What is a Social Media Marketing Proposal?
A social media marketing proposal is a document drafted to inform a prospective client of the services you offer. It's typically your first point of contact with an organization, and an opportunity to convince them of the value of your services.
Social media marketing proposals need to provide information on your organization, as well as information on how you plan to approach this particular project. It's your opportunity to stand out above the rest.
How to Write an Effective Social Media Proposal
An effective social media proposal can be the difference between winning a major contract and not. Make sure you’re convincing and thorough—here are some tips:
Outline the path to the client's goals
There are a number of reasons you may be writing a social media marketing proposal, or any type of proposal really:
- The organization has issued a call for proposals and you're responding
- You've identified an opportunity to collaborate and are letting the organization know how you could work together
How you came about the social media marketing opportunity often dictates the amount of information readily available to you whilst creating your proposal. Considering that the intention of a proposal is to inform clients of how you can help hit their goals—it's good to know what those goals are to begin with.
In a call for proposals, this information is made clear by the organization—they're aware of their issue and have goals for resolving it. However, when that information isn't readily available to you, you need to get a little scrappy with your research techniques. Here are some ways you could go about getting the details you require:
- Schedule a call: to discuss your intended proposal and how you could best meet the businesses needs
- Dig deeper: look online for potential issues and consider the organizations overarching business goals as they'll likely align
Having this information proves for a better informed social media marketing proposal. It allows you to directly address the prospective clients' problems, and better outline a path to solutions—a key aspect of any proposal.
Explain the behavior of your client’s target audience
Anyone working in social media knows the importance of understanding your audience. In fact, anyone in any industry knows this—it's essential to know your audience to understand what they want. Highlight the value of your social media marketing services by including research on your clients' target audience.
This includes information on:
- Demographic: this separates the audience by characteristics that are more consistent than variable, such as age, gender, and race
- Psychographic: also known as interests, activities, and opinions (IAO), this focuses on how individuals make decisions based on their values and beliefs
- Prior knowledge: refers to a person's preconceived assumptions, interpretations, and perceptions of a situation, service, product
- Usage patterns: measure how people interact with a service or product
By demonstrating your knowledge of the client's target audience, you highlight your commitment to and understanding of the project. You can outline this in your social media strategy proposal to further convince your potential client that you have a clear understanding of the required social media services.
Share a social media audit
It's a good idea to provide some information on the client's social presence in your social media marketing proposal. This doesn't need to be comprehensive as you've not yet been contracted for the job, but it should provide some valuable insights into the organizations' current social media strengths and weaknesses.
Go through each platform and consider what content of theirs is performing well—and what content's not doing so great. Look at the type of content they're posting and provide details on the engagement each one is receiving. Again, this doesn't need to dive too deep, but it should highlight your understanding of their social media channels.
Identify the competition and their weak points
Analyzing the competitions' social media presence can provide additional insights into what's popular on social media within a certain industry. If everyone else is doing something and reaping immense benefits, it may be time to consider how you can participate.
Highlighting this in your proposal shows a wider understanding of the project and the steps necessary to provide successful social media services. You, as a social media marketer, have a unique perspective on the competitions' social media platforms—share this with the potential client.
Social Media Proposal Template Samples
There are multiple ways in which you can decide to format your social media proposal template. The main goal is to communicate your experience and expertise, but there's no right way of doing this. Take a look at these examples to get an idea of how you could go about creating a social media proposal.
Social media marketing proposal version 1
First up is a more 'traditional' approach to you social media proposal template. If you're part of a marketing agency, you may choose to go down this route as it's a widely accepted format that businesses have learnt to expect. However, it's entirely up to you—something fresh may be exactly what your client is looking for.
Here's how this social media management proposal looks:
- Cover Letter
- Executive Summary
- Social media audit
- Goals and implementation
- Team
- Payments and Scheduling
- Call to action
Let's take a look at what each section involves, so you can get a better understanding of the information required.
Cover letter
This is where you introduce yourself and your services and communicate your interest in undertaking the proposed project.
