Most of our clients are opt for our annual retainer program that bills monthly. This allows our clients to work with us freely. This eliminates the need for proposals, deposits, project approvals, and holding work until the invoices are paid. We have found that our retainer client's are much more open to new ideas, because they know we are not trying to sell them on something that they will be billed for. 

 

How do we determine the retainer amount?

   1. We assess the client’s goals

   2. The client discloses their budget

   3. An annual amount is set and broken down into 12 monthly payments

 

How the payments work?

The client pays the first and last month of the 12 payments on day one, and then the client is billed monthly on the first every month until the end of the term. The client can cancel at any time for any reason. 

 

What’s included?

In the beginning we assess your goals and create a list of deliverables that will be needed to achieve them. Together with you we refine the list until it satisfies the critical areas listed below. Then we describe all of the work that will go into creating the materials on the list, such as creative concepts, ad production, branding, social media, SEO, web development etc. This defines the scope of work, timelines, retainer amount, and agency/client expectations. 

 

Total Budget

How much should be spent over the course of 12 months. This accounts for media placement, agency monthly fee and other costs like printing, audio, and video production. 

 

Performance

We analyze what outcome should be expected from our efforts. This speaks to return on investment. Does the projected net income justify the expense? We consider three factors.

 

1) Marketing Profitability - Is the campaign profitable? 

A real estate developer may spend $30,000 just on billboards to advertise their new neighborhood. A single sale will generate profits large enough to cover and justify this expense. If a person is selling a $20 item with $10 in profit and spends $3,000 dollars per month, they will have to sell 300 items just to break even. However, if those customers become repeat customers, everything they spend after their initial purchase will make the campaign profitable over time. These are two examples of how we work backwards from net sales. 

 

2) Vision Alignment - Is our approach consistent with the brand?

The car market is a good example of marketing the same product in completely different ways based on the price and the brand. Let’s look at BMW. All of their printed and ad materials have a minimalistic approach. The fonts are small, the imaging is clear, and they never sell price. They may announce price, but they never sell price. They sell performance and status. Visiting their dealerships is like stepping into one big print ad. Everything looks consistent, feels like the ad and their staff is trained accordingly.

 

Now let’s look at a used car lot. They take the opposite approach. They may have small office that is antiquated and unkept. They spend nothing on the customer experience, and their focus is price. You will find cheap neon pink flyers, big prices displayed, and maybe even a no money down printed on a balloon flying over their office. In the 80’s there was a commercial with a guy called “Crazy Eddie” and was acting like a lunatic cutting price tags in half. He would use loud abrupt antics to communicate how he would save you money. It was brilliant. If you ask anyone 50 years old or over, they will know who Crazy Eddie is. 

 

The takeaway is, both methods can be highly effective! However, they are only effective if it matches the company’s brand and its vision. 

 

3) Timing - How much time do we have to execute?

Immediate deadlines, and urgent needs can be a factor that affects the retainer amount. A competitor may have stormed the market and their messaging needs to be answered as soon as possible. This could trigger an “all hands on deck” approach to swiftly expedite an effective campaign.  If all of the work needs to be fronted into the first three months of the year, the retainer could be much higher and only run for six months. What’s important to understand is, you are in control of it all. We give the ultimate flexibility based on you needs. 

 

Our minimum retainer amount is $6000 per month for small businesses

            • Creative Concepts (ideas for the campaigns) 

            • Basic SEO or Social Media management (your choice)

            • Content creation

            • Ad design / graphic design needs

            • Limited in studio video production

            • Limited photography

            • Web updates 

            • Stock photos

            • Stock video clips

            • Media buy & ad placement (+ 15% commission paid by media outlet not the client)

       

All hard costs are extra. Actors, printing, travel, locations for film, wardrobe, hair and makeup staff, signs, apparel, ad specialties and any other cost to the campaign. 

 

Retainers for medium and large sized businesses range from $10,000 to $100,000 per month. All agency and production services are included at this level. Additional expenses may apply for large video production services.