by Charlie Swift, General Manager, Adstra Services
TL;DR
- Most budgets are still locked into rigid channel allocations that limit the impact of AI and cross-channel performance data.
- Vendors paid on media volume are incentivized to keep money inside their preferred channels, even when results point elsewhere.
- AI gives teams clearer insight into omnichannel behavior. That insight is wasted when incentives reward channel throughput instead of business outcomes.
- A retainer tied to expected outcomes aligns incentives and frees partners to recommend the best allocation across the year.
- Performance stewards should have training grounded in customer response and business results, not local media efficiency.
- With 2026 budgets underway, this is the moment to replace channel-based planning with a structure that supports real omnichannel performance.
The annual budgeting cycle still follows habits that made sense when media choices were limited and channels operated in isolation. Most organizations set fixed allocations months before the year begins. They then engage vendors who are economically rewarded for spending money inside those predetermined buckets. This system remains common because it feels predictable, but it prevents marketers from capturing the advantages that AI and omnichannel data can now provide. AI gives teams the ability to understand cross-channel behavior, attribute value more accurately, and shift investment with greater confidence. Budgets that are locked by channel and partnerships that are paid on volume prevent teams from acting on that intelligence.
A more useful path for 2026 is to bring budgets, incentives, and strategic guidance into closer alignment. This requires moving away from percentage-of-media payments and toward retainer arrangements that reflect expected outcomes across the year. It also requires selecting partners with training that supports cross-channel decision making, not performance that is restricted to a single platform. That change is not complicated, but it does require marketers to rethink how they engage performance specialists and how they budget for the year ahead.
Channel-Based Budgeting isn’t the Path to Omnichannel Performance
Channel-specific budgets grew out of a world where measurement was fragmented and responsibility for each medium rested with different teams. When a marketer could not track performance across channels, it was natural to divide the budget into rigid categories. Teams could then measure channel-specific results and judge them on local metrics. AI now changes that foundation. Marketers can observe customer behavior across multiple environments, identify which touchpoints contribute real value, and move resources toward the combinations that lift business results. Channel-based budgeting limits these improvements by anchoring investment decisions to assumptions made far in advance of actual performance.
The payment structure of vendors compounds the problem. Most vendors earn revenue from the volume they control in a given medium. When the vendor is paid on media volume, the vendor is rewarded for keeping investment inside the medium that generates fees, even when the data points elsewhere. Performance teams face constant choices between what is best for the client and what is viable for their own revenue model. This creates distorted recommendations and restricts the marketer’s ability to take advantage of the insights new technology provides.
A Single Retainer Model Better Aligns Incentives
A retainer model tied to expected outcomes reduces these distortions. It gives vendors predictable compensation, creates a foundation for strategic guidance that is not tied to the economics of a single channel, and invites more honest assessments of where money should go. When the vendor is compensated for the advisory function rather than media volume, the vendor can recommend shifts across channels without losing revenue. Investment begins to follow evidence rather than internal incentives.
Some marketers hesitate at the perceived risk of committed costs. They worry about paying a fixed fee for guidance that may or may not produce stronger results. This concern is understandable, but it overlooks the inefficiencies embedded in the current system. Channel-based budgets already commit the organization to spend in places that produce poor returns. A retainer does not increase risk. It reorganizes it. It consolidates the advisory function into a single relationship where both sides have shared visibility into expected performance. A variable incentive can be added to the retainer to reward delivery above a target threshold. This blend provides stability with room for upside. It also creates the conditions for better long-term planning, which is difficult in a model driven by channel-specific fees.
Choosing the Right Omnichannel Steward
A shift to a retainer arrangement raises the question of who should serve as the primary performance steward. The answer depends on training. A partner who is skilled only in media performance within a single channel will push decisions toward that environment. This is not a character flaw. It is a natural outcome of experience that is shaped by the economics and dynamics of one platform. Cross-channel leadership requires a different mindset. It requires an understanding of customer behavior, response curves, and the relationship between business performance and media performance. It also requires sensitivity to the difference between optical efficiency in a platform and the actual contribution it provides to the business.
This type of training is not limited to any one discipline, but it is more common among practitioners who have been accountable to business results rather than media throughput. Within the media value chain, these are often the direct marketers. Their experience with customer-centric performance creates a stronger foundation for omnichannel orchestration. They know how to compare channels on equal footing, evaluate the tradeoffs between reach and response, and make allocation decisions that drive overall growth rather than local efficiency. Marketers should look for partners with this orientation when they consider a retainer arrangement.
A Better Way to Plan 2026
Budgets for 2026 are being presented now. Teams are deciding how much to spend and where to place their bets. This is an opportunity to update a process that has not kept pace with the available tools. AI allows marketers to measure outcomes across the full customer journey, not inside isolated channels. A retainer arrangement allows the advisory function to follow that same logic by aligning compensation with the quality of guidance rather than the volume of transactions. When these two shifts come together, organizations can respond more fluidly to performance signals and build stronger compounding effects over the year.