What Is A Monthly Retainer Contract In Digital Marketing?

Monthly retainer contracts for digital marketing? Ah yes, the good ol’ “sign your life away” deal. But fear not, dear reader, for there is a silver lining to this cloud of contracts and commitments!

Think of it like a gym membership – you sign up for it, and sure, you’re locked in for a set amount of time. But, like going to the gym, you’re investing in yourself and your business. Digital marketing is like pumping iron for your online presence – you must work to see the results.

Plus, a monthly retainer contract means you’ll have a team of digital marketing experts on your side, helping you navigate the ever-changing landscape of social media, SEO, PPC, and all the other acronyms that come with it. They’ll handle the strategy, implementation, and tracking, so you can focus on different aspects of your business (like finally trying that new Thai restaurant down the street).

And, let’s face it, the digital marketing world moves faster than a squirrel on a Red Bull. By having a monthly retainer contract, you’ll stay ahead of the game and be able to adapt to changes in real time. You won’t be left behind, wondering what TikTok is and why everyone’s doing the “Renegade” dance.

So, while a monthly retainer contract for digital marketing may seem like a daunting commitment, it’s a smart investment in yourself and your business. Think of it as a personal trainer for your online presence – except you won’t have to do any burpees.

What is a Monthly Retainer Contract?

A monthly retainer is an ongoing contractual agreement where one business dedicates a set number of monthly hours to one specific client at a set rate. Many companies work with outside marketing agencies on a monthly retainer rather than a project-by-project basis.

Why Should You Sign Up For A Monthly Retainer Contract For Digital Marketing Services? 

1. Better relationships

As the duration of an agency’s partnership with a given brand increases, so does the quality of its output for that brand. The agency and client can build trust in one another and learn more about the brand due to the ongoing relationship made possible by a monthly retainer. This deeper comprehension will result in more successful campaigns and a higher return on investment. 

2. Less time researching agencies

Finding the right agency or outside team for your business takes time and effort. Finding an agency that meets all your needs—creating high-quality work, providing clear and timely updates, and charging a fair price—can be challenging. Why would you ever want to leave that magical unicorn of a marketing firm once you’ve found them? Don’t waste time looking for a new agency for your next project; instead, work with the one you’ve been happy with. Put them under a monthly retainer to ensure your continued services.

3. A result-driven rather than task-driven approach

When a company sets up a monthly retainer contract, it typically has some objective in mind. To help you reach your goals, the digital marketing agency can customize its offerings. Rather than focusing on immediate needs, they can shift to a long-term strategy focused on achieving specific goals. They’ll put in hours for your company, but each will be purposeful. 

4. Continuous improvement through analytics and tracking

Digital marketing agencies typically include analytic reports in a monthly retainer contract package. The agency can implement complex tracking for your website and advertising campaigns. Regularly, you will receive in-depth analytical notifications due to this monitoring, which will also be thoroughly explained. The information provided by these reports can help pinpoint problem areas. A solid plan for digital advertising rests on a foundation of constant iteration and enhancement. 

5. Discounts on services when bundled together

For this reason, digital marketing agencies will often reduce their hourly rate for clients who sign up for monthly retainer contracts. It may be more cost-effective to pay a monthly retainer rather than request the same services on an hourly or project basis.

6. Less ‘nickel and diming’

How much will your web host charge you when you need assistance with your website but need a monthly maintenance agreement? Let’s say you need a small tweak to a page or help figuring out how to use a particular feature of the CMS. Do you have to worry about being charged extra if you need assistance? If you pay a retainer fee every month, you won’t have to second-guess making a phone call, even for a minor question or request.

7. Use inbound marketing strategies to their fullest potential

The process of inbound marketing is more like a marathon than a sprint. It would help if you were committed to an approach for a considerable time to see its rewards. Using services on an ongoing and retained basis enables you to maintain control over the management of that plan and move closer to achieving that elusive ROI.

Scope Of Monthly Retainer Contracts

1. Airtight Contract

As a result of their contracts not being airtight, many owners of businesses are forced to deal with the problem of “scope creep.” The necessity of providing a detailed description of the activities to be carried out under the terms of an agency contract is a point that has been brought up repeatedly as a topic for discussion by a variety of industry experts in the course of their efforts to educate the public on how to draught agency contracts effectively. 

