Less than the executive it replaces and more than an agency retainer at the bottom of the market. What decides the number, in the order it gets decided.
This page is for someone who has already decided they want senior help and now needs to know what it will cost and why. It does not publish a retainer figure, and it says why. It does publish the ad production prices, because those are fixed.
What sets the price
- Involvement. Advisory is a weekly review of the numbers and a second read on decisions. Embedded means I own the channels, the creative testing and the signal setup, and I am in the account daily. Embedded with creative production adds the ads themselves, made with my network.
- Spend level. The work changes past six figures a month: account consolidation, signal density, incrementality checks, creative volume planning. That is the altitude the retainer is built for.
- Whether creative is included. Ad production is priced on its own page, and it can be bought without the retainer.
The threshold, and what sits below it
Retainers are for apps already spending around $100K a month on paid UA, or funded to get there. Below that threshold the right product is a paid diagnostic session: a read of the account in days, a written verdict, and a list in the order things should be fixed. Teams leave with something they can act on either way.
The intro call is free, thirty minutes, and covers fit and scope. I do not publish the retainer figure on this page because it is scoped on that call, and a number without the scope behind it would mislead in both directions.
What is never on the invoice
A contract that traps you. Retainers run month to month with 14 days notice, and nothing locks you in. An account manager. You talk to the person doing the work, and changes happen the day we discuss them. The comparison with an agency and a permanent hire sets the three cost bases side by side.
Questions people ask
Is a fractional Head of UA cheaper than an agency?
At the spend levels I work at, usually yes once you count what the agency retainer buys. The comparison page sets the three options side by side.
What if we are below the spend threshold?
Book the diagnostic session. It is a flat fee, it reads the whole account, and it tells you whether paid UA is even the bottleneck. Several teams have used it to decide whether to hire.
Does creative production have a price?
Yes. A test sprint of 15 ads for €2,000, or 15 ads a month for €2,000. It is on the pricing page, with what is included.