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Indy has additional templates on its free platform where you can send your proposals, create contracts, track hours, all in one place. Click here to check out their proposal templates for free. Many marketing experts submit proposals full of buzzwords and industry jargon. Most clients won’t understand this stuff; some might have a different idea of what those terms mean. A web design project, for instance, is over when the client says they’re happy with “the look” of a website. But that vague measure of success won’t work with marketing clients, who are paying you specifically to improve their bottom line.
The first section of content after the front matter is your opening statement. This is often called an “Executive Summary.” But I hate that. If you’re using this template in Microsoft Word, you can easily insert a table of contents by selectingInsert from the top menu. Either way, as with all amazing content, it begins and ends with your specific audience in mind. …and I wish I’d had this template to speed the process along. Tools Headine Studio Write headlines that drive traffic, shares, and search results.
They might be imagining a different level of involvement from you than the one you have in mind. Their services might be the best for the client, but there’s no explanation why they’re the best. It’s up to the client to “connect the dots” and figure out how they’d be better off. Once you’ve identified a client’s core problems, the next step is to propose a marketing solution tailored to solve those problems effectively. The problem statement is probably the most critical element of any proposal.
Project proposals often include much unnecessary information. Rather than help, too many exotic details might actually hurt your chances of getting picked. It’s time to get serious now — address the potential problems your client may face. As a marketing agency, there are many areas you can look into offering service around, including design improvements, brand management, conversion rate optimization, SEM, SEO, and so much more.
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Depending on how in-depth your conversations were during the qualification phase, you may have a good understanding of the current state of the decision maker’s marketing priorities. Each deliverable should be explained in detail, with the proposed benefit clearly outlined. Expand on the strategies and tactics you plan to use to reach your goals. From the beginning, the proposal should show that this is about the organization and its vision. Since you’ll be giving this to important stakeholders and decision-makers, make sure the cover page is aesthetic and bold.
If you’re going with a more traditional, multi-page approach, aim to keep your marketing proposal under 15 pages if possible. Many businesses say they can fit it into pages (or even fewer!). If you need to go longer than 15 pages, try to cap your proposal at 20 pages. As you may have noticed in the above section on marketing proposal examples, there are instances in which your proposal will fit on one page and others in which you need several pages.
You may want to go the lazy route and point them to a portfolio or testimonials page on your website. Instead, put in the extra work and show proof of work related to the proposal.
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A Promotional Strategy
This marketing proposal template includes example terms & conditions to let your potential client know exactly what they’re getting from you. Marketing agencies and professional marketers will find our free business template a valuable guide on how to write a marketing proposal. Whether you offer strategic, digital, or creative marketing services, this outline is ideal for responding to RFPs and other new business opportunities. Once official introductory slides are out of the way, the next two on our set of steps to a successful marketing proposal are used to explain your specific plan.
If your proposal can’t hold prospective clients’ interest, they won’t spend the time it takes to develop a meaningful impression of you. Any potential business relationship dies off before it really begins.
Bad Proposals Reflect Poorly On Your Ability As A Marketer
You’ve guided yourself through the often murky waters of marketing proposals. Armed with this marketing proposal template, you’re set to… Your executive summary should be a short and concise rundown of what your proposal can do for your client. This is where you should aim to create a “hook” that compels your potential client to read more. Don’t exaggerate or make claims you can’t back up, but do aim to quantify business benefit and answer any basic who/what/why questions at a high level. Since marketing proposals are a big driver of whether or not you land business, there can be a lot of pressure around getting them right.
- Once you get the basic structure of a winning proposal in place, you can flesh it out with key information why you’re the best choice to handle clients’ marketing needs.
- Rather than help, too many exotic details might actually hurt your chances of getting picked.
- Generally, a marketing proposal layout is structured enough to be fairly consistent across industries.
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- Get acceptance and signoff quicker by enabling people to accept and sign your marketing proposal online.
- Make it clear why anyone listening to you why they should hire you.
You may also choose to create a one-page version to share with certain stakeholders as well as a detailed, multi-page marketing proposal. If this is for project-based work, you should outline the phases of the project, the responsibilities of the client, and the timeline for completion. If you’re trying to close a deal as an agency, you should have also discussed the reasons the client is making the change now and what the cost to his business would be if he took no action. The executive summary should quickly detail findings from your initial discovery session such as goals, budget, and timing. After that, have a slide to show your client what they should expect throughout your marketing proposal’s implementation.
Software Features
You want your proposal to be thorough but fluff-free — there shouldn’t be anything included in the proposal that doesn’t need to be there. Your goal during your initial meetings or when reviewing an RFP should be to uncover the main business or marketing issues being faced. Without understanding these, you cannot connect your strategy, tactics, and anticipated results to ROI. Detail the findings of your discovery session with the executive summary. Again, the marketing agency proposal is simply the written documentation of what you have discussed in person. You should never just send over a proposal without doing a presentation of some type, whether in-person or over Skype — you have to be the one doing the selling. Wouldn’t it be great if you could provide a number for your marketing budget and the key stakeholders would just say yes or no?
How Do I Write A Marketing Proposal?
Marketing plans alone can be brutal — much less pitching them to potential clients or top company brass. Often, they take tons of time, brain power, and busy work. And the worst is when the salt of losing the project gets rubbed in.
But theProject Milestones andProjected Timelines make it simple to give a 10,000 foot overview of the entire project. Second, if you’re using this template to land new clients, they’re just as busy — and magnetically drawn to the dollars and cents. That’s why it’s key that your proposal agitates the pain of the problem, then highlights the solution throughout. Too often, proposals are focused too heavily on the marketer and not enough on the client. While it is important for you to present your expertise and authority in the field, don’t sacrifice your focus on the client in the process. If you do, you may lose their interest before they ever understand your value proposition. One of the best things you can do is create a template to work from so that the process of creating proposals is less arduous over time.
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Graphics, mockups, and images that showcase your team’s process are fantastic here. Next, accompanying the milestones is a corresponding visual timeline. While it’s not strictly necessary, it is a nice way to show the overlap of phases. While these will likely be listed in your product or service agreement section at the end, it’s helpful to include them here, as well. Or use the most trust-building customer statement related to your project. Include a customer testimonial from a person or brand the prospect is familiar with.
Marketing Strategy & Goals
As presented in our free marketing proposal template, the first four slides to a marketing proposal introduce ourselves to a potential client. As such, the first slide is a presentation’s cover, while the second one explains your proposal’s purpose.
You certainly don’t have to present the figures this way. But if your cost structure is relatively simple, it’s an way to do it.
