The Activity Retainer
Is your marketing driving results
or are you paying for activity?
Every month the report arrives on time. Some unknown deliverables, a few blog posts, and a wall of green arrows.
The one number missing is the one you signed up for. That’s by design, and the design starts with how your retainer was priced.
We call it The Activity Retainer.
The anatomy
What your marketing retainer bought
(according to your contract)
Go read your agency agreement. You’ll find blog posts per month, links per quarter, hours of “management,” and a reporting cadence. You won’t find ROI numbers anywhere in it.
Activity is guaranteed, outcomes aren't
The agency signed up to stay busy, and busy is exactly what you’re getting.
The monthly report exists to prove the contract was honored.
Every chart proves work happened.
But how was that work tied to your growth, if any?
Self-diagnostic
Signs you're paying an Activity Retainer
Your agency is honoring its contract. The contract is the problem. Read it again before your next renewal.
The anatomy, visualized
A bigger retainer isn't the solution
More budget buys more of of the exact same contract deliverables.
Thing is…
You may not even need more hours.
Deliverables pile up, the report gets longer, and the renewal case gets stronger.
Meanwhile the work itself gets picked by what’s easy to produce, because production is what the agency gets graded on.
A month of blog posts is easier to hit than a month of booked appointments.
You end up funding a content operation and calling it patient acquisition.
The fix
The Earned Retainer
Your fee is flat and set in advance. It never changes based on how many patients book. What we earn each month is the renewal, and booked-appointment data decides where every hour of work goes. Ready to get the most out of your marketing spend?
Step 1
Track Everything
First, we setup full tracking of everything, within HIPAA-compliance standards. This way, we can tie every lead to the page and source that produced it.
From day one, you’ll have a clear view on which channels produce the best return on investment.
Step 2
What books gets the budget
Which aspects of SEO should we focus more on? Which keywords are you bidding on that don’t have a great return on ad spend? Which pages and blogs are worth keeping, optimizing, or cutting? How are your map rankings tied to more bookings?
Every task on the monthly list answers one question. How many appointments did it book?
Step 3
No bookings, no budget
Marketing channels that book more get more focus and attention. Channels that book less or are costing too much per booking get scrutinized. Your retainer stays the same while the work gets realigned.
Step 4
Results
Not Sure if You're Paying for Activity or Results?
Most practices don’t know until we show them. The diagnostic is free. Staying blind for another two quarters is the expensive option. Which one will you choose?
Helping Healthcare Practices Thrive & Win Online Since 2016.
Google Ads Partner Since 2018
Certified account managers and ad accounts that clear Google's own performance bar, audited yearly.
Ranked by Our Clients, Published by Clutch
Clutch interviewed our healthcare clients on the record and named us its top medical SEO company for 2026.
Operating Systems Built for Excellence
Weekly scorecards, quarterly rocks, and a single owner for every client number, including yours.