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Engagement models

Five ways to work with us, scoped to your stage.

We do not sell packages. Each model describes a shape of engagement: how many channels, how often we review, and how closely our team works with yours. The detail is set after a diagnostic.
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At a glance

Ordered by business maturity.

Each step adds scope and closeness, not a longer list of deliverables. Select a model to see its outline, or read each one in full below.

Compounding · Search plus one acquisition channel

Growth

Companies with traction that need consistent, compounding demand.

Compare all five models
How we work together
A small dedicated team, fortnightly working sessions
What it is designed to produce
Predictable qualified demand from two channels
Typically includes
  • Expanded search opportunity portfolio
  • Content and authority programme
  • Paid media or CRO workstream
  • AI search visibility tracking

No prices are shown because none would be accurate. Pricing follows the diagnostic and the scope agreed with you.

The five models

Who each one suits, what it includes and how it runs.

01 · Establishing

Growth Starter

Businesses building their first structured growth programme.

Designed to produce: A measured baseline and the first compounding channel.

Who it suits

  • Your product or service sells, but marketing has been done in bursts.
  • You want one channel working properly before you add another.
  • Tracking is incomplete, so you cannot yet say what is paying back.

What is typically included

Channels in scope
One core channel, usually organic or local search, plus the tracking and technical foundations it depends on.
Review cadence
A monthly performance review with a written summary of what shipped, what moved and what comes next.
Team involvement
A strategist who sets direction and a specialist who does the work. One point of contact on your side is enough.
  • Growth audit and first-quarter roadmap
  • A prioritised set of search opportunities
  • Technical and tracking foundations
  • Monthly performance review

How it is run

We start from the growth audit, agree a roadmap for the first quarter and work through it in order. Foundations come first: technical fixes, measurement and the pages closest to revenue. Nothing is added until the baseline is trustworthy.

02 · Compounding

Growth

Companies with traction that need consistent, compounding demand.

Designed to produce: Predictable qualified demand from two channels.

Who it suits

  • One channel already produces leads or sales and you want a second.
  • Demand arrives unevenly and you need it to be steadier.
  • Buyers in your category have started asking AI assistants for recommendations.

What is typically included

Channels in scope
Search plus one further workstream, typically paid media or conversion optimisation. A content and authority programme supports both, and AI search visibility is tracked alongside.
Review cadence
Fortnightly working sessions to review progress and unblock decisions, and a monthly performance review.
Team involvement
A small dedicated team: a strategist, a search specialist and a paid media or conversion specialist. Your marketing lead joins the working sessions.
  • Expanded search opportunity portfolio
  • Content and authority programme
  • Paid media or CRO workstream
  • AI search visibility tracking

How it is run

Two workstreams run to one plan, so that what search learns about demand informs paid media and landing pages, and the reverse. Budget moves between them when the evidence says it should.

03 · Integrating

Scale

Multi-channel teams that need integration and pace.

Designed to produce: Channels planned together and reported against revenue.

Who it suits

  • Several channels are active, each with its own plan and its own report.
  • Marketing and sales disagree about which activity produces revenue.
  • You have people in-house and need more pace, depth or coordination.

What is typically included

Channels in scope
Search, paid media, content and conversion planned as one programme, with marketing automation and CRM alignment so that leads can be followed through to revenue.
Review cadence
A weekly working rhythm with your team, a monthly performance review and quarterly planning.
Team involvement
A cross-functional pod working alongside your in-house team, with a shared backlog and a shared reporting view.
  • Cross-channel strategy and planning
  • Experimentation programme
  • Marketing automation and CRM alignment
  • Revenue attribution reporting

How it is run

Channels are planned together and tested deliberately. An experimentation programme decides what to try next, and attribution reporting connects the results to pipeline and revenue instead of channel metrics.

04 · Embedding

Growth Partner

Leadership teams that want an embedded growth function.

Designed to produce: A growth function accountable to the same targets you are.

Who it suits

  • Growth is a leadership agenda item, not a marketing task.
  • You want one team accountable across every channel and market.
  • You would rather share targets with a partner than manage a supplier.

What is typically included

Channels in scope
Every channel in scope, across the markets you operate in, managed against targets we agree with your leadership team.
Review cadence
A weekly working rhythm, a monthly review with leadership and quarterly planning that we take part in.
Team involvement
A dedicated senior strategist who sits in your leadership rhythm, supported by the specialists the plan calls for at each stage.
  • Dedicated senior strategist
  • Quarterly planning with leadership
  • Unified reporting across every channel
  • Multi-market execution

How it is run

We operate as your growth function. Planning, prioritisation and reporting happen inside your own cycle, and the strategist answers for the same targets your leadership team does.

05 · Governing

Enterprise

Complex organisations with multiple brands, markets or business units.

Designed to produce: Consistent standards across brands, markets and teams.

Who it suits

  • Several brands, markets or business units need to work to one standard.
  • Internal teams and other agencies need governance and enablement more than extra hands.
  • Security, legal and procurement requirements shape how any supplier can work.

