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arketing strategies are packed with various layers - from digital advertising, social media, content writing, graphic design and more. This requires a whole lot of skills that generally go beyond a one-man-show type of deal (we took a deeper dive into that subject here).
If your company is in need of growing its sales (ie, boosting its marketing efforts to drive more customers) or expanding its team to meet the demands of current client projects ... how do you do this without hiring an entire marketing team?
A marketing retainer may be exactly what you need.
It’s a recurring agreement that sets a project rate for specific services rendered, considering the amount of time it takes our team to support the marketing needs of your company as well as software costs to manage your account. We set marketing retainers on a monthly or quarterly basis.
Where the time from that retainer goes is guided by a detailed marketing strategy that both parties agree upon to drive your company forwarded. The beauty of a retainer is that it also allows us to be flexible to your ad hoc needs. For example, if you’re adding a machine that wasn’t planned on when we started … We can do a press release! If you find you’re in desperate need for employees … We can help with a hiring campaign!
The specific services you receive will depend again on that marketing strategy. The common strategies we are well versed in include:
The answer will vary based on your predicted needs. Generally, our retainers start at $3,000 monthly, which includes staff time and software costs. As we discussed in our blog exploring the costs of agencies versus in-house teams, there is an undeniable amount of added value that goes along with hiring an agency.
That diverse skill set we mentioned earlier? You can get access to all of that at a base rate of $36,000 annually. How far will that get you an in-house marketing team? Not very.
Many companies are unclear whether they should invest in more than the bare minimum. While the agency can guide you on the right rate for your needs - ie, to actually make your marketing strategy effective - the other question is often … can I afford it?
We go into more detail on setting your marketing budget here, but a good guide is generally 7 to 8 % of your overall budget should be allocated to marketing.
A solid marketing strategy will include clear goals, and any agency who wants to be good at what they do will strive to achieve those. We provide clients with data and analysis from our different initiatives so they understand how our work ties to the bottom line.
Over time, you will start to see more activity in your sales department. Let us repeat that: over time. A marketing plan does not create instant change over night. We have many articles that speak to the need for consistency, and building up your audience is a process itself.
Still have more questions? We are happy to answer, set up a free consultation!
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