It's the first piece of information prospective clients get when considering your services and the deciding factor on whether to continue reading your proposal—make sure you stand out.
Executive summary
Outline what points you'll cover in your proposal so that potential clients know what to expect. As the name suggests, it should summarize your social media proposal and give clients the essential info right from the get-go.
Social media audit
Here's where you flex your social media muscles and prove to clients that you know what you're talking about. It's important to understand who you're working with, and when it comes to social media there's no better way to go about it than crawling through their current online presence.
Highlight the good and the bad, and share it with prospective clients. Show them you're committed to the project by preparing an audit that shows off your knowledge and understanding of their social media presence and goals.
Goals and implementation
All business proposals are created with the intention of addressing certain projects and goals. Here's where you do just that—define the social media goals and the steps you plan to take to hit those goals.
This should be an outline of your social media game plan that includes a project timeline on when you expect to hit any milestones, and when clients can expect any deliverables related to the project—such as a posting schedule, follower growth, or tracking features.
Team members
This section is about you and—if you have one—your team. It's to introduce your potential new client to the team members involved in your organization. It creates a sense of familiarity and reassures prospective clients that they're in good hands.
Payments and scheduling
Here is where you outline the payment terms for your services, along with any other relevant details regarding fees. You should provide an estimate on your expected fee so potential clients can make an informed decision—neither party wants to waste time with different expectations.
Call to action
Once your prospective client is done reading your proposal, ideally you want them to rush to contact you. In order to do this, they need to be aware of the next steps in the process.
Include your contact details and any other information that the potential client might require in order to contact you.
Social media marketing proposal version 2
If the above proposal template isn't what you're looking for, this one may be more up your street. It's a less formal approach to social media proposals that can be used by freelance social media specialists and social media marketing agencies alike.
Whilst there are some similarities, there are also some key differences. We've already covered some of the sections, so we'll stick to explaining the new points. Here are the main components:
- Cover letter
- Executive summary
- Scope of work
This section is similar to the goals and implementation section of the previous template, however, this dives deeper into the work you'll be undertaking in order to ensure the project's success. This include details on:
- A posting schedule: to let clients know how you'll go about increasing and optimizing their social media posting
- Content creation and curation: gives insight into what sort of content potential clients can expect form you, and what you'll be doing to stay up-to-date with the industry
- Brand keyword monitoring: to ensure your content is successfully ranking for the right for the clients' keywords
- Analytics and reporting: provide details on how you'll monitor progress and update clients on key points
- Other social media management details: anything you didn't include in the above sections goes here—if there's nothing to add then this section isn't necessary
- Project milestones and deadlines
We discussed this above, however, in this proposal you're aiming for a more rounded approach. Include details on what deliverables the client can expect and when, as well as what these deliverables entail.
- Previous clients
This is where you wow your potential client with outstanding testimonials from previous clients. This serves as proof of everything you've been saying up until now and is a key factor in a winning social media proposal.
You can also include previous work you've done for other clients, such as data from a previous social media campaign or screenshots of beautiful content you've created.
- Payment details
- Call to action
Creating a Social Media Marketing Proposal is Simple with Bonsai
Whatever route you decide to take when creating your social media proposal, Bonsai's customizable templates have you covered in every instance. It's simple and easy to get started:
- Sign up free for Bonsai
- Find the template you need
- Edit your proposal so it meets your needs
Alongside this proposal template, Bonsai has thousands of other templates to meet your business needs.
Social Media Marketing Proposal Template FAQs
What are the benefits of using social media marketing proposal templates?
A social media marketing template takes the hassle out of creating and editing your business proposals. It saves you time, whilst also ensuring you include all of the necessary information to convince prospective clients of your services' value.
How do I create a social media marketing proposal template?
Creating a social media marketing proposal template takes time and effort, especially if done alone. With Bonsai, you can cut down the time it takes to create winning social media proposals—sign up free here.
When do I draft and send the social media marketing proposal template?
A social media marketing proposal template is drafted and sent at the very start of the project. It's typically the first point of contact with potential clients.
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