What To Consider Before You Sign Up For A Retainer

Recently we talked about the advantages of a retained service contract between you and a video production crew. Paying for a set number of videos, over a set amount of time, is likely to strengthen your campaign.

However there are certain factors that you – and the production team – need to account for before the agreement is given the green light. Let’s take a look:

How often do you want to repeat a concept?

Retainers demand a schedule. For video, a schedule might consist of a single explainer film a month, a two-day event recording, and/or six ‘Twitter bites’ built for social media. Regular uploads are part of what makes a promotional campaign run effectively.

But there’s also the possibility that those desires will change. Video content doesn’t have to stay static; indeed, it can build on previous successes, becoming more intensive as you witness its impact on the business.

Services such as ours can scale up when you’re ready. Just bear in mind that this will typically involve reviewing the retainer further down the line.

Where does each part of the retainer link together?

 Each proposition in a retainer should become a pillar of your marketing strategy. The structure has to make sense within the context of what you’re trying to achieve, and tie in with your efforts elsewhere.

Series-led content, for example, can continue a narrative across several weeks or months, breaking a story up into small chunks that can be shared on social. Do those ideas add up to something coherent? Will one lead naturally to another? How can social media snippets provide an appetiser for longer-form content?

These questions are imperative to a successful retainer.

Is it set on value, instead of hourly effort?

Let’s face it: there’s no sense paying for wasted time. HSQ have carved a reputation in the video services industry for our ‘done in a day’ guarantee, whereby we seek to deliver a video in 24 hours, if necessary.

Other companies, however, may ask to be paid for a certain number of hours in any given period. That isn’t good – for you or for them. Value is what matters. By submitting to a time-spent retainer, you get a weaker sense of the relationship’s profitability.

It’s all about the end result – if that fails, then the retainer sinks into the mud of a bad agreement.

Trust is essential when embarking on a retainer agreement – something that we hold in high regard at HSQ Productions. Come to us for a great example of how planning really does pay off. We love working with clients on a long-term basis. Contact us to learn more about our forward-thinking video services.

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Posted by Adam Smith.