How to Know When It’s Time to Hire a Retainer Studio
If you’re constantly juggling marketing, launching new offers, updating your website, and trying to create scroll-stopping content — all while growing your business — this is your sign.
You’ve outgrown doing everything yourself.
And while hiring a freelancer can be a short-term fix, what most growing businesses really need is a long-term creative partner. Someone who understands your brand, cares about your goals, and can plug in each week with strategic support.
That’s where a creative retainer studio (like Toggle) comes in.
What is a Retainer Studio?
Think of it as your part-time creative department. Instead of managing scattered contractors or trying to learn everything yourself, you gain consistent support from a dedicated team that’s already immersed in your business.
At Toggle, our retainer offering — The Partnership — is designed for busy founders who are ready to:
Delegate the doing
Maintain a consistent brand presence
Have a creative sounding board they trust
Signs You’re Ready for a Retainer Relationship
You might not realise it yet, but if any of these feel familiar — it’s time:
You’re always behind on content, updates, or campaigns
You’ve launched a new offer but still haven’t updated your sales page
Your emails, social, website, and brand assets all look… slightly different
You have big ideas, but never the time to execute them
You’re hiring help ad-hoc, but things feel disconnected
The truth? Growing businesses hit a ceiling when they try to scale without consistent creative support.
What The Partnership Looks Like
Our retainers are built around flexibility and outcomes. We don’t just "design stuff" — we help you think, plan, and execute strategically across every touchpoint.
We offer retainer options with 3, 5, or 8 hours per week depending on your growth stage and business needs. Services can include:
Weekly campaign and launch asset design
Shopify or Squarespace updates and improvements
Paid ad creative and content design
Email marketing design and strategy
Content creation templates (for IG, Pinterest, Substack, TikTok)
On-demand creative direction and brand consistency checks
System and automation support (CRM, integrations, scheduling tools)
You get:
A regular creative rhythm
A consistent brand presence
A partner who actually understands your business inside and out
Why Retainers Work (When Freelancers Can’t)
Hiring freelancers for one-off tasks can work for short bursts — but it often leads to:
Inconsistent quality or tone of voice
Repeating yourself every time someone new comes on board
Design work that doesn’t align with your big-picture goals
What you really need is a partner who:
Feels like part of your internal team
Thinks proactively instead of reactively
Is invested in your long-term growth — not just the next task
Our clients describe us as an extension of their team — without the overhead.
Client Use Case Example
Let’s say you’re a fashion label launching monthly collections. With a retainer, we could:
Design your campaign assets + paid ads each month
Build out updated lookbooks or product pages
Create and schedule your weekly EDMs
Refresh homepage layouts for seasonality
Optimise collection UX for mobile
It’s not just design — it’s the full creative and strategic ecosystem that helps you scale.
Why We Call It "The Partnership"
Because that’s what it is. This isn’t outsourcing. This is collaboration. You bring the vision — we help bring it to life every week.
We only work with a handful of retainer clients at a time to ensure quality, attention, and consistency. This is high-touch, high-care support designed for brands who are going places.
Ready to Make Running Your Business Easier?
If you're tired of trying to do it all and ready to:
Work smarter
Launch quicker
Finally have a brand that looks as good as your offer feels
Let’s build something long-term.