Structuring Retainer Agreements for Ongoing Brand Strategy

Why Offer Brand Strategy Retainer Agreements?

Project-based work is the bread and butter for many rebranding strategy services. However, focusing solely on projects can lead to revenue peaks and valleys. Brand strategy retainer agreements offer a compelling alternative, providing ongoing value to clients and stability to your business.

Benefits for your business:

• Predictable Revenue: Retainers create a steady stream of income, making financial planning easier.
• Deeper Client Relationships: Ongoing work allows you to become a trusted partner, understanding the client’s business intimately.
• Increased Client Lifetime Value (CLTV): Keeping clients engaged long-term significantly increases the total revenue generated from each client.
• Operational Efficiency: Reduced sales cycles and onboarding effort compared to constantly chasing new projects.

Benefits for your clients:

• Consistent Brand Guardianship: Ensures the brand messaging, visuals, and strategy remain aligned over time.

• Proactive Support: Clients have access to ongoing expertise to navigate market changes or strategic shifts.

• Budget Predictability: Clients can allocate a fixed monthly cost for essential brand support.

• Faster Access to Expertise: No need to scope and contract a new project for every minor brand-related need.

Structuring Your Brand Strategy Retainer

A successful retainer agreement clearly defines the scope of ongoing services. Unlike project work with a defined end, retainers offer access to a defined set of services or a dedicated amount of time/capacity each month.

Typical services included in a brand strategy retainer might be:

• Brand Guardianship/Consultation: Regular check-ins, advising on strategic decisions from a brand perspective, ensuring consistency across new initiatives.
• Market Monitoring & Analysis: Keeping an eye on competitor activity and market trends relevant to the client’s brand positioning.
• Minor Brand Asset Updates: Small adjustments to guidelines, templates, or core messaging (define limits clearly).
• Content Strategy Support: Advising on how content aligns with brand strategy, potentially reviewing key content pieces.
• Performance Monitoring: Analyzing brand-related metrics (e.g., sentiment, awareness shifts) and providing strategic recommendations.
• Internal Team Training/Alignment: Periodic sessions to ensure the client’s internal team understands and embodies the brand.

Define deliverables carefully. Are you providing specific reports, hours of consultation, access to specific tools, or completion of defined tasks? Be explicit about what is included and, just as importantly, what is not included (e.g., full creative work, large website changes, extensive market research projects).

Pricing Your Brand Strategy Retainer Agreement

This is where many service businesses struggle. Avoid simply multiplying an hourly rate by an estimated number of hours. Your pricing should reflect the value you provide—the strategic insights, the risk reduction, and the contribution to the client’s long-term success.

Consider these pricing approaches:

1. Value-Based Pricing: Estimate the tangible and intangible value your ongoing strategy provides (e.g., preventing brand crises, enabling market entry, increasing customer loyalty). Price a fraction of that value. This is often the most lucrative but requires deep understanding of the client’s business and clear articulation of your impact.
2. Tiered Pricing: Offer different levels of retainer based on the scope of services, frequency of interaction, or dedicated capacity. For example:
   • Tier 1 (Basic Guardianship): Monthly consultation, limited asset review. Example price: $2,500 - $4,000/month.
   • Tier 2 (Strategic Partner): More frequent check-ins, market monitoring, content strategy input. Example price: $5,000 - $8,000/month.
   • Tier 3 (Embedded Expert): High-touch support, extensive review cycles, potentially more dedicated time/capacity. Example price: $9,000 - $15,000+/month.
3. Blended Rate/Packaged Service: Offer a package of specific services for a flat monthly fee. This provides predictability for both parties. Calculate your costs (including overhead, desired profit margin, and value provided) to arrive at the package price.
4. Hourly Rate (Cost-Plus): While less ideal for value-based services, you can calculate your fully loaded hourly cost and add a profit margin to determine a baseline. However, present this as a package of services or a monthly fee, not just an hourly rate, to avoid commoditization. If using an hour block, clearly define the value delivered within that block, not just the time spent.

Determine your pricing strategy based on your business model, target client, and the specific value proposition of your retainer service. Clearly define what is included in each tier or package.

Key Considerations When Implementing Retainers

Setting up a successful brand strategy retainer involves more than just picking a price. Pay attention to these details:

• Thorough Discovery: Even for existing clients, conduct a mini-discovery to scope the ongoing needs and desired outcomes of the retainer. What specific challenges will this retainer solve now and in the foreseeable future?
• Clear Scope Definition: Be crystal clear about deliverables, response times, communication channels, and what constitutes ‘out of scope’ work. This prevents disputes and scope creep.
• Contract Length: Retainers are typically 6-12 month agreements, often with an auto-renewal clause. Avoid month-to-month initially, as brand strategy impact takes time to show.
• Reporting & Communication: Establish a regular cadence for reporting on activities and demonstrating the value delivered against the agreed-upon scope.
• Review & Adjustment: Plan for periodic reviews (e.g., quarterly) to discuss performance, client needs, and potentially adjust the scope or pricing of the retainer as the business relationship evolves.

Presenting Retainer Options to Clients

Once you’ve structured and priced your retainer options, how do you present them effectively? Static PDFs or spreadsheets can be confusing, especially if you offer multiple tiers or optional add-ons.

Consider modernizing your pricing presentation:

• Use clear, visually appealing documents that highlight the value and outcomes of each tier.
• Break down the services included in simple terms.
• Make it easy for clients to compare options.

For businesses offering tiered brand strategy retainers or customizable packages (e.g., core retainer + add-ons like extra reporting, specific project hours), presenting these choices interactively can significantly improve the client experience and streamline your sales process. Tools like PricingLink (https://pricinglink.com) are built specifically for this—allowing you to create interactive pricing pages where clients can select options and see the total price update in real-time. This is a great way to filter leads and make your pricing transparent and engaging.

It’s important to note that PricingLink focuses only on the pricing presentation and lead capture. For comprehensive proposal software that includes e-signatures, workflow automation, and full document generation beyond just pricing, you might explore platforms like PandaDoc (https://www.pandadoc.com) or Proposify (https://www.proposify.com).

However, if your primary challenge is clearly and professionally presenting complex, configurable pricing options to clients in an interactive format, PricingLink offers a powerful and affordable solution.