How to write a winning marketing proposal (template included)

Knowing what buyers look for in a marketing proposal and how to encourage them to take action can help increase your client conversion win rate.

This article shows you how to create an engaging and impactful marketing proposal. It includes tips to help you stand out from competitors and a free marketing proposal template to simplify the writing process.

What is a marketing proposal?

A marketing proposal is a document that outlines the scope and cost of a potential marketing campaign for clients or decision-makers.

Marketing agencies and consultants use proposals to pitch their services to prospective clients, while in-house marketing teams use them to get stakeholder sign-off for upcoming marketing projects.

A marketing proposal includes vital information like:

• Goals and challenges

• Marketing strategies

• Metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs)

• Budgets

• Timeframes

Whether you pitch to a startup, small business or large enterprise, a marketing proposal will help you:

• Demonstrate you understand your prospect’s needs. A proposal shows you’ve researched their business, weighed the challenges and carefully considered a solution
  

• Showcase your proposed solution. Explain your marketing plan, detail the services you’ll use to meet the client’s marketing goals and show how you’ll measure the success of your marketing efforts
  

• Prevent project scope creep. A written blueprint ensures both parties know what to expect
  

• Differentiate yourself from competitors. Showcase your team, case studies, awards and unique selling points (USPs)
  

• Inspire prospects to take action. A good marketing proposal gives buyers everything they need to decide if your offer is best

Get started with Pipedrive’s marketing proposal template

With a marketing proposal template, you save time and avoid writing a new proposal from scratch. A template gives you a great foundation to work with and ensures you include all the relevant information.

Download Pipedrive’s free marketing proposal template, complete with example content and helpful tips and directions.

The template is incredibly flexible. Use it for social media marketing, search engine optimization or pay-per-click digital marketing proposals. Personalize it for every client.

How to write a marketing proposal in 6 steps

Getting started should be straightforward if you work from the above marketing proposal example. Learn how to write a great proposal by following these steps.

1. Understand your prospect’s needs and desires

Every great proposal begins by deeply understanding the client’s needs and goals. While an RFP provides a good starting point, there’s no substitute for a discovery session – an initial consultation between you and potential clients.

Use this discovery meeting to pre-qualify clients and learn as much about them as possible.

In particular, find out their:

• Objectives. What are the problems they want to solve?

• Target audience. Who are they trying to attract? Do they have ideal customer profiles (ICPs) or buyer personas?

• Previous efforts. What have they tried before? What’s worked? What’s failed?

• Budget. How much money can they commit to marketing? Is there room for negotiation?

• Timeframe. When do they want to solve their problems? Is it urgent or a long-term play?

Pay particular attention to phrases customers use and examples they provide. Reference them in your proposal to prove that you listen.

2. Research your prospect further

A discovery session is a great start, but you shouldn’t stop there. Next, learn more about your customer’s market, challenges and anything else that can help you propose an effective solution.

Here are some excellent sources of information:

• Company news (on their website and third-party outlets)

• Social media content

• Industry reports

• Competitor websites

• Market research tools like Semrush

Go beyond an RFP and offer unique insights. Competitor analysis might highlight an opportunity the client hasn’t seen yet or a new challenge they need to overcome.

Reference some of your findings directly in your proposal. Other insights can add context to the discovery session and help you emphasize what matters most.

3. Fill out your template

Use the marketing proposal sample above to avoid starting from scratch every time.

Here’s an overview of what to include in each section.

• Cover page: it’s easy to neglect, but it’s the first thing your client will see. Make a great first impression by including a well-designed cover page incorporating the client’s business branding.

• Executive summary: the first (and possibly only) thing a client will read. Summarize their problem and your solutions concisely and engagingly.

• Problem statement: set the scene. Summarize your new client’s challenges to show you understand them. Include what they’ve done to tackle them before and why these efforts haven’t worked. Share findings from your additional research if appropriate.

• Scope of work: detail your proposed deliverables. Include the specific services you’ll use and why you think they’ll work.

• How you’ll measure success: list the goal-oriented metrics, objectives and key results (OKRs) you’ll use to measure the campaign’s success. For example, choose conversion-focused metrics if a client wants to increase revenue or brand awareness metrics if they want more traffic.

• About us: describe your business and list the team members who will work on the account. Include industry awards and accreditations, too

• Estimated timeframes: propose deadlines and milestones for the project.

• Costs: set out your fees by quoting a single price or giving clients a choice of several packages.

• Terms and conditions: include payment terms, confidentiality agreements, cancellation notices and other legal considerations.

Write clearly and concisely. There’s going to be a lot of information for clients to take in, so make your business proposal engaging by:

• Using short sentences and bullet points

• Keeping paragraphs short and focused on a single idea or concept

• Using the active voice

• Adopting a conversational tone

• Writing in the second person (you, your)

Don’t worry if you’re not a professional copywriter. Free tools like Grammarly and Hemingway Editor highlight spelling and grammatical errors and suggest ways to improve your copy.

