Marketing Retainers vs. Project Work: Which Delivers More Value?
When it comes to outsourcing your marketing efforts, businesses often face a crucial decision: opting for ongoing, retainer-based marketing support or choosing project-deliverable marketing for specific initiatives. Both models offer unique advantages; selecting the right one can greatly influence your long-term success. To make an informed choice, weighing each approach’s benefits and drawbacks is important. Let’s explore the key differences between these two strategies and how they align with your business goals.
At Heights, we have both. Some of our clients are on a retainer-based model with a set monthly investment and scope of work. Others are on a project-deliverables-based model, where they invest per project. Often the costs are spread over monthly payments as well.
The following article is based on
- Experience: serving over 150 clients in both capacities,
- Peer Discussion: speaking with colleagues who lead marketing firms, and
- Research: on trends and best practices in the industry.
First, we’ll discuss each model’s pros and cons. Then, at the end of the article, we share a bit about specific clients we’ve served and why each model worked best in their respective scenarios.
Retainer-Based Marketing: Building Long-Term Partnerships
What is Retainer-Based Marketing?
Retainer-based marketing involves a long-term contract where a marketing firm provides ongoing services for a fixed monthly fee. This model is akin to having a dedicated marketing team on call, ready to tackle your marketing needs as they arise.
Pros:
- Consistency and Stability: With a retainer, you have a predictable budget and a consistent flow of marketing activities. This consistency helps build brand awareness and maintain a steady online presence.
- Deep Understanding of Your Brand: A long-term partnership allows the marketing team to develop a deep understanding of your business, target audience, and goals.
This knowledge leads to more effective and tailored marketing strategies. - Flexibility & Responsiveness: Retainers offer flexibility to pivot strategies as market conditions change. You can address new opportunities or challenges without renegotiating contracts or incurring additional costs.
- Comprehensive Services: Retainer agreements often include a range of services, from content creation and thought leadership to web copy and collateral. This holistic approach ensures all aspects of your marketing are aligned and working together.
- Consistent Cash-Flow Budgeting: Having a set monthly investment in your marketing can help with cash-flow projections and budgeting. If you’re planning your marketing budget for the upcoming season and want consistency, it can be helpful to commit to a monthly retainer.
Cons:
- Long-Term Commitment: Entering a retainer agreement requires a commitment to a long-term partnership, which may not be suitable for businesses with fluctuating budgets or short-term marketing needs. These engagements typically range from 6-12 month commitments. Some are ongoing with a 30-day or 60-day cancellation policy.
- Cost: Sometimes the upfront cost of a retainer can be higher than project-based work (though not always). However, the value of consistent, ongoing marketing efforts often justifies the expense.
Project-Deliverable Marketing: Focused and Goal-Oriented
What is Project-Deliverable Marketing?
Project-deliverable marketing involves hiring a marketing firm for specific projects or campaigns. These projects have clear objectives, timelines, and deliverables, making it a straightforward approach for businesses with defined needs.
Pros:
- Clear Objectives and Outcomes: Each project has specific goals and deliverables, making it easy to measure success and return on investment (ROI).
- Budget Control: Project-based work allows you to allocate your budget to specific initiatives without the commitment of a retainer. This approach is ideal for businesses with in-house capabilities that want outside assistance with a specific initiative or campaign. It can also be helpful for companies with very limited marketing budgets who simply want to test new strategies for a short amount of time.
- Specialized Expertise: For unique or specialized projects, you can hire experts with the exact skills needed for the task. This ensures high-quality results for niche marketing needs.
- Short-Term Engagement: If you have a one-time campaign or a short-term need, project-based marketing provides a straightforward solution without the need for a long-term commitment.
Cons:
- Lack of Continuity: Project-based work can lead to gaps in your marketing efforts, potentially affecting brand consistency and long-term growth.
- Learning Curve: Each new project requires onboarding and familiarizing the marketing team with your brand and goals. This can lead to inefficiencies and a steeper learning curve compared to a retainer-based relationship.
- Limited Flexibility: Projects are defined by specific scopes and timelines, making it challenging to adapt to unexpected changes or opportunities without incurring additional costs.
Which Approach is Right for You?
The decision between retainer-based and project-deliverable marketing depends on your business goals, budget, and marketing needs.
If you value consistency, long-term strategy, and a deep partnership with your marketing team, a retainer-based model may be the best fit.
On the other hand, if you have specific, short-term projects or are testing new marketing initiatives, project deliverable marketing offers a flexible and cost-effective solution.
Ultimately, the right choice aligns with your business objectives and provides the best return on your marketing investment. Whether you opt for the stability of a retainer or the targeted focus of project-based work, a strategic approach will help you achieve your marketing goals and drive business growth.
In Real Life: Examples of Heights Clients
If you’ve made it this far, you might be wondering what companies like yours are choosing. Here are some real-life examples of companies we’re working with and which ones are opting for project-based work or retainer-based work.
Project-Based Work
VR – A project-based approach was a perfect fit for this startup company launching a unique digital service. They wanted to bring in expertise for their foundational brand messaging and for a marketing assessment and roadmap to expose any gaps in their plan, then they quickly hired an entire team of in-house marketers to carry out the plan.
MHG – An established 80-year-old financial service firm entering in a new season with a succession plan. Project-based work was a great fit for them to refresh their brand message and create a roadmap for cultivating new and existing referral partners.
Retainer-Based Work
BG – After partnering with this financial services firm on several projects like brand messaging and a new streamlined website, we moved into a strategic retainer relationship to support their team on an ongoing, regular basis. We meet quarterly to do a deep dive into their key opportunities and plan campaigns and growth initiatives together. They value the fresh outside perspective coupled with the continuity of a partner who deeply gets them and can offer outside support on execution when needed.
NGP – Our retainer-based partnership over 4 years with this logistics and labor-management business gave us a lot of flexibility to work closely with their sales team and recruiting team. We were able to pivot when they signed massive contracts that required additional support. We would launch campaigns and project-based work throughout the year, as needed and could scale up or down based on their needs.
If you’re unsure which option is best for your business, we can help. Request a call with our team. We’ll take the time to understand your business operations and overall goals so that we can provide you with the best recommendations for getting marketing results.
