How a Digital Marketing Retainer Package Can Save You Money
Inflation is on the rise. Employees are hard to find (and keep). Yet, your business has to keep growing. Marketing your business can be a tough battle today, but there is more than one way to hire for a position.
Marketing retainers can be an excellent alternative to hiring a full-time employee. Think about it. When you hire a W2 employee, you get a single individual. You invest time, energy, and resources into training the person. Sometimes it works out. Sometimes it doesn’t. We’ve heard plenty of [bizarre] stories from business owners about the desperate need for hiring staff. We’ve heard the frustrating stories of employees not returning to work the next day, with no notice or communication. Being a business owner is very hard work. Chasing down good workers, especially good marketing workers shouldn’t be one.
What is a marketing retainer?
Marketing retainers can vary but they are generally structured as a monthly recurring agreement for a block of hours or for a specific set of services. Marketing retainers are great for the client and the service provider in the sense that the client doesn’t feel like they are being nickeled and dimed. Marketing retainers still have a scope of work, so the expectation of what is included (or isn’t included) is clear to both parties.
What services are included in a marketing retainer?
This can vary based on how the service provider structures their retainers. For us at Elevate Marketing Co., marketing retainer packages can include the following services:
Social Media Management
Facebook Event Management
Meta Advertising Management
Google Advertising Management
Copywriting (blog posts/website)
Email Marketing
Marketing Material Creation
Marketing Strategy & Consulting
Marketing Roadmap Creation
Website Management & Updates
To get the most value from our packages, we recommend choosing the top three services you need to delegate. Then rank the remaining marketing activities in order of importance. That way if we have extra hours to use at the end of the month, we can either work ahead or work on other projects.
What does a marketing retainer cost?
Here is a cost comparison between a W2 employee and one of our retainer packages. Let’s say that you own a custom remodeling company, Dream Reno & Co. Dream Reno & Co. is looking for a marketing coordinator and the majority of the role is focused on social media management, Meta Advertising management, and Google Advertising management. They have strong core values as a company and are known for taking care of their people. So on top of the base salary for the position, the marketing coordinator would also receive paid holidays, unlimited sick time, 3 weeks paid vacation, fully funded medical insurance, professional development, and more fringe benefits. Traditionally speaking, this is what is considered the “burden of labor”.
The cost of hiring a digital marketing coordinator
Michigan digital marketing coordinator salaries can easily range from $40,000 to $75,000. And that is before all the additional benefits. Conservatively, Demo Reno & Co. can account for an extra 32% - 40% for their “burden of labor”, making their new total compensation package range from $54,00 - $120k+.
Not to mention, they still need to account for the marketing and advertising budget for the company. Dream Reno & Co. averages $3 million in revenue a year. Their budget allows them to dedicate $90,000 to marketing and advertising.
If dollar signs are racking up in your mind, you’re right.
Hiring full-time W2 employees have many benefits but it is also very costly.
The cost of hiring a marketing company in retainer
Now, let’s compare what it could be if Demo Reno & Co. hired a digital marketing company using a marketing retainer model.
Our base marketing retainer starts at $3,300 a month with our top tier around $8k a month. Marketing retainers are structured as blocks of hours, so if Demo Reno & Co. wants more time from our team for a special project or a big campaign, more hours can be purchased. Demo Reno & Co. would get access to an entire team plus the additional creative partners we work with for projects. Demo Reno & Co. wouldn’t need to pay for the additional “burden of labor” costs which means they could allocate those funds to their advertising budget.
Even if Demo Reno & Co. selected our top-tier package at $8k a month, think of it as having access to four team members. So while they would be paying roughly $96k a year in marketing management, they get a full team vs one individual. And they would be “saving” the burden of labor costs of roughly $30k a year.
Does a marketing retainer make the most sense for you?
If you are trying to take your business to the next level and are considering hiring your first marketing coordinator, we recommend you give the marketing retainer a try. A marketing team can help build the foundation and set up the processes and systems first, and then if you chose to hire a marketing coordinator, you can. But you might find that the digital marketing retainer is a great model for you!
There is one more question we often get about working with a marketing company…
Working with a marketing company is less personal, right?
Not with us. Some marketing companies have strict boundaries and have very structured customer-service provider relationships. We don’t operate like this. We want to blend into your team as if we were employees. That means, going to lunch with your team, sitting in on team meetings, and even showing up and working from your office! There is power to having in-person connections, and we deeply value that!