What a Marketing Retainer Is

A marketing retainer is an ongoing agreement between you and our agency for a set amount of marketing services, delivered over a defined period (usually monthly). Instead of engaging us for one-off projects, you commit to a recurring relationship with consistent access to our team, tools, and expertise.

Think of it as having a flexible, on-demand marketing department that works as an extension of your team—without the cost and overhead of hiring full-time staff.

Retainer vs. Project — Key Differences

• Purpose
  • Retainer: Ongoing partnership for continuous improvement and channel orchestration.
  • Project: One-time engagement to deliver a defined outcome.
• Timeframe
  • Retainer: Long-term, billed monthly.
  • Project: Fixed start and end dates.
• Scope
  • Retainer: Flexible within monthly priorities.
  • Project: Fixed scope and milestones. Changes require a change order.
• Budget and billing
  • Retainer: Predictable monthly fee that reserves capacity and expertise.
  • Project: Fixed or milestone-based fee tied to specific deliverables.
• Planning and workflow
  • Retainer: Rolling planning, continuous optimization, recurring reporting.
  • Project: Detailed upfront plan, build to spec, acceptance on completion.
• Success metrics
  • Retainer: Compound performance over time and strategic velocity.
  • Project: Delivery against scope, quality, timeline, and budget.
• Team access
  • Retainer: Ongoing access to a cross-functional team as an extension of your org.
  • Project: Team assigned to complete the defined deliverables only.
• Change management
  • Retainer: Priorities can be reallocated month to month.
  • Project: Changes are controlled and may add time and cost.

When Each Makes Sense

• Choose a retainer when you need sustained growth, iterative testing, channel orchestration, and steady capacity across specialties.
• Choose a project when you need a specific asset or outcome by a deadline, such as a landing page, analytics implementation, or a contained website section.

Why a Retainer Exists

• Consistency and momentum – Marketing works best when efforts are sustained over time. A retainer ensures your campaigns, content, and optimization efforts don’t stall between projects.