What Should a Saudi Marketing Retainer Include?

2026-08-02 · 2019 words · Updated 2026-09-19 · Eclipse Advertising Agency

A monthly retainer is a standing agreement: you pay on a regular schedule and the agency delivers an agreed body of work. It works best when both sides write down, before the first invoice, exactly what "the work" means, who owns what, and how the relationship ends. This guide lists what a Saudi business can reasonably ask to see in a digital-marketing retainer. It is general business guidance, not legal advice; have a lawyer review the final contract before you sign.

1. A scope you can count

A good scope describes outputs, not effort. "Social media management" is a category; "12 feed posts and 8 stories per month on Instagram and X, in Arabic and English, with community replies during business hours" is a scope. For each channel in the retainer, the contract should state:

• Deliverables per month: number of posts, videos, articles, landing pages, email campaigns or ad variations.
• Channels and accounts covered: which platforms, which brand accounts, which markets or cities.
• What happens to unused capacity: whether undelivered items roll over to the next month, expire, or are credited.

If the description is vague, ask for a monthly deliverables table attached as a schedule to the contract.

2. What the retainer does not include

Ask for exclusions to be listed explicitly, because anything left unstated can turn into a billing dispute:

• Media or ad spend. The money paid to Google, Meta, TikTok, Snapchat or other platforms is separate from the agency's fee. State whose payment method is on each platform account, and whether the agency may commit spend without written approval.
• Production. Photo shoots, video crews, locations, actors, voice-over and music licensing may sit outside the retainer. If they do, the contract should explain how they are quoted and approved.
• Influencer and creator fees. Treat creator payments as a separate budget line unless the contract says otherwise, and state who contracts the creator and who holds the usage rights to the content.
• Third-party tools. Scheduling, listening, SEO and reporting tools: who holds the licence, and whether it stays with you if the retainer ends.

3. Who owns the accounts, pixels, domains and files

The safest structure is that your company owns every account and asset, and the agency is granted access to work on them.

Ad accounts and business portfolios

On Meta, a business portfolio holds Pages, Instagram accounts and ad accounts. Meta's help pages describe two access levels, full control and partial access, which can be changed at any time. An owner with full control can share assets with a partner such as an agency; even a partner given full control of an asset cannot share it with another business, because only the organisation that owns the asset can do that. In practice, that means the ad account should sit in your business portfolio, and the agency should be added as a partner.

In Google Ads, the Admin access level is the one that can grant and change user access and unlink manager accounts. Google notes that if an account has only one administrator, you may lose access to your tags if that person becomes unavailable, and suggests at least two. Ask that at least one admin login belongs to someone inside your company.

Pixels, tags, analytics and domains

• Tracking pixels, tag manager containers and analytics properties should be created under accounts your company controls, with the agency given access. For measurement setup, see our guide to GA4 for Saudi lead-generation websites.
• Domains and hosting should be registered in your company's name, with renewal notices going to an address you monitor.
• Social media accounts should be registered to company email addresses and phone numbers, not to an agency employee.

Creative files and intellectual property

The contract should say when ownership of final designs, videos and copy passes to you (for example, on payment of the relevant invoice), whether you receive editable source files, and whether stock images, fonts or music carry licence limits. Logo and identity files deserve the same clarity.

4. Reporting cadence and KPIs tied to business results

A retainer should state how often you receive reports, in what format, and which numbers they must contain. Reach and engagement are useful diagnostics, but it is reasonable to ask for at least one KPI connected to leads or sales. Useful clauses include:

• A monthly report and a scheduled review meeting, with a date by which the report is delivered.
• Agreed definitions: what counts as a qualified lead, and which system is the source of truth (the CRM, the order system, or the ad platform).
• Spend, cost per lead or cost per sale, and conversions reported both by the platform and by your own records.

Be careful with guaranteed results. A contract can commit an agency to activities, deadlines and reporting quality; it is harder to commit anyone to outcomes that depend on your offer, pricing, sales team and market. For a practical approach to measurement, see how to measure social media ROI in Saudi riyals.

5. Approval workflow and turnaround times

Slow or unclear approvals can hold up a retainer as much as production can. Write the process down:

1. When the monthly content calendar is shared, and how many days you have to comment.
2. How many revision rounds are included per item.
3. Who on your side can approve, and whether silence counts as approval (it is safer if it does not).
4. Turnaround for urgent requests, such as a public complaint.
5. Who may publish, and who may change live ad budgets.

