How to write a good social media proposal

Table of contents

1. Introduction: The Secrets of a Successful Social Media Proposal: How to Write One?
2. Before we start: what is a social media proposal?
3. A free social media proposal template
4. How to write a social media proposal?
5. Additional tips for writing a social media proposal
6. What else to include in your social media proposal?
7. Summary
8. FAQ

The Secrets of a Successful Social Media Proposal: How to Write One?

A social media marketing strategy without a captivating proposal is far from being perfect. A well-crafted text that presents your capacities and offers is a key to a fruitful cooperation with your customers. Whether you are a marketing agency or an advertiser, it is absolutely crucial to understand how to use a proposal for your business.

Bonus: We’ve also included a free social media proposal template that you can download now.

A proposal is a powerful tool that turns your prospects into clients. It includes the information your customers are the most interested in, namely – how exactly you can solve their problems and help them achieve their objectives. Follow the steps outlined below to learn more, find out how to compose a winning proposal, and make your potential customers gasp in amazed delight.

Before we start: what is a social media proposal?

A proposal is not a social media management contract or a pitch. This document is rather a presentation you send to your potential customer to make him “wow” and choose you as a marketing partner. You should send one after a consultation with a prospect (make sure that you understand his needs at this point), but before you sign a contract.

As the title of the document suggests, it is written to propose concrete services to your customer. The idea is to list a series of strategies and steps you are going to take to help him reach the desired results. Your task is to explain how social media marketing can benefit one’s business and then prove that you are qualified enough to implement the best practices in life. You need to show the results of your research and experience to prove that you are exactly the one he has been looking for. 

Proposals must be concrete. Make sure to provide a step-by-step work plan as well as such crucial details as deadlines and costs. Your customer will appreciate transparency and accuracy, which are key to a positive partnership. You know what they want and how to achieve that, while they understand what exactly you promise when they will get it, and how much it will cost. 

A free social media proposal template

Looking for a social media management proposal pdf to grasp the idea? Look no further. We have written one for you, so download it for free and follow the presented structure and principles to create yours with no hassle.

Mind that this document is a just sample with a suggested basic structure and most common points you may want to copy. However, you should follow the peculiarities of your own plan when writing a proposal. Each customer and niche are different, so chances are that you would like to make it differently. It’s okay to delete some sections, change them, or add new ones. Make sure to adapt the existing sample to your needs and you will reach the best results for sure. 

How to write a social media proposal?

Now let’s uncover a couple of practical steps on proposal writing:

1. Determine business and social media goals

Ask yourself some key questions. What are the goals of my clients` business? What are they working toward, and how can they use social media to achieve their goals? Before you start writing a proposal, make sure to discuss these points and the customer’s vision. With answers to these questions, you will be able to set the right goals.

2. Learn about your clients` audience

Don`t make assumptions about the clients` audience on your proposal. Collect as much data as possible, and then use it to improve your strategy. You can start from things like social media demographics or social media engagement. Have a look at the statistics, find out what can you bring from it. At this point, it is crucial to involve other marketing channels your customer may already have. This may include mail-outs, SEO, etc.  Customers’ reactions and behavioral patterns will give you a full picture.

If you already have a relationship with a client, ask him to share data that he has about his audience. And, if you have access to their social media accounts, use analytics to take core information about it.

3. Get to know the competition

Who are your clients` key competitors? You should mark at least five core competitors and put them in your list to understand who you will benchmark against.

With this data, you will have a clear picture of your desired goal. After that, look at the brands they are following.

When you identify competitors, use social media listening tools to monitor their activity. Don`t forget to create a matrix to map out how competitor social media efforts are positioned in relation to each other. Look carefully – if you will find a gap, you know that you can fill it with your social media strategy. Is there something their marketing campaign is missing? Maybe, they offer paid delivery or don’t cover some city areas? This means that you must provide free delivery and expand your delivery territory to get a competitive advantage. In your social media strategy, you will have to promote these features to allow customers to make a clear distinction between competitors and your prospect. What is more, see which social media strategies are missing on the competitors’ accounts. Do they post content frequently enough? How useful or entertaining their content is? Check which type of content gets more attention from users to know what to pitch in.

4. Conduct a social media audit

Perform an investigation to find out which social media channels your clients are currently using. Which platforms are the most popular and why? How have their previous social media initiatives measured up? Remember that different niches should land on different social media platforms, regarding their main features. For example, there is no better place for visual content than Instagram. Artists, photographers, and clothing shops need an Instagram account for sure. As for Facebook, it is great for long posts, guides, and informational content. Let’s say, a business account for a book shop will definitely be all right on this platform. 

5. Develop a content strategy

If you have successfully completed steps 1-4, you can create your content strategy. This is the point where you should work out what type of content will be created or curated, how your content may vary depending on the platform you are working with, and how it should be posted. You should pay attention to design, style, and voice. As you may already know, these three core elements of a marketing message must be relevant and cohesive. They should work as one whole – this is something that makes a brand memorable and appealing. Make sure to distinguish the strongest and brightest features of customers’ brand image and think how can you make them even greater. In your social media campaign, you should highlight and strengthen them as much as you can.   

You should use your clients as a source of information as much as possible – get everything you need because it will depend on how successful your social media proposal will be. Addressing his needs directly and quite literally is key.

Additional tips for writing a social media proposal

If you know how to write a social media proposal, it’s good, but you can’t do it like a robot with one algorithm. So, we will show you some tips to make your proposal non-standard.

