Retainer

Retainer is a model of work for a marketer or agency, in which the client pays a fixed amount monthly for an agreed volume of services. An alternative is hourly payment, project-based, or performance-based (% of revenue).

Standard retainer in digital marketing 2026: 200–800 thousand rubles per month for an in-house equivalent specialist (Senior / Head of), 800K–3M for an agency.

Retainer advantages: - Predictability for both parties (client - expense, contractor - income) - Ability to plan long-term (content strategy, brand architecture) - Cumulative effect: every month the client’s understanding is deeper

Cons: - Can mask inefficiency (you pay even if there is no result) - Requires a clear scope, otherwise scope creep - Without KPI it turns into “watching paint dry”

The main rule of retainer: never without a 90-day plan and never without monthly metrics. I personally always do an audit and a plan before the first retainer so that the client knows what to expect. For more details, see article about 360 strategies, where I look at how a correct retainer differs from a blurry one.