6. Bilingual content: define the languages per deliverable

"Bilingual" can mean original writing in both Arabic and English, or English content translated into Arabic. The contract should state which language each deliverable is produced in, whether Arabic is written natively for Saudi audiences, and who proofreads it. If you are still comparing agencies on this point, our guide on choosing a bilingual digital marketing agency covers what to test before signing.

7. Minimum term, notice and exit

• Minimum term: whether there is an initial commitment period, and what happens at its end (automatic renewal or month-to-month).
• Notice period: how many days of written notice either side must give.
• Handover: a checklist of what the agency returns on exit, such as source files, reports and campaign documentation, and when its access is removed.

8. Change requests

Requirements shift during a retainer: a launch, a new branch, a seasonal campaign. A change-request clause should say how new work is requested, how it is estimated and approved in writing before it starts, and whether it replaces existing deliverables or is billed separately. For the factors that affect cost, see what shapes agency pricing in Saudi Arabia.

9. VAT and e-invoicing

ZATCA raised the standard VAT rate from 5% to 15% effective 1 July 2020, applying to goods and services subject to VAT. Your retainer should state whether fees are quoted before or after VAT, so there is no ambiguity when the first invoice arrives.

ZATCA's e-invoicing (Fatoora) programme applies to all taxpayers except non-residents, and to any other party issuing tax invoices on behalf of suppliers subject to VAT. Since 4 December 2021 (phase one), tax invoices must be generated through a compliant electronic solution, and a scanned paper invoice does not qualify. Phase two, which requires integration with ZATCA's systems, has been rolled out in waves since 1 January 2023. Whether an agency must register for VAT depends on its taxable turnover against the mandatory and voluntary registration thresholds set by ZATCA. Ask whether the agency is VAT registered; if it is, verify its VAT number and request compliant tax invoices, and if it is not, ask it to confirm the basis for not registering. Confirm the tax treatment of your specific case with your accountant.

10. Personal data: PDPL obligations when the agency touches customer data

If the agency handles customer data on your behalf, such as uploading customer lists for ad audiences, managing lead forms, or replying to messages, and your company decides why and how that data is used, the agency is acting on your behalf; in PDPL terms that describes a controller (you) and a processor (the agency). Article 17 of SDAIA's Implementing Regulation of the Personal Data Protection Law says the controller must choose a processor that provides sufficient guarantees, and that the agreement with the processor must cover, among other points:

• the purpose of the processing, the categories of personal data, and the duration;
• the processor's commitment to notify the controller of a personal data breach without undue delay;
• whether the processor is subject to regulations in other countries;
• any subcontractors or other parties to whom the data will be disclosed.

The same article requires the controller to give the processor clear instructions and to assess its compliance periodically, and says a processor that violates the controller's instructions is treated as a controller. Article 24 requires the controller to notify the competent authority of a qualifying breach within 72 hours of becoming aware of it, which is why a fast notification duty on the agency matters. A data processing clause or annex is one practical place to set these terms; have a lawyer confirm it fits your situation. For the website side of compliance, see our PDPL checklist for marketing websites.

11. Creator content and Mawthooq

If the retainer includes influencer or creator campaigns, the contract should say who checks licensing. The General Authority for Media Regulation (GMedia) runs the Mawthooq licence, which allows individuals to provide advertising content on social media platforms. Its conditions include advertising only through an account registered with the Authority and linked to the licence. Before contracting an individual to advertise your product or service, check whether Mawthooq applies and verify the licence and the registered account. There are exemptions, such as an individual advertising their own product or service through a personal account, according to Saudipedia, published by the Ministry of Media; confirm exemptions and any company or agency licensing separately with GMedia. Our guide on vetting influencers covers the rest of the checks.

Red flags to look for

Getting help

Eclipse Advertising Agency offers digital marketing, social media management and branding services in Saudi Arabia. To talk through the scope you need, contact us.

Sources: facebook.com · facebook.com · support.google.com · zatca.gov.sa · zatca.gov.sa · sdaia.gov.sa · gmedia.gov.sa · zatca.gov.sa · saudipedia.com