What should a $5,000/month marketing retainer include?

$5,000/month sits in the documented mid-market band ($3–10k): expect 20–40 real hours. A dedicated account lead, genuine strategy work, multiple channels actually managed (not listed), and reporting tied to business numbers. Concretely, published packages at this level run things like several substantial content pieces, active ad management, and monthly strategy sessions.

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$5,000/month sits in the documented mid-market band ($3–10k): expect 20–40 real hours. A dedicated account lead, genuine strategy work, multiple channels actually managed (not listed), and reporting tied to business numbers. Concretely, published packages at this level run things like several substantial content pieces, active ad management, and monthly strategy sessions.

What it should NEVER include: your ad spend (that's separate and yours), third-party tool licenses smuggled into the fee, or 'unlimited' anything (unlimited means unpriced, which means minimal).

The evaluation: divide $5,000 by a fair senior rate (~$125–200/hr) to see the hours you're buying, then demand the deliverable list match. And run the annual lens. $60k/year buys most of a junior in-house marketer; the agency has to beat that comparison on expertise and leverage every renewal.

This is the work. Want it done?

Everything here is free to use yourself. That’s the point. If you’d rather a senior marketer just handle it, in your accounts and your name: 20-minute call, no pitch deck.

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