6. Address the clients` needs and objectives

Here you have an opportunity to show clients that you understand their business` needs and goals. Keep it simple and be as specific as possible so that you leave a little room for discrepancy and ambiguity. Be ready to discuss questionable points and answer questions. 

7. Present social media goals and objectives

Here you should have from three to five social media goals and objectives. Each objective should be supported by the platforms, metrics, and end date.

8. Outline your tactics

This is the core point in writing a social media proposal. You will launch your social media strategy using all information from your research and social media audits.

Remember: you should keep things simple. For the beginning, provide a scope of work. Here you must have:

9. Social media promotions and campaigns
10. Social media engagement
11. Social selling
12. Lead generation
13. Content creation
14. Social media monitoring
15. Provide a schedule and a budget

Use a template to create a specific timetable and set a budget. Provide enough data for your clients to get a comprehensive understanding, but don’t add too many details. Remember that you can always elaborate in the appendix.

What else to include in your social media proposal?

Now let’s make a small check. Your proposal should answer the following questions:

• What exactly are you going to do?
• Which customers’ goals you plan to achieve?
• How will you do that?
• Which strategies and tools are you going to use for concrete objectives? 
• Which of your team members is going to be engaged in the process? (optional)
• How does a customer’s business transform after your manipulations? 
• How much each of your services costs?
• How much time do you need to reach particular results?

Haven’t you forgotten anything? Well, in addition to the most common sections and facts we have already listed above, you can also add some more details to make your social media management proposal more complete:

• What is not included? 

This one is an optional section, so you may add or omit one – it depends on your preferences. Or else – if you and your customer have discussed some items during the first consultation and you have mentioned that some services are not included, you may reveal this again in your proposal. This way, you will remind the customer of features/services that he shouldn’t expect. Sometimes, mentioning things that are not included in the campaign is absolutely vital, since this will help you avoid misunderstanding and conflicts in the process.

For example: Facebook paid-ads content is not included in the campaign, but you are free to request it additionally. 

• What are the add-on services?

In pursuit of the previous point, you may include a list of additional services per request. It is important to let your customer know that you are ready to work more for an additional cost. Make sure to be concrete here and reveal which add-ons are available per order. Your customer might be not savvy in social media marketing, so you should inform them about some details and reveal your additional offers during a consultation.  

For example: Facebook paid ads content, Instagram stories, contests for customers, etc. 

• Who will do the work?

Optionally, you can add a section where the team members and their duties are listed. For example, you may explain to the customer which work is going to be remote, in the office, outsourced on the freelance market, etc. Your social media pitch will be more complete and reliable with short presentations of every team member: content writers, project manager, account manager, web designer, etc. 

Summary

A clear and engaging proposal for your customers is an integral part of your marketing toolkit and a great way to present your company in the best light. In addition, a straightforward and transparent document that lists the conditions of your cooperation, services, deadlines, and costs guarantees that you will have fewer misunderstandings and controversies in the process. 

The more detailed, interesting, and tempting your proposal is, the higher the chances that your prospect will turn into a customer right away. To make this happen, you should do market research and hold a consultation with your prospect to find out more about his/her needs. Market research is crucial to be aware of the current situation, trends, and competitors. This information should be combined with the customer’s needs and expectations. Together, they will make a perfect cocktail and a list of aims to be geared to.

Your proposal should clearly state what you can do to help your prospect reach the desired results. Make sure to explain how exactly you are going to do that; which strategies you are going to implement; and how much time and money you will need. Optionally, you can present your team members, add-on services, etc. Make sure to add contact information to your proposal and format it neatly, like the downloadable template included in this post.

Good luck and happy proposal writing!

FAQ

How do you write a social media proposal?

First, talk to your prospect to have a clear picture of his/her needs and expectations. You need to collect as much data as possible to develop a winning strategy on how to achieve those goals. Second, make a plan of action and explain it in your proposal. The idea is to present concrete strategies for every aim your customer has. Explain how and by means of which instruments you are going to reach those goals. Don’t forget to provide concrete numbers: deadlines, schedule of your activities, and costs. 

What is the media proposal?

A social media marketing proposal is a document you send to your customer after consultation but before you sign the contract. This text aims at convincing your potential client that you are the best agency/person to cooperate with since you have a clear understanding of his needs and know what to do in order to achieve them. In simple words, you need to outline how can you help them achieve what they want and improve sails. 

How can I write a proposal?

To compose a winning proposal, you should find out everything about your prospect’s needs and think about the strategies to meet them. The idea of a proposal is to show your customer that you know how to help him and there are concrete social media marketing methods you will apply. Describe your plans in detail, list the prices and deadlines. 

Is a proposal a contract?

No, a proposal is not a contract yet. This document is usually written and sent to your prospect before you make a contract. In fact, your proposal should be convincing enough to motivate a prospect to sign a contract and make a deal with you. A proposal doesn’t mean that you are partners already – this document is an intermediary. 

How do you write a proposal to an influencer?

To convince an influencer with your proposal, make sure to write an engaging proposal where you describe your ideas in an appealing manner. Why should this person cooperate with you? The best reason you can provide is an explanation that makes you unique. Don’t be shy to boast about your expertise and knowledge, only make sure that this information is relevant to the brand. Also, remember that great proof is your previous success, so provide data about the campaigns you worked on and showcase your skills in practice.