How to Write a Marketing Proposal That Wins Clients

Ever spent hours crafting a marketing proposal, and then never heard back from the prospect?

You consistently put in the effort but don’t see the results.

Unfortunately, it’s a frustrating experience for many marketers.

You realize each marketing proposal is an opportunity to earn business for your agency. Of course, this has never been more important.

Fact: generating leads is one of the biggest challenges facing modern marketers just like you.

Now imagine what it would be like to master the art of creating effective marketing proposals. You’ll close deals with ease. Gone are the days of spending countless hours on proposals that fall flat.

Here we will walk through you all techniques you can use to consistently produce winning marketing proposals.

How to Write an Effective Marketing Proposal

Great marketing proposals aren’t about your company or your team; great marketing proposals put the customer—their needs, problems, and goals—at the forefront.

We’ve collected tactics, used by some of the most successful marketing professionals, you can start using right away to craft a client-focused marketing proposal.

Know your Client

A successful marketing proposal is built on your knowledge of the client. After all, when you know your client, you can better communicate how your services will help them.

Direct conversations with your prospective customer will be critical. On top of these first-hand insights, use additional data to complement your observations.

There are a few techniques and tools to consider here.

Buyer Personas Guide Client-Focused Marketing Proposals

Study buyer persons based on your target clients. Detailed marketing personas include important information about your ideal customer:

• How old is your client?
• Where do they live?
• Where do they work?
• Do they have children?
• What do they fear?

Tap into the power of buyer personas to keep your proposal focused on your prospective client’s needs.

Use Your Client’s Own Words

What better way to connect with your customer than by reflecting their needs back to them in their own words?

Voice of the customer data - client feedback and expectations of your service - is a powerful device when it comes to crafting persuasive marketing proposals.

And that’s not all.

When you know your clients pain points and motivations, it’s easy to present how your company is the solution. It’s your chance to show a genuine understanding of what your prospect cares about.

Perform Industry Research

Are you aware of the shifts in your client’s industry? What are the reasons your clients customers buy from them?

Who are their competitors? A bit of competitive intelligence will allow you to position your client as the superior offering.

Why does any of this matter?

You’re giving your client the confidence that you have a sense of the state of the market. You know what you need to do to help them succeed in their specific industry.

Gather Your Own Data About Your Client’s Audience

Use data to back up your choices, rather than relying on a hunch. You should, for example, analyze updated data about the client’s audience.

Understanding your client’s target audience means you know when and where to reach them. So which channels are working well? How do they acquire most of their customers? Here’s where online research sources can help.

Good figures are available from:

• Statistia
• We are Social
• Google Dataset Search

How to Structure Your Marketing Proposal

A well-designed proposal is organized and concise. You’re after clarity and simplicity; it’s your goal to present the information in a way that is easy to read.

A good first step is to use a content page: right off the bat, the client has a guide to find the information they need fast.

You’ve probably heard different opinions about the right length of a proposal. For instance, some industry experts suggest sending a brief one-page document. On the other hand, others recommend getting into granular detail about your strategy.

What’s the best strategy for you?

Both approaches have their merits. You might find a middle-ground is the right approach for your marketing proposal.

But, generally, marketing experts recommend including the following sections.

Introduction

Hold your reader’s attention with an introduction that shows you understand the challenge.

Some marketing organizations suggest adding a summary at the start of your marketing proposal. It would include a line or two covering the client’s problem and your offering.

Problem

Define your customer’s challenge, and convey that you fully grasp the issues. Ultimately, your client must trust that you can fix the problem. The only way to gain that trust? Show you understand the problem.

Solution

Next, present your plan. It doesn’t matter what service you’re offering, e.g., a Facebook marketing strategy or PPC campaign, what you’re really selling — and what the client really wants—is a solution. They want to see your strategy to help them increase revenue, win new customers, or reduce churn.

Detail the results you’ll deliver and include a scope of work, with timelines and costs.

Proof and Qualifications

How do you build a case for why your client should work with you?

A good approach to consider is common piece of writing advice called show, don’t tell. It’s a tactic that lets you engage your client’s imagination. You can, for example, use snippets from case studies to help your reader picture what success looks like.

Include success rates and team credentials. This is a great way to weave a story about why your company is the best business decision your client can make.

Call to Action

What do you want your client to do next? Add a clear and engaging call to action to remove any uncertainty about the next steps.

Include Key Information

Although you should keep your marketing proposal simple, you shouldn’t neglect the most crucial information.

Budget

The more pricing information you can provide, the better. Be open and transparent about the fees involved, giving potential customers an accurate picture of the costs.

Aside from the total costs, your marketing proposals needs to state:

• When is payment due?
• Is an upfront payment required?
• Are there any recurring costs?

Schedule

Provide a clear overview of the timeline and milestones. Make sure the deadlines are realistic. And mention anything you’ll need from the client at each stage of the project.

Success Metrics

How will you measure success? What’s the return on investment? How will the marketing activities impact your client’s business? Make it easy to prove the value of your services.

Potential indicators include:

• Increased revenue
• Improved brand awareness
• Deeper customer engagement
• Higher customer retention

Include Visuals

Think back to the last time you were forced to pour over a text-heavy document. Walls of words don’t make for easy reading.

As a marketer, you’re probably adding more and more visual content to your campaigns. Relevant visuals can enhance your marketing proposal, too.

Add charts, graphs, or images, to your proposal. Software like Canva gives you the power to quickly create visually appealing graphics.

Even better, these online applications offer free marketing proposal templates.

Save Time with Marketing Proposal Templates

Creating an effective proposal typically requires a significant time investment.

And time, or a lack thereof, is one of the biggest challenges for marketing teams, according to this survey of 1,000 marketers.

Fortunately, you don’t need to start from scratch with each new proposal.

A marketing proposal template will be used several times, so automating this document once makes the entire proposal process so much more efficient.

Here’s a few practical reasons to work with templates:

• Improve productivity because you no longer need to manually design each proposal
• Reduce human error
• Portray a consistent, professional brand image

Setting up a marketing proposal template is simple with an e-signature tool like Xodo Sign.

Using Xodo Sign, you can:

• Upload documents from your computer or via a third-party cloud integration, like Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, or Google Drive
• Make the template available to staff
• Restrict editing on the template, so staff won’t be able to edit the document
• Add multiple signers, e.g., marketing, sales, and the client
• Set up a signing order
• Track the status of the document

Although you should customize your proposal for each client, templates reduce the hours it takes to prepare proposals. That frees you up to focus on the most meaningful parts of the document.

Add a Clear, Engaging Call-to-Action

By the time your client reaches the end of your marketing proposal, they’ll have just one question, “Where do I sign?”

But have you made it easy for them to take the next step?

One answer is to make your marketing proposal a contract with clearly labelled signing fields. Use a tool like Xodo Sign so your potential customer can sign the document wherever they are, from any device.

Start Writing Winning Marketing Proposals

Clear, compelling marketing proposals communicate the value of your work. A good marketing proposal can mean the difference between winning and losing the client.

Now it’s your turn. Start using these strategic, tested tips today and watch the success rate of your marketing proposals soar.