You rely on your web agency to help you maintain and improve your online presence, and every month feels like a sprint for the latest optimization tools and strategies. But sometimes, you come across a slower month where it can be challenging to make the most of your agency retainer agreement. You’re left wondering, “How do I make sure I get the most value for my hours?!” After all, if you don’t use them, you typically lose them (depending on the agency).
Fortunately, as an agency full of e-commerce experts, we know exactly how to get the most out of your retainer and never leave hours on the table:
Strategy:
Strategy Sessions to develop long-tail strategy timelines.
Many brands don’t focus as much on strategy as they should. By using a down month to create a long-term strategy with your agency, you won’t be rushing to fill unused hours in future months and your brand will benefit from a comprehensive, well-planned vision.
Development:
Convert hard-coded content into Page Builder widgets.
Page Builder widgets are an effective way to give yourself more autonomy to make changes for years to come.
Site Speed or Accessibility Optimizations.
It’s never a bad time to run an audit, and there’s no better time than a slower month - especially after you’ve spent months implementing new development and design assets, but haven't taken the time to see how it affects your site speed or accessibility.
Roll in all those annoying updates.
In the same way that you see your phone ping you about the latest software update and dismiss it every day until you finally give in, we often dismiss theme updates on our e-commerce websites. Slower months are the perfect time to process these updates and run an audit to make sure it hasn’t affected your overall brand.
Design:
Asset Planning.
Getting ahead of the curve, the content team can help you get a content calendar together for upcoming promotions and events on your site so you’re ahead of the game.
Develop Design Systems.
Think of this as developing your comprehensive “design playbook.” Your agency UI team can create your shop’s complete set of brand standards that can help you manage design at scale with reusable components, patterns, and unified language. This helps to alleviate strain on design resources in fuller months.
Asset Enhancement.
Work with the content team to render better quality product images or 3D assets to have more versatility for promotional visuals.
Support your Marketing Team.
If you’re like us, you have your own internal marketing team working hard to promote your brand. Sometimes, these marketers are great at marketing but need support with asset creation and design elements. Our content team can help by setting up easy-to-use templates in Canva or Photoshop so your team has a consistent, branded aesthetic for all your assets.
The best value will come from a bespoke approach. A visually-focused brand would want UI and branding hours allotted each month to ensure their agency is regularly auditing visuals and offering recommendations that will engage the client’s audience.
Other brands will have more performance and feature-focused goals putting site speed and accessibility at the forefront of any additional hours they have. Still, others will want to use extra hours to push marketing efforts.
We encourage you to find out where your company has gaps and understand the type of updates that are of most interest to you. If you're ready for the support of a digital agency, we would love to help! Please feel free to contact our Solutions Consultant, Chase Bowler at chase.bowler@arcticeleaf.io or (949) 377-1301 Ext. 172. You can also visit our website www.arcticleaf.io to learn more.
