What does a full-service marketing retainer include?

A full-service marketing retainer combines strategy, execution across more than one channel, the marketing technology underneath it, and reporting that ties back to leads and revenue. At LevelUp Digital it is assembled from published tiers, so you can build the monthly number yourself.

The four parts

• Strategy. Channel mix, budget allocation, offer and messaging, and what gets measured. On larger engagements this is formalized as fractional CMO time at $195 an hour, typically 10 to 20 hours a month.
• Execution. Paid advertising at 10% of spend with a $1,500 per month minimum, SEO from $1,850 a month, social from $2,700 a month, plus $350 a month for each additional ad platform.
• Marketing technology. CRM, automation, integrations and tracking. HubSpot work runs $195 an hour, or $700 a month for 4 hours on a three month minimum.
• Reporting and a named team. A point of contact, the specialists doing the work, and a monthly report built on leads and pipeline rather than impressions.

A worked example

A business running $12,000 a month on Google and Meta, publishing 6 SEO articles a month, posting three times a week on two channels, and needing a few hours of HubSpot help: ad management is the $1,500 minimum plus $350 for the second platform, SEO L1 is $1,850, social L1 is $2,700, HubSpot support is $700. That is $7,100 a month to LevelUp, plus the $12,000 in media paid directly to the platforms. Nothing hidden, nothing marked up.

What it does not include

Ad spend, software licenses, video beyond the counts in your social tier, commercial shoots, and website builds, which are separate projects starting at a $4,500 base. Full detail is in what is not included in a retainer.

Every tier is published on the retainers page, and HubSpot specific packages on the HubSpot service retainers page.

Related: Does LevelUp Digital offer retainer services?, Do you provide monthly reporting?, How much does LevelUp Digital cost?