You will frequently come up with demands for “minor” improvements. For this reason, it is essential that the monthly retainer contract clearly states a maximum number of modifications that will result in no additional charges being incurred. Then, specify a charge for any updates beyond those original parameters in the first agreement. 

In this kind of monthly retainer contract, you shouldn’t just say “solving bugs” or “testing new features”; instead, you should specify what you mean by phrases like those. All of the language and the sources that are being used ought to have crystal clear definitions. When the client requests anything not included in the scope of work indicated in the contract, it will be much simpler to explain the procedure and negotiate the additional cost with the client.

2. Making Provisions

The monthly retainer contract should be drafted to include provisions that can be put into effect in the event of unforeseen circumstances. What if, for instance, the client assigns more work than the agreed-upon deadline allows? 

Include a clause in your monthly retainer contract specifying how such payments will be determined. Once you sign for a monthly retainer contract, you can ask for a discount on future services. 

And more significantly, what if those hours are wasted due to inefficiency? Consider including a clause that specifies whether the your unused hours will carry over into the following month or be forfeited.

3. Tiers

Increasing the scope of your current agreements will be simple once you have created a retainer proposal with a tiered structure. You may quickly scale up when you wish to by selecting a higher tier from a list of predefined options that correspond to increasing degrees of work and greater rates of remuneration. 

Remember that a retainer proposal is not the same as a retainer agreement. Although changes to the proposal are straightforward, the contract will require more effort. 

Having a lawyer review a tiered retainer contract before signing it will help guarantee that your organization is protected from legal issues.

4. Payment Terms

Set up the payment schedule and terms while drafting the monthly retainer contract with the agency. Although retainer agreements typically call for up-front payments, it’s still vital to specify when and how you’ll be paid. 

Do they plan on charging the your credit card or expect you to make a regular payment instead? It must be paid monthly, or will you pay a one-time annual fee? 

You should clearly state the base rate and note any potential upcharges for extra services. There is no universally accepted format for laying out payment terms; instead, they should be tailored to your specific needs. Consult with your agency before including this clause in your monthly retainer contract.

5. Reports

Keeping your client in the loop is essential. The easiest way to achieve this is to provide in-depth reports detailing your tasks, the time you have invoiced, and your overall progress. 

Doing so demonstrates that you care about the contract and are willing to work for the money every month. On the contrary, it shows that you value your client’s patronage and are prepared to go the extra mile to explain the work you’ve completed for them. 

Having the report emailed to them regularly each month is reassuring, even if the client needs to read it in better detail. There is a strong correlation between your level of professionalism and the length of time your clients remain on contract with you.

6. Re-Evaluation

You must also frequently assess and adjust your approach. If a client has been working with you for a while on a more advanced plan, for instance, you may offer changes to the contract that expands the scope of the job and the associated payment. 

Monitor progress and adjust as needed. Contracts for retained services are not sacrosanct. If adjustments need to be made to work, you can always propose a retainer to the customer. 

Schedule regular check-ins to talk shop with your client about the project. Once per quarter is a good time to sit with your client and solicit feedback while providing expert guidance.

7. Offboarding Strategy

Never give the impression to your customer that terminating the retainer is a hassle. When you sign the monthly retainer, prepare an offboarding plan and discuss it with the client. 

Customers should not worry that canceling their contract would cause any trouble. So, you must develop an effective offboarding strategy that requires little effort and few resources to put into motion. 

It could be problematic if your agency cares about bringing on new customers and doesn’t have a plan for handling those leaving after working with you. 

Few organizations, if any, have a formal offboarding procedure. When finishing up a project for a client, it’s not enough to send an invoice and call it a day. It would be best if you also looked into ways to streamline the workflow and inform them about the value of setting aside a monthly retainer contract.

How Do Digital Marketing Agencies Sell A Monthly Retainer

Digital marketing agencies understand what a retainer is, but how do they sell them? This is done in five easy steps:

1. Get your foot in the door first

Unless you have established rapport with an agency, taking things slowly is best they do. No matter how wealthy you are, it is highly improbable that you will agree to pay a fixed monthly retainer charge for X months without first trying out their services. 

You would only buy something as significant as a car if you took it for a spin first, so why should you go for a contract? 

Customers will better understand what to expect and how well your product or service will meet their needs if you provide a free trial. Also, if they find it valuable, it can increase the likelihood that they will commit to the partnership for the long haul. Companies that provide software as a service (SaaS) sometimes provide free trials in the hopes that consumers would eventually upgrade to paid plans, much as how mobile phone providers provide “free” phones in return for long-term commitments. You must be convinced that your services are worthwhile and that you will reap the greatest benefit from using them consistently monthly. 