4. Include your value proposition

A value proposition describes why your company is the right choice and what differentiates you from competitors. It describes:

• Who your service is for

• What your service does

• Why it’s better than your competitors’ offerings

• Why customers should buy it

The value proposition is a customer-facing statement (unlike a unique selling proposition, which is for internal use), so it should be part of your marketing proposal.

Here’s an example value proposition from Pipedrive:

It explains who Pipedrive is for (small businesses), what it is (a CRM), why it’s better than competing options (easy-to-use, built by salespeople) and why you should buy it (to centralize data, visualize sales processes, win more deals).

Your value proposition is doubly important if you know you won’t be the cheapest option. Businesses care about the bottom line, so clarify why a client will get a better return on their investment by choosing you.

5. Add a relevant case study

Case studies are a form of content marketing that gives prospective clients a concrete example of how you’ve served similar customers. They help prospective customers understand your value and reassure them you can deliver.

Make a habit of asking loyal customers for permission to tell their stories every time you surpass their goals. Get case studies from multiple industries to always have a relevant example.

Include reviews and testimonials from relevant clients, too. The more social proof you can provide, the more confident customers feel in their decision.

6. Outline the next steps in a cover email

Not knowing how to proceed is a common reason clients don’t sign proposals. Avoid this pitfall with the help of a cover letter that clearly states the next steps. Your goal is to convince your prospect to take action immediately, not set your proposal aside.

Include a call to action like:

• Booking a meeting to discuss the proposal

• Signing a letter of intent

• Paying a deposit

4 ways to convert more prospects

Writing an excellent marketing proposal means standing out and staying professional. You must capture the reader’s attention, convince them you’re the right choice and methodically prove you can meet their goals.

Here are four tips to create an engaging marketing proposal that compels prospective clients to convert.

1. Get their attention

Your client will receive several proposals, so you must grab (and hold) their attention. Memorable and engaging proposals will likely get a second or third read.

An executive summary can make a great first impression and immediately highlight why you’re the best agency. Some people will only read your summary, so use it to encourage them to go further.

Here’s what to include:

• A clear statement of the client’s problem

• A specific solution that solves the problem

• Your value proposition

• A summary of why your agency is the best choice

Consider this executive summary example from Canva:

It presents an overview of the proposal and makes information accessible through headers, bold graphics and charts.

Once you’ve got your reader’s attention, keep them interested by including images, graphs, statistics and examples throughout the proposal. Visual elements do a great job of breaking up walls of text and helping readers understand your points clearly.

2. Focus on your audience

It can be tempting to make it all about your company – after all, you want to sell yourself. While discussing your skillset and experience is essential in a marketing proposal, always relate everything to your client’s needs and goals.

Employ these writing hacks to make the job easier:

• Use the second person

• Reflect a client’s language (if they refer to customers as clients, do the same)

• Call out specific customers

• Incorporate the client’s brand colors

If you use a template, personalize every part of your proposal – even the copy most agencies don’t change (like team information or value proposition). For instance, mention relevant industry experience or tweak your value prop to reflect your client’s expectations.

3. Make it easy for them to take action

The more friction you remove from the customer journey, the more likely prospects are to convert. While outlining the next steps at the end of the proposal helps speed things along, go even further by incorporating e-signature functionality into your proposal.

Pipedrive has two features that simplify the process:

Pipedrive’s Smart Docs has built-in e-signatures that let clients sign the proposal without downloading third-party extensions or software. Use Smart Docs to create an interactive proposal that auto-fills your document with data from your CRM. It will even notify you when the prospect opens it.

Here’s what the e-signature feature looks like in Smart Docs:

Pipedrive Marketplace offers several integrations with e-signature software providers like PandaDoc, Eurosign and eSignature.io that facilitate data sharing and allow you to send documents for signatures without leaving Pipedrive.

Both options allow potential customers to sign your proposal immediately after reading it.

4. Follow up with prospects

Following up is an essential step in the proposal process that can significantly increase conversion rates. Automate this otherwise time-consuming marketing process using follow-up email templates and a marketing CRM.

In Pipedrive, for example, create an email template that your CRM populates with client information and sends a specific number of days after you submit your proposal.

Use follow-ups as an opportunity to do more than give clients a gentle nudge. Offer to book a meeting to walk them through your proposal. You’ll ensure they read your proposal and give you a chance to answer questions and overcome concerns.

Go one step further by nurturing prospects who aren’t ready to convert. For instance, use Campaigns by Pipedrive’s marketing automation tool to create and schedule nurturing emails after sending a proposal. Track email performance to discover if a message resonates, and step in if you think a prospect is ready for another proposal.

If you don’t hear back, add the prospect to your cold leads. If they continue facing the same challenges, prospects may contact you again, so be ready to re-offer your marketing services.

Final thoughts

A great marketing proposal turns prospective clients into loyal customers. You can create a high-converting document by understanding your prospects, showing how your services solve their pain points and proving your abilities.

Get started by downloading our marketing proposal template. Then, use the tactics in this article to make your document compelling and tailored to your client’s needs.