article

First things first, what is a marketing retainer?

At CANVUS, a marketing retainer is an agreement between a company and a full-service marketing agency that will usually feature a monthly or quarterly budget in exchange for a wide variety of services. These types of services will usually be contracted for a certain period – likely 12 or 24 months. Why so long you say? To really reap the benefits of a marketing retainer, consistency is definitely key. It’s vital to keep up a consistent presence both online and offline.

1. It will save your business time & money

We’ve all been there – marketing budgets can evaporate pretty quickly once you start to include social media management, marketing strategy, and graphic design. That’s where one of the most important benefits of a marketing retainer comes in – it is set to your budget.

Say you have a monthly marketing budget of $3,000 – a marketing retainer ensures you do not exceed this budget. Not only that, but it ensures that the budget is very well spent, in the areas you need it most. Having a set monthly figure, allows you to predict your annual expenditure, meaning no surprises and no hidden costs.

A marketing retainer agency (such as CANVUS) will work with you to figure out your success and failings in marketing and create a bespoke monthly strategy to really boost your brand presence. All that’s left for you is sit and watch your business reach new heights, while the marketing team analyses and acts accordingly to your progress.

2. You only pay for the services you need

With so many different types of marketing, it can be hard to find a service that can be tailored to your specific needs. You may have someone in-house handling your blog writing, or an in-house copywriter. With a marketing retainer, you can select the services you will require on a month-to-month basis.

Let’s say you require at least 2 adverts printed in press per month. You can engage with your selected retainer agency and agree upon 2 advertisement designs per month, all within your one set monthly figure.

Of course, this will depend on budget, but it is a great benefit to know your advertising needs will always be met month to month. You can then decide which direction to go in with these advertisements – advise your agency of your future plans, and see how they strategize this for you.

As easy as that!

3. Increased exposure

It is really that simple – the more your business is seen and heard, the more business you are going to generate. We have all been online searching and come across a business and decided to engage with that business. When it comes to websites and SEO, it takes a little bit of knowledge and a lot of experience in order to reach the top results when someone googles anything related to your business.

Assuming your chosen agency is doing it right, your brand awareness, website visitors and social media following should grow organically. This means it will grow at a steady pace, not too quickly, making sure most of the newcomers will be there to stay.

However, being discovered is not everything. Depending on your goals and the chosen strategy, your marketing retainer will hone your content in ways that will maximize the conversion rate. This means that when people visit your website or see a social media post from you, it will convince that person that your business is the one that will meet their needs.

4. One clear marketing strategy 

Have you noticed how companies that dominate any market are always consistent when it comes to their messaging, tone of voice, and content? From a social media post to a physical packaging or product, everything ‘feels’ like that company, no need for a label to tell you so.
Most people think this is connected to their financial capacity and how much they spend on having the most luxurious packaging, the best designs, and marketing strategies, etc. However, any designer will tell you it is not about that at all. It is about consistency. It is important to have a very clear and defined presentation of your business, so that the audience you present yourself to, will end up recognizing you anywhere. A marketing retainer does exactly that- they develop a clear and consistent strategy across all platforms, making you a worthy competitor on the market.

5. Long-term relationships

Same as any relationship, both parties get to know each other as time goes on. As cheesy as it sounds, sometimes the outside observer sees things about us that we don’t notice. When that’s the case for business, those small details can become opportunities for exploring a different approach in advertising or even business planning.
Longer periods of time allow both parties to build trust in each other, and soon you will start seeing your marketing retainer as a member of your own team. After this trust is established it is easier for the retainer to ‘intuitively’ strategize and communicate more experimental content. And we all know that great ideas came from thinking out of the box.