• Selling a preliminary discovery call to you to kick off your project is one such alternative taken by the agencies. Promoting a discovery as a paid service is better, yet many agencies give it away for free during the proposal stage. It is much simpler to sell a $500–$3,000 up-front engagement than it is to sell a $5,000–$100,000 project. 
• Discovery meetings are a great approach to get you comfortable working with you on a project before they ask you for a significant time or financial investment. Because they have a better idea of how to fulfill your requirements, they produce a more precise estimate for the project thanks to this procedure. Instead of presenting it as an extra, they emphasize the importance of the discovery phase to you. 
• They can gain your trust and prove their ability to deliver quality work during the discovery session. It’s time to shine, but make sure they don’t come across as aggressive or like their primary purpose is to upsell their services (even if it is). 
• They try to demonstrate to you how you may cut costs by streamlining processes. You are more likely to take their advice in the future if you believe them and genuinely care about helping them rather than making as much money as possible off of them.

2. Sell value, not hourly

Once you have agreed to engage with them, experienced marketing your product, and seen its value, they may shift your billing strategy from an hourly rate to one based on the value they provide. 

An hourly retainer price is problematic since it discourages efficiency and reduces earnings. Every task takes the most time the first time they complete it, but after that, they get faster and better at it with practice. If your wage is based on the number of hours worked, their payment will decrease as their efficiency increases. 

Instead, they focus on selling you the monthly work they’ll do for you and how it will pay off in the long run. One such set of services included in a retainer for website upkeep is as follows:

•     Technical support and bug fixes
•     Phone/email-based help on using CMS (e.g., WordPress) and email management tools (e.g., Mailchimp)
•     Keep WordPress CMS and plugins up-to-date
•     Communicate with the hosting provider regarding email/server issues
•     Minor updates and enhancement to the design/content based on user feedback and testing
•     Monthly analytics reports and recommendations

While an inbound marketing agency may provide these services in a retainer:

•     HubSpot integration and support
•     One blog post/per week
•     Two landing pages/CTAs per month
•     One email campaign/month
•     One top-of-funnel offer (e.g., ebook) per quarter
•     One post on all your social media platforms per day

Your expectations can be managed, and annual goals can be based on the value they deliver if they detail everything the retainer fee covers. 

To convince that you are worth the monthly retainer fee, it is essential to outline the final objective and the specific outcomes you want to produce.

3. Keep your contracts clear and tight

Selling a monthly retainer requires keeping your interests in mind is a great deal. Scope creep an often-overlooked element that can dominate projects and consume excessive time due to a lack of clarity in the contract. 

Ensure you understand what is and is not covered by the retainer to prevent endless requests for “small” adjustments, updates, or changes. If you use nebulous terms like “minor,” then be specific about what you mean by that term; does it indicate anything that can be completed in under three hours? Or a task that can be accomplished in less than 24 hours? 

Similarly, if you refer to “bug fixes,” you should ask them to explain how these differ from new features. For instance, you may state that “a problem refers to the condition where the system is meant to accomplish a function, yet it doesn’t work” in your retainer. Desired or necessary functionality that was left out of the initial design is what we call a “feature.” 

It’s not the end of the world if you make a request that goes beyond the terms of the retainer agreement. It’s important to prepare them for the increased effort by outlining the process. Alter your monthly service plan or create a new work order to accommodate this requirement.  Time-tracking software is recommended regardless of whether or not they bill by the hour.

4. Their worth 

Keeping your excitement up throughout a long working relationship is no easy feat. It’s easy to get caught up in the initial excitement of a new endeavor and forget about the inevitable conflicts and boredom that always arise. 

You can commit to a monthly retainer and renew your contract after the term if they go above and above every month (while still preserving profitability), try to give the value you’ve specified, and show you how much peace of mind they bring.

5. Report on progress

To sell and keep (pun intended) a monthly retainer, they must provide regular updates on their progress. You want to know what you are getting for your money. That way, they can highlight their accomplishments and clarify to you how much value you are getting from working with them on a retainer. 

