Whether you are a newbie or an experienced proposal writer we are all aware that the process of drafting business proposals for your marketing services is challenging.

In this guide, I’m going to show you how to create a marketing proposal template in a short amount of time and maximize your close rate with it.

What is a marketing proposal?

A marketing proposal is a sales document used to win a prospect’s business. It includes all the information related to key deliverables and services and an overview of timelines and costs. This sales document mainly focuses on how your marketing services will help potential clients achieve their goals.

At a higher level your marketing proposal will generally include the following (discussed later):

• Client testimonials or examples of case studies to build trust.
• Agency’s background information to prove your worth.
• Scope of services, realistic timelines, and costs
• Value of your marketing services

When to send a marketing proposal?

When you know about your client’s expectations you’ll be able to create a much more accurate and detailed proposal. That’s why before even you start creating a marketing proposal, make sure you have a detailed conversation with your potential client about their business.

Here’s the list of essential questions you will want to be answered in the course of that conversation:

How do you want your business to look like in the next one or two years?

This will give you an idea about their strategic planning, their vision and will tell you how they deal with every aspect of their business.

What is your target customer and how do you market to them?

Having a clear sense of their customers may help you determine how your potential clients themselves behave as a customer. And understanding their marketing behavior will also give you an idea about how you should approach them.

How are the decisions made and who makes them?

It is vital to know who makes the decisions.

What do you hope to accomplish? 

With this question your client will supply very essential information, they will state their needs.

Are you currently using any kind of marketing services and if yes do you expect any changes?

With this inquiry, you’ll be able to compare their current marketing needs with the services they are buying from you.

How do you want us to communicate?

You will know the communication channels that are comfortable for your client.

What is your budget for marketing services for your business?

This will give you a rough range of the budget your client has for marketing services. If the client can’t match your pricing requirement, you don’t want to waste your time on a proposal.

How to build a marketing proposal template

All marketing templates should include certain details in order to be clear and effective. Even though the exact format of marketing proposals varies depending on the company and the project, the typical sections you should include in your proposal are these:

1. Front cover

You only get one chance to make a first impression and the cover page of your proposal is your only chance. A cover page of your marketing proposal should look neat and should be easy to read. An ideal marketing proposal template’s good cover page typically includes,

• Name of applying organization and logo
• Project title
• Date
• Contact Information (personal contact name, address, country, phone, email, website)
• Name of the client you are applying to

2. Introductory Letter

The introductory letter in the process of proposal writing sets the tone for the rest. The best practice of writing an impressive pitch is using your prospective client’s words to them. This means simply describe the problem they are facing. Your introductory letter should include,

• Intro paragraph
• Reason for the pitch
• Highlight the challenges they are facing
• Key benefits 

3. Statement of Work

It’s easy to fall for the mistake of giving too many details about the solution. The key here is revealing details only about your approach. However, the details should only be about the approach and not about the solution.

• The key here is to give a rough sketch of the method you will use for the execution.
• Include the list of the specific marketing services that are being offered without going into details.

4. Realistic Timeline

You must break down all the key steps and the timeline for your client in your proposal. Providing an accurate timeline with deliverables allows you to set the client’s expectations early.

• List of design activities to perform
• The dates on which the activities should be completed (start and end time)
• Expected duration required for each task

5. Interactive Pricing Table

Keep things short and to the point and use a pricing table with a range of options that let your prospect or customer edit the quantities, select the services that best fit their needs, and allow them to customize your solution.

6. Why Work With Us

You can fill out this section of your business proposal template with the expertise you have, the awards you won, the big list of your happy clients.

• Name, faces, and credentials, background information of the people who will be working on the campaign
• Client benefits

7. Case Study/Testimonials

In this section, you can make your clients visualize themselves working with you by telling the past clients success stories with similar issues.

• Project goal
• Solution
• Result

8. Terms of Services

• Payment
• Warranty
• Termination 
• Agreement

9. Next Steps

It is where you need to explain in-depth what you want your client to do next to get things rolling. You can include something like,

• Sign the proposal (digitally with e-signature)
• The initial amount to be payable while signing the contract
• Schedule the next meeting call to discuss further steps.

Wrap Up

If you follow the process and the format above, you won’t face any challenges while developing a marketing proposal and you’ll find yourself writing a successful proposal template, the one that pulls together all the required information concisely and helps the prospect to make an informed buying decision.