What is typically included

Channels in scope
A custom scope across brands, markets or business units, defined with your stakeholders. It can cover execution, governance, enablement or a combination.
Review cadence
Set out in the service levels: operational reviews, executive reporting and governance checkpoints agreed with you.
Team involvement
A programme office on our side working with your marketing, product, legal, security and procurement teams.
  • Custom scope and service levels
  • Governance and enablement for internal teams
  • Security, legal and procurement alignment
  • Executive reporting

How it is run

The engagement begins with a scoping phase that documents standards, responsibilities and service levels. Delivery then runs as a governed programme, with playbooks and training so that internal teams can apply the same standards themselves.

Comparison

The five models side by side.

Scroll sideways to see every model.

Comparison of the five SERPMOZ engagement models by stage, scope, cadence, team, reporting and pricing
Aspect01Growth Starter02Growth03Scale04Growth Partner05Enterprise
Business stageEstablishingCompoundingIntegratingEmbeddingGoverning
Channel scopeOne core channelSearch plus one workstreamIntegrated, multi-channelAll channels, multiple marketsCustom, across brands and markets
Review cadenceMonthly reviewFortnightly sessions, monthly reviewWeekly rhythm, monthly review, quarterly planningWeekly rhythm, leadership review, quarterly planningDefined in service levels
Our teamStrategist and one specialistSmall dedicated teamCross-functional podDedicated senior strategist and specialistsProgramme office
In-house marketing teamNot requiredA marketing lead helpsExpectedWorks with or in place of oneExpected, often several
ReportingBaseline and channel performanceLeads and pipeline by channelRevenue attribution across channelsOne view shared with leadershipExecutive reporting across the organisation
Planning horizonQuarter by quarterQuarter by quarterQuarterly, with an annual viewAnnual plan, revised quarterlyAligned to your planning cycle
PricingScoped after the diagnosticScoped after the diagnosticScoped after the diagnosticScoped after the diagnosticScoped after the diagnostic

These are typical shapes, not fixed tiers. Your proposal sets out the actual scope, team and cadence, with the reasoning behind each.

How to choose

Four questions that settle it.

  1. 01

    Start from your stage

    Choose by where the business is today, not where you want it to be. A model that is too large spends budget on coordination you do not need yet.

  2. 02

    Count the channels that work

    If no channel is reliably producing leads or sales, begin with one. If one already is, add the next. Integration only pays once there is something to integrate.

  3. 03

    Look at who you have in-house

    With no marketing team, a smaller model with clear ownership works best. With a team in place, the question becomes pace, depth and coordination.

  4. 04

    Decide how close you want us

    A supplier delivers a scope. A partner shares targets and sits in your planning. Both are valid; they are different relationships.

If you are unsure, you do not have to choose. The growth audit ends with a recommendation, including which model fits and why. You can begin with a narrower scope and widen it when the evidence supports it.

How every engagement is run

Pricing

Why pricing follows the diagnostic.

Two businesses on the same model can need very different amounts of work. A local service firm and a multi-market software company might both suit Growth, and their scopes would have little in common.

So we do not publish prices. After the audit you receive a proposal that states the scope, the team, the cadence and the cost, and explains how each follows from what we found. If the numbers do not make sense for your business, we would rather learn that before either of us commits.

Questions

Engagement models, answered.

Why are there no prices on this page?

Because the cost of an engagement depends on things we do not know yet: your market, the competition, how many channels are involved and where you are starting from. After the growth audit you receive a specific proposal with the scope, the cost and the reasoning behind both.

Do we have to pick a model before we talk to you?

No. The growth audit ends with a recommendation, including which model fits and why. This page is here so you can see how the options differ before that conversation.

Can we move between models?

Yes. The models describe scope, and scope should change as the business does. It is common sense to start with a narrower engagement and widen it once the evidence supports it. How scope changes are handled is set out in your proposal.

Do we need an in-house marketing team?

Not for Growth Starter or Growth, where one point of contact is enough. Scale and Enterprise assume you have people in-house, because the value comes from working alongside them. Growth Partner can work either way.

What if we only need one service?

Then a single-channel scope is the right answer, and Growth Starter is built for it. We would still begin with the audit, so that the one channel we work on is the one most likely to matter.

Do you guarantee results?

No. Rankings, AI citations, cost per lead and revenue depend on competitors, platforms and your own sales process, none of which any agency controls. What we commit to is a defined scope, a clear method, targets set against your own baseline and reporting that shows what happened either way.

How is AI used in an engagement?

AI is used at every stage to speed up research, analysis, drafting and monitoring. It does not set priorities or approve work. A named specialist reviews anything that is published or changed on your behalf.

Start here

Find out which model fits.

Every engagement starts with the growth audit. It shows where the opportunities are and what scope would be needed to act on them.

Request Your Growth AuditTalk to a Growth Strategist