A marketing consultant’s monthly reports might detail: 

•     Web traffic
•     Social media engagement
•     SEO performance
•     Landing page visits
•     Conversions
•     ebook downloads

If you have agreed upon objectives as part of your employment agreement, monitoring your development toward those objectives is crucial. It’s a plus if you can use a standard against which to measure your progress and performance from one month to the next. Lastly, monthly reports are an excellent tool for seeing the value of the ongoing payments from you.

Template Of Monthly Retainer Contract 

This Monthly Retainer Contract (“Agreement”) is made and entered into on [Effective Date], by and between [Company Name], a [State] corporation with its principal place of business at [Address] (“Service Provider”) and [Client Name], a [State] corporation with its principal place of business at [Address] (“Client”).

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Keyword research and analysis

On-page optimization

Off-page optimization

Link building

Local SEO

2. Pay-per-Click (PPC) Advertising

Keyword research and analysis

Ad copywriting

Campaign setup and management

Conversion tracking and analysis

3. Social Media Marketing

Content creation and curation

Profile setup and management

Community engagement

Social media advertising

4. Email Marketing

Email campaign strategy and planning

Email design and content creation

Email list management

Performance tracking and analysis

Fees And Payment

Client agrees to pay Service Provider a monthly retainer fee of [Amount] for the services listed in Section 1. The monthly fee will be due on the [Due Date] of each month. If payment is not received within [Grace Period] days of the due date, Service Provider reserves the right to suspend services until payment is received.

Term And Termination

This Agreement shall commence on the Effective Date and continue until terminated by either party upon [Notice Period] days written notice. Either party may terminate this Agreement immediately if the other party materially breaches any provision of this Agreement.

Confidentiality

The parties agree to keep confidential all information exchanged during the term of this Agreement, including but not limited to trade secrets, business plans, and customer data.

Ownership

Client shall retain ownership of all content and materials provided to Service Provider for use in the provision of services. Service Provider shall retain ownership of all intellectual property rights in any proprietary tools or methodologies used in the provision of services.

Indemnification

Client agrees to indemnify and hold Service Provider harmless from any claims, damages, or expenses arising out of or related to Client’s use of the services provided by Service Provider.

Limitation and Liability

In no event shall either party be liable to the other for any indirect, consequential, or incidental damages arising out of or in connection with this Agreement.

Governing Law

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of [State].

Entire Agreement

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties and supersedes all prior negotiations, understandings, and agreements between the parties.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement as of the date first above written.

Service Provider

[Service Provider Name]

By: _________________________

[Authorized Representative]

CLIENT:

[Client Name]

By: _________________________

[Authorized Representative]

Conclusion

After putting everything on paper, you can decide if the retainer price plan is the best option for you. You might be a match made in heaven if you’re yearning for security and want to maximize your working relationship with the few clients you have.

Nevertheless, be careful to implement a retainer as per our advice and cover all your bases. You must have open lines of communication with your clients and understand your goals for the partnership you have in business.

The more you can communicate, the more effectively you can collaborate. Nonetheless, document everything and draft an impenetrable contract that will allow you to escape uncomfortable circumstances.

FAQs 

What kinds of services should I include in a retainer agreement?

For the most part, services that are ongoing and don’t have a specific end-date are good for a retainer agreement.

For example, ongoing marketing support would be a good use of a retainer agreement. The agreement might include a certain number of hours for:

•     Campaign development
•     Creative
•     Copywriting
•     Publishing
•     Monitoring and analyzing data
• Reporting tasks

What services are not good for a retainer agreement?

Large projects with a definite end point are typically unsuitable for a retainer agreement.

For example, if you are developing a brand new website, you are better served by determining a specific set of deliverables at a fixed cost. You may negotiate payment terms, but as this is not an ongoing service, there may be better options than a retainer agreement.

Once a large project like that is completed, it may benefit certain companies to enter a retainer agreement for ongoing website optimization, managing digital assets, or putting together a marketing strategy that gets the most out of the investment you made in a big project like a website.

How long should a retainer agreement span?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Depending on their services, some agencies will not offer a retainer agreement for less than 6 or 12 months.

However, the term of the agreement is often negotiable. Whatever the agreement period, it is a good idea to agree on regular reviews of actual time spent to see if the time needed each month is still accurately represented by your retainer agreement.

What does a retainer usually cost?

Great question! This depends on the mix of services included in your retainer and the amount of time an agency will spend on them every month. We discuss that in our blog post, The Benefits of Retainer-Based Relationships.

If you’d like an idea of what a retainer would look like for your needs, let’s talk! Our team is ready to help you figure it out.