What the survey data says
The most useful recent source is SparkToro's 2025 State of Digital Agencies survey, which collected 376 responses between September and October 2025, weighted towards North America and Europe and towards solo consultants and small agencies. Treat the numbers as a small-agency benchmark rather than a picture of the whole industry.
- 85 percent of agencies favour retainer billing, up from 81 percent the year before.
- 86 percent report an average monthly retainer of up to $10,000.
- 49 percent report $1,000 to $5,000 a month. 31 percent report $5,000 to $10,000.
- 10 percent report $25,000 to $50,000 a month, mostly in North America and Europe.
- Among agencies that bill by project, 54 percent charge between $1,000 and $10,000 per project.
- 64 percent plan to raise fees in the coming year, but only 16 percent raise fees annually for existing clients.
The three pricing models
Hourly billing exists, but for marketing it mostly appears inside the other three as a way to price extra work. Performance-based pricing, where the agency is paid per lead or per sale, is rarer and usually combined with a base fee.
| Model | How it works | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly retainer | A fixed fee for an agreed scope of ongoing work | Continuous marketing: ads, social, content | Scope creep in either direction; review the scope quarterly |
| Project fee | A fixed price for a defined deliverable | Websites, apps, campaigns with a clear end | Change requests; agree what happens when the brief changes |
| Percentage of ad spend | A fee tied to media budget, often with a minimum | Large paid media accounts | Incentive to spend more; make sure results, not spend, drive decisions |
What moves the price
- Scope. One channel costs less than five. A social media retainer and a full-funnel program with ads, content, video and a website are different products.
- Seniority. Who actually does the work. Senior strategists cost more per hour than junior executives, and the output is different.
- Production. Video, photography and creator content add cost because they need people, equipment and time, not just desk work.
- Media budget. Managing a large ad account takes more monitoring and reporting, and some agencies price as a share of spend.
- Reporting and meetings. Weekly reporting and regular calls are included at some agencies and billed at others.
- Technology. Agencies that run AI agents on your account can deliver more output per person, which changes what a given retainer buys.
What a retainer should include
A fair retainer is a written scope. For a paid ads retainer, expect campaign planning, audience strategy, creative development, daily monitoring, conversion tracking and weekly reporting. For social media, expect strategy, a content calendar, creation and scheduling, community management and regular reports.
If a proposal lists only hours or vague activities, ask what will exist at the end of the month that did not exist at the start. Deliverables, not hours, are what you are paying for.
How PI prices
We do not publish prices because the scope drives the number, and we would rather not quote a figure that turns out to be wrong for you. PI quotes per project or as a monthly retainer after a free 30-minute call.
What we can say is how the structure works. Every engagement gets a senior team and AI agents on the account. The agents do the research, daily monitoring, first drafts and weekly reporting, which is work that elsewhere is billed as junior hours. People make the decisions and review everything before it reaches you.
Questions to ask any agency
- What exactly is in the retainer, and what is extra?
- Who will do the work, and how senior are they?
- How often will I get a report, and what will it show?
- What happens if we need to pause or scale down?
- How do you use AI, and who checks its output?
- Can I see two results from similar clients?