A retainer is a subscription to a creator. The brand pays the same amount each month; the creator delivers an agreed amount of work each month and keeps time free for the brand. Retainers usually bundle several things that are priced separately elsewhere: a number of videos, rounds of changes, organic posts, a level of usage, sometimes a promise to stay off competing brands in the category.
The appeal for both sides is predictability. The brand gets a steady flow of content from a face its audience recognizes. The creator gets income they can plan around. The risk is that the bundle drifts: the brand asks for more each month, or the creator delivers less, and neither side is counting.
Example. A brand and a creator agree on $1,200 a month for four videos, one organic post, two rounds of changes per video, 12 months of organic usage and 90 days of paid usage on each video, renewed monthly. In month three the brand wants six videos. They agree to $300 per extra video rather than reopening the retainer. Example numbers.
When brands use it. The pain this answers: “Our ads are fatigued and we can’t make new creative fast enough.” Retainers suit brands with a steady need for content from one or two creators, and brands that want a creator to become a familiar face. They suit less well when the brand’s needs change month to month or when it is still testing which creators work.
The creator’s view. A retainer is a floor, which is valuable. The things to pin down are the monthly scope (videos, posts, hours), what happens to unused scope, the notice period to end it, and whether the brand expects the creator to stay off competing brands, and pays for that. A retainer that leaves these open becomes an hourly job without the hourly count.