neither publishes a meeting guarantee. Past that, the difference comes down to how much of your go-to-market work each one takes on.
Channels That Reach the Same Accounts
Frontal
Email and LinkedIn carry the direct outreach, and our paid media and content keep your brand in front of those same accounts between touches. Your reps end up opening conversations with people who’ve already seen you around.
The Kiln
The Kiln builds and automates outbound in Clay, aimed at the accounts its enrichment surfaces. Its marketing work stops at building paid ad audiences, and content isn’t among its listed services, so running ads and producing content need their own owner.
Who Owns the Data Layer
Frontal
We treat your CRM as the place every channel reports back to. Clean records and routing rules get each lead to the right rep fast, and attribution shows which part of the campaign actually moved the account.
The Kiln
The Kiln puts most of its weight here, with TAM mapping, enrichment, and workflow automation across your CRM and Clay listed as core services.
The Stage You Need to Be At
Frontal
We don’t set a funding-stage cutoff. We do our best work with B2B tech teams that have proven demand and tools like HubSpot, Salesforce, or Clay that aren’t pulling their weight.
The Kiln
Its stated focus is Series B to C and mid-market or enterprise companies, where a sales and marketing team is usually already in place.
Who Runs Your Account Day to Day
Frontal
An engagement manager runs your account and is your day-to-day contact, while our operators build and run the work inside your CRM and tools. You keep the sales conversations and the call on who to target.
The Kiln
The Kiln runs custom projects through GTM engineers who each take on only a few clients at a time. That focus helps the build, but can also limit how many hands are on your account once the work needs to run across more channels.
What It Costs to Get Started
Frontal
We price around the services you actually bring us in for and the tools you already pay for, so a team starting with outbound alone isn’t paying for ads or content it hasn’t asked for. The number is set on the first call, once we’ve seen what’s in place.
The Kiln
According to its Clay partner profile as of October 2026, The Kiln starts at $10K a month and asks for at least three months, so plan on $30K or more before the work wraps.
Nine months into working with us, Teikametrics had over $300K in new pipeline and had cut more than 100 hours of manual work a month, according to former Chief Revenue Officer Ben Rey.
[ Which fits ]
Frontal vs Kiln: Matching the Partner to Your Gap
If your campaigns are already running and the plumbing behind them needs work, the answer looks different than if nobody on your team has time to run campaigns at all. Weigh each scenario against where you are today.
| Your Situation | Frontal | The Kiln |
|---|---|---|
| Nobody on your team has time to run campaigns | Our operators run them inside your tools, and an engagement manager stays your day-to-day contact. | Its work centers on building the systems, and its site doesn’t say who runs the campaigns once they’re live. |
| Your ads and outbound are aimed at different lists | We plan and run ads against the same account list your outbound is working. | Builds paid ad audiences from your data. Running the ads isn’t among its listed services. |
| Your Clay tables are messy and nobody trusts the data | Our RevOps work cleans the CRM and rebuilds the Clay setup your channels run on. | A core strength, with CRM cleaning, enrichment, and account scoring among its listed services. |
| You have proven demand but haven’t reached Series B | We don’t set a funding-stage cutoff. Proven demand and a clear gap in execution are what we look for. | Its Clay partner profile names post Series B to enterprise teams as its best fit, as of October 2026. |
| You want to start soon or add scope as you go | Start with one service and bring in the next around the same accounts when it’s useful. | Engineers keep a small client load, so timing and added scope can depend on availability. |
| You want a one-off Clay build your team will run itself | Not our strongest fit. We’ll build it with your team and document it, but our work is set up around running it with you. | Its strongest fit, with custom projects led by GTM engineers who know Clay. |
Teams We’re Not Built For
We know Frontal is not a match for every team. So we’d hold off on working together if your product hasn’t found steady demand yet, since there’s nothing for the channels to build on. The same goes if you’re after a guaranteed number of meetings, because the only way an agency can promise that is by sending more volume to less relevant accounts.
A one-time Clay build your team takes over from day one isn’t the best use of your budget with us either, and neither is a data subscription with nobody running it. For volume-first meeting setting, our lead generation roundup covers services built around that, and we’ll say so if it comes up on the call.
[ The real questions ]
Frontal vs The Kiln FAQs
Do Frontal and The Kiln Use the Same Tools?
Largely, yes. Both build in Clay and send through Smartlead, Instantly, and HeyReach, so moving from one to the other rarely means replacing your stack.
Does Frontal or The Kiln Run Cold Calls?
Cold calling isn’t one of our services, but we build the account lists and buying signals that help your reps’ calls land. The Kiln doesn’t list calling either, and its meeting prep and research tools are aimed at supporting sales teams that do.
Are Frontal and The Kiln Both Clay Elite Studio Partners?
Yes. Clay’s partner directory lists both Frontal and The Kiln as Elite Studio partners. Where they differ is in what each one runs once the Clay work is done.
What If Buying Signals Are Thin in Our Industry?
It happens in some markets, and we’ll tell you during scoping, before you’ve committed to anything. From there, we build around the signals that do exist and the account fit your past wins point to.
Can We See the Work Frontal Does Inside Our Tools?
Yes. Account lists, campaign copy, and reports sit in your own CRM and tools, so you can check them at any time, and we review progress with you against milestones agreed before the work starts.
Can Frontal Take Over a Clay Setup Another Agency Built?
Yes. We work inside your own Clay account and CRM, so we start by reviewing what’s already there and keep what’s working before rebuilding anything.
