What is a social media marketing quotation?
A social media marketing quote is a document sent by agencies or freelancers to a potential client. It should include the details and estimated price of work associated with a certain project.
They are specifically used in the context of a social media marketer, so the quotes will usually cover services such as social media management, making periodical posts, commenting on other related posts, community management, community engagement and developing ongoing strategy. Common social media channels used by businesses are Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter, with some brands even leveraging TikTok influencers to increase brand exposure
Social media marketing proposals and quotes are often similar, but a quote will generally go into less detail and sit within a proposal. Also, a proposal will usually only be sent directly in response to a formal request for proposal.
Note: We’ve seen many freelancer quotes over the years, and we’ve taken the best bits to create a social media marketing quote template that’s free to edit and download. Sign up to Bonsai today to create yours.
When should you send a social media quote?
Marketing professionals should send a quote to prospective clients in response to interest in their social media services. For example, this could be after a cold approach to a business that gets a response asking for more details, or from a company reaching out and directly asking for a quote.
Many businesses will shop around multiple marketing professionals, asking for several quotes and comparing their options before making a decision. For this reason, it’s important to respond to any requests for a quote as quickly and accurately as possible.
To speed up the process, we advise having a quote outline or template ready to go at all times. Whenever you receive interest from a potential customer, you can simply customize the quote to fit the job and send it out right away, maximizing your chances of getting the contract.
How to prepare to send your quotation
Before sending your quote, you’ll need to prepare. While most social media strategies will have similarities, every client and every new project will be different, so it’s crucial that you understand the demands and tailor your quote properly before sending it.
Research your target company
Doing some research about your target company early in the process is a great way to make more of an impact with your quotation. Firstly, you’ll understand their image, branding, and desires better than you would otherwise, and can tailor your service offering to match their social media goals. Additionally, you may be able to get an idea of the size and budget of the company, helping you to come up with suitable pricing that works for both you and the client.
A good place to start is with the company’s existing social media accounts, if they have any. What do they currently use? How often do they post? Are there any obvious areas they could improve? Does their strategy align with their branding, style, and target audience?
You should also take the time to look at any other online presence the company has, along with any other marketing materials you can find, to build a picture of what they are doing and how they operate.
Finally, you should be comfortable asking questions directly to the company. If you have a contact in the business then great, otherwise you can usually find an appropriate employee through LinkedIn or their website.
Work out realistic pricing
When it comes down to it, a quotation is mostly about pricing, so it’s probably the first thing the reader is going to look for. For this reason, it’s important that you make your figures as accurate and realistic as possible.
It can be surprisingly difficult to come up with an appropriate figure for a proposal, but one good method is to work out approximately how many hours a job will take you and multiply it by your hourly rate, plus a little extra (10-20%) for unforeseen additional time.
However, for some situations, this method isn’t the most appropriate. For example, if you are a particularly in-demand social media expert with proven results, you may want to charge based on the value you offer the company in the form of sales your work is likely to generate.
In this case, you can probably charge significantly more, but may have to work harder to justify your quote. Whatever you go with, always be sure to ensure you’ve worked your profit margin into the quote to ensure you’re getting paid fairly.
Finally, it’s important to be realistic with your quote to avoid having to change or correct it at a later date. This is likely to make you look unprofessional, frustrate clients, and reflect poorly on you.
What to include in the quotation
Every quote you send needs to fulfill a purpose—to communicate the detail of the work you will provide and an estimate of the cost. However, the exact structure and what elements you choose to include can vary from quote to quote. That said, there are a few basic elements that most, if not all, quotes should include.
Cover page
A cover page is a good opportunity to make your quotation look professional, presentable, and reflect your personal style (if that’s something relevant to your social media marketing services). It doesn’t need to be too flashy, but a good, well-designed cover page can help you get noticed among the other quotes a client is likely to receive and give a small advantage in the selection process.
Introduction/Cover letter
You should always include a short opening section to explain the purpose of the document and what it will cover. It only needs to be a couple of sentences or a short paragraph, but you can use the opportunity to introduce yourself, sum up the work, and add some personalized details about the client to show that you’ve put some thought into your quote.
Scope of work/Deliverables
Make sure that you define the work you will deliver as part of the project at some point in the quotation. Again, this section can be very brief, perhaps just a couple of bullet points, but it should clearly convey to the reader what you will offer as part of your package. For example, you could give details of each of the social media platforms you will work with and your posting schedule on each. Ideally, the reader will be able to quickly scan the document and find the deliverables immediately.
Pricing
As the most important part of the quote, ensure your pricing is clearly and concisely stated in a prominent position. The reader may well be glancing over dozens of different quotes, so if they can’t find the price quickly, they may just disregard the entire quote.
