Digital Marketing proposal template

A digital marketing proposal template that you’ll love

Digital marketing projects come in all shapes and sizes. The one thing they have in common is that they are the result of a proposal and.. It all starts with a template!

Digital marketing is a necessity these days but most clients are kind of doing it wrong. Even so, convincing them to bring on board an agency is no easy task. There is a long list of barriers you have to remove and then you have to convince them you are the right agency for the job. You need to differentiate yourself by adding value. In other words you have to show why working with you is more than just contracting a digital marketing service. But how?

With a compelling online proposal that shows you “get it”.

Your ideal digital marketing proposal resonates with the client. It shows you took care to understand them deeply. You mention your services but you focus on the value you can bring to that specific client and situation. By customizing a proposal template in this way you give yourself the best chance of landing the project.

We’ve seen a lot of proposals here at Nusii and we know that the conversion rate increases the more you customize the template. That’s why we encourage our customers to adapt our templates to their needs. It sounds like a pain in the backside but it doesn’t have to be that way, we promise!

If you are using proposal software such as Nusii you’ll find it quick to make changes. Our features are designed to enable drag and drop, reusable content, auto-updating variables and more. It means you can send buckets of proposals and make each one feel completely personal to the recipient. Awesome!

Ready to start? Have a look at our templates or sign up for a free trial.

How to create a Digital Marketing Proposal from a template

Digital marketing continues to expand and covers a vast range of services from PPC, influencer marketing, SEO, digital PR, social media management, email marketing and more. Whether you are a full service agency or a specialized service provider, you have one thing in common. You need to send a lot of proposals to keep a healthy stream of clients flowing into your pipeline.

A proposal template helps you save a lot of time in proposal creation. We know this and that’s why we’re happy to share ours for free but you still need to customize the template. Why? Well, you could use it as is but to give you the best chance of success you should make it resonate with your prospective client by personalizing it as much as possible.

Here, we will explain how to do this. We’ll go through the structure which we believe should be made up of 7 sections and how to customize each one of them. Once you’ve finished reading, you’ll be ready and confident to bring in digital marketing clients. So, let’s get started!

1. Cover & title

The first thing to customize is of course the title and the cover image. This should be relatively straight forward. We don’t recommend anything creative for the title, it should be descriptive and to the point. If it’s a full service digital marketing proposal, then just say it.

You never know who is reading the proposal as they are often forwarded to other stakeholders who may not have been involved in any of the previous stakeholders. For this reason it’s best to keep things simple with a sensible title.

The cover image should accurately reflect your work but try not to pick an image that is too busy or that makes the title text difficult to read. Also, don’t forget to customize the image to each client so it really resonates.

2. Problem & goals

You rarely end up sending cold proposals. Almost everyone has some sort of contact with their prospect before a proposal is solicited. That initial client interview is crucial to getting the information you need to make a winning proposal. We really believe in this. So much so we actually made a guide on client interviews!

The main takeaway is that it should be used to uncover the client’s underlying problems. What do they really need to get out of this digital marketing proposal?

If you uncovered this during your initial conversations, the statement of needs will be a breeze. Let’s say, for example, that the company you’ve been talking to is concerned about the fact they are getting fewer clients for the same amount of ad spend over time which complicates their ability to hit ROAS targets. The underlying problem is declining conversion rates.

You’ll then write your proposal goals which will be a direct response to the underlying problem. In the example we gave, that was decreasing conversion rates. Therefore, the goal might be something like this; “We aim to conduct a 360 degree analysis to uncover the reasons for the decline in conversion rates and propose changes to the existing marketing campaigns to directly address this issue. This will involve reviewing: copy, creatives & landing pages.” If you can commit to clear targets, this makes the goals even better.

Remember to state the needs and goals as concisely as possible. We don’t need to write an essay, just to confirm to the client that we understood their situation and are planning to address it. This will give them confidence in the rest of the proposal.

3. Proposed solution

So, we’ve arrived at the main part of the proposal template. This is what most people have in mind when they think of a digital marketing proposal. We’re sure you already have ideas of what to include and maybe you have your own tried and trusted approach but we’d still like to give you some tips about how to increase your chances of success!

Firstly, we think it’s best to stay focused. As we mentioned before digital marketing is a vast area and there are probably many possible services you can cross-sell or upsell. However, try to limit your proposal to what will really add value to your client. The services that will obviously have a high impact on their bottom line. Once you’re working with them there will be plenty of chances to upsell.

Secondly, don’t just list services. Highlight what sets you apart, what you are a specialist in and what your expertise and experience means in terms of the added value you can bring. Make it clear to your client that working with you is not like working with any other agency. Your goal is to help them reach the conclusion that they want to work with you (regardless of the price!)

At this point it is very useful to think back to the initial client interview and try to focus on the areas that the client themselves identified as critical. Think of their priorities, needs and goals. Adopting this approach will both increase your chances of winning the project but also help you differentiate yourself from any competing agencies who just list all the possible services they offer.

4. Scope

Having a few sentences to describe what is and isn’t included is essential. There is often a blurry line between the client's responsibilities and yours but you’ll need to be clear what your deliverables are and where your work ends. This will avoid any future conflicts or misunderstandings.

For example, are you going to be managing social media posts or DMs as well. Is the paid ads budget included in the proposal or does the client need to pay that separately?

5. Benefits

Before diving into pricing we recommend getting the client into the right frame of mind. A great way to do this is to highlight the benefits that your proposal and approach will bring. If the primary benefit is increased conversion, say, you can explain the impact this will have on the business. That might range from having more efficient ad spend to having a greater ability to scale and of course a healthier bottom line.

This is also a secondary opportunity to show the prospective client you truly understand what they need. So, make sure it matches back to the stated needs and goals.

6. Pricing

With so many people offering digital services, pricing can become a bit nerve-wracking. We would suggest forgetting what other people might be charging. Let’s be honest there’s always someone who will undercut you!

As you may have noticed the themes of this guide has been to focus on providing value based on a deep understanding of the client. This means we can afford to price according to our worth but what’s the best way of doing that?

Well, we are firm believers in optional pricing. In a nutshell, this means bundling your service into 2 or more packages which are set at different price points. The advantage of this approach is that you avoid itemising your services, protect your margins and still offer something for every budget.

For example, you might want to include a basic bundle which includes minimal social media services, standard PPC ads and little more. You can then create higher-priced complete packages which might include many additional items such as follow-up calls, advanced reporting, influencer outreach, complex ad structures and so on.

With optional pricing you set the packages and the client chooses the one that fits their needs (and budget!)

7. Timeline and cta

Finally, we need to include an idea of timings. We think the end of the proposal is the perfect place to include it because it adds a little urgency. For example, instead of saying it takes 8 weeks to get the ball rolling you can state that the first deliverable will occur 8 weeks from the date of sign-off.

This makes the client want to sign asap which can’t be a bad thing! Now, if you use proposal software such as Nusii, you can benefit from digital signatures. There are quite a few advantages to this such as simplifying and accelerating sign off but the bottom line is clients love to e-sign!