Is It Out of Scope? — SEO & marketing
Is adding an affiliate or referral program out of scope for an SEO retainer?
Depends on what's being asked. Advising on referral/affiliate marketing as a growth channel can fit a marketing retainer; building and running the program is beyond it.
Referral and affiliate marketing sit close enough to organic growth strategy that clients often assume it's already covered — especially on a broader "SEO & marketing" retainer rather than a narrowly technical one.
Is it out of scope?
Depends. Advising on whether a referral or affiliate channel makes sense for the business, and how it might complement organic growth, can reasonably sit inside a marketing retainer's strategy work. Designing the program's structure, running outreach to affiliates, and managing it ongoing is a distinct scope of work beyond that.
Clause typically implicated
Clause typically implicated
Out-of-scope clause→ — High-level strategic advice on the channel fits within a marketing retainer's remit; building and running the program itself is additional work beyond the retainer's scoped hours.
Example contract wording
Example contract wording (illustrative, not legal advice)
I'm glad to weigh in on whether a referral program fits your growth mix, but designing and running the program day to day is beyond this retainer's scope — happy to put together a proposal for that separately.
How MarginFlow flags it
MarginFlow flags requests to design, build, or manage an affiliate/referral program outside_scope on SEO/marketing contracts, while treating high-level strategic input on the channel as within a marketing retainer's remit.