What a good social media agency proposal contains

Key takeaways

A good social media agency proposal shows that the agency understood your business and tells you exactly what you will get. It has nine sections, fits on a few pages and states scope, hours, fee, extras and terms as numbers. A proposal that is mostly about the agency is a brochure.

• Nine sections: goal, audience, channels, scope, team, measures, fee, extras, terms.
• Scope, hours and reply times should be written as numbers.
• The first 90 days should be set out month by month.
• A proposal that could be sent to anyone was written for no one.

What is a social media proposal for?

A social media proposal is a written offer from an agency that sets out what it will do for your business, what it will cost and how results will be judged. Its job is to let you compare offers and to become the basis of the contract.

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• A social media brief that gets comparable quotes

Which nine sections should it contain?

A complete proposal answers nine questions, from the goal it is working towards to the terms you would sign. If one is missing, ask for it before you compare prices, because the gaps are where extra costs and later disappointments tend to hide. A good agency will supply a missing section within a day.

• Goal: the commercial outcome, in your words.
• Audience: who must be reached and where.
• Channels: which, and why not the others.
• Scope: monthly volumes, reply hours, reporting.
• Team: named people and their hours.
• Measures: what is reported and when.
• Fee: monthly fee and any set-up charge.
• Extras: exclusions with prices or allowances.
• Terms: term, notice, ownership.

• Social media scope of work: what to put in writing

How should the price be presented?

The price should be one clear monthly fee with the hours it represents, any set-up fee, and a list of extras. Most UK SME proposals fall within £950–£2,500 a month. Ad spend should be shown as a separate budget paid to the platform, not folded into the fee.

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What should the first 90 days look like?

The proposal should set out the first quarter. Month one is access, audit, strategy and the first content. Month two is a steady rhythm with tracking live. Month three is the first full report and a recommendation on what to stop. A review date should be named.

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What are the signs of a template pitch?

A template pitch talks about the agency, uses your logo on generic slides and promises growth without numbers. It lists platforms without saying why. It guarantees followers or virality. It has no named people, no hours and no mention of what it needs from you.

• Pages about the agency before a word about you.
• No hours, names or reply times.
• Guaranteed follower numbers or viral reach.
• Nothing about what you must supply.

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How should you respond to a proposal?

Respond with questions, in writing, and score the answers. Ask for hours by role, the price of each extra, an example of a monthly report and a client of your size you can speak to. How an agency handles questions tells you how it will handle the account.

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How quickly should a proposal arrive?

Within about a week of a proper conversation. A proposal sent the same day without questions is a template. One that takes a month suggests how the account will be run. Expect a short call first, a few follow-up questions, then a written proposal you can read in ten minutes.

• Day 1: a discovery call of about 30 minutes.
• Days 2 to 3: follow-up questions on access and goals.
• Within a week: the written proposal.
• Then: a call to walk through it.

What does this look like in practice?

Global Bridge Labs (GBL) sends a one-page costed plan after a 30-minute call: channels, monthly volumes, reply hours, the report and a fixed monthly fee. A pattern we see is that owners find a single clear page easier to act on than a 30-slide deck.

• See client work
• Social Media Marketing for UK businesses

Proposal review checklist

Check each proposal for these.

• Your goal restated accurately.
• Channels chosen with reasons.
• Volumes, hours and reply times as numbers.
• Named people.
• Fee, set-up and extras listed.
• A 90-day plan and review date.
• Term, notice and ownership.

Next step

Send us a proposal you have received. We will tell you which of the nine sections are missing and what to ask.