If you’re offering a package made up of different services then it’s good to break down each service with an individual price, followed by a total. This helps the client visualize what they will be paying for and can help to justify what may otherwise seem like an off putting figure.
A table format is good for pricing, laying everything out in a clear, easy-to-decipher way. You should also include a breakdown of any applicable taxes, for clarity.
Payment terms
A section covering your payment terms can help to make things as straightforward as possible and reduce the likelihood of any misunderstandings or disputes at a later date. You should include details such as how you’d like to be paid (such as via credit card, bank transfer, cheque, etc.), when you need to be paid (i.e. before starting work, upon delivery of project milestones, after all work has been submitted), and so on.
Timeframe
It’s good practice to include a timeframe for the work you plan to deliver, if possible. This could easily be incorporated into one of the other sections, such as the payment table.
Next steps
After all the most important details are covered, you could help to increase your chances of closing by including a short section about what they can expect to happen after they accept the quote. For example, you could explain that you’ll have an in-person meeting or call to discuss and finalize details and sign any contracts.
About you
This section is not strictly necessary, but can help to give the reader an idea of who you are, your background, your relevant work experience, your social media skills and so on. As with the other sections, try to keep it concise and targeted to avoid losing interest. If done right, this section will give the client all the information they need and help to convince them that you're the right person for the job and can guarantee the project’s success.
Contact details
Somewhere in the document, you should include your basic information and contact details, so that the client can get in touch if they’re interested and move the process forward.
How to write a social media marketing quotation
Find out exactly what the client wants
As we’ve already discussed in detail above, it’s always a good idea to do some research on a potential client before you send them a quote. It doesn’t need to be extensive, but a quick look over their current social media strategy, their social media goals, and a brief analysis of their branding and communications can help a great deal.
Additionally, if you’ve been contacted by the company requesting a quote, you should be sure to pay attention to the details they’ve provided. If they haven’t given sufficient details, then don’t hesitate to ask them questions that will enable you to write a more targeted and effective quotation.
Highlight what sets you apart
While it’s important not to send a long, rambling quote with too much information, you should try to find ways to highlight the unique attributes and experience that will make you a good choice for the job. For example, adding an ‘About me’ section or similar with a rundown of your most relevant qualifications and work experience can help to differentiate yours from other quotes.
Keep it concise
A quote is not the same as a social media proposal, so you should remember to keep it concise. When breaking down the deliverables, try to keep each point to a sentence or two. When writing the introduction, try not to exceed a short paragraph. Sticking to a concise quote structure will maximize reader engagement, help the reader to find the information they’re looking for quickly, and should improve your overall chances of successfully converting.
Consider offering options/packages
One effective way to personalize your quote and give the reader more choice is to offer a variety of services or packages. You could break down the options in a table, add interactive tick boxes for them to choose what they’re interested in, and so on. This approach helps to cater to different budgets and shows that you are flexible to the demands of the client.
Note: A quote can be a stand alone document to get costs to a prospective client quickly, or it can be bundled into a proposal doc. Our proposals allow you to offer single or multiple service options for your clients to choose from, so you can start maximizing your earnings.
Don’t spend too much time on each quote
Quotes are a fundamental part of any social media marketer’s toolbox, but you should avoid the trap of spending hours and hours producing each quote. It’s meant to be a short, to-the-point document that conveys price and a few other key details quickly and clearly, so going over the top with research and writing thousands of words is only going to detract from this purpose.
An excellent way to save time it takes to produce an effective quote is to use a professionally designed template.
Creating a social media marketing quotation is simple with Bonsai
Produce quotes faster
Save time by eliminating most of the quotation process and simply fill in the template with the relevant information.
Customize your quotes
Tailor the template to match your style as much or as little as you like and customize each quote to your potential clients. You can also whitelabel our templates to show your own branding and look extra professional.
Proven effectiveness
Our templates are proven to be effective, giving you the confidence to approach new clients in a professional and persuasive way.
Social media marketing quotation FAQs
FAQ 1 - How is a quote different from a proposal?
A social media marketing proposal is usually significantly more detailed than a simple quote. Additionally, a social media proposal is usually sent out in response to a specific request for a social media marketing proposal. In contrast, a quote is mainly designed to give a cost estimate, with a few other basic details. Take a look at our proposals vs quotes explanation for more information and advice on how to write proposals vs quotes.
FAQ 2 - Is a social media marketing quote legally binding?
No, they are not generally legally binding contracts. However, if the potential client is interested, the next step would generally be for them to sign a contract, so a quote is a very important part of getting new work for any freelancer or agency.
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