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How to Write a Social Media Manager Proposal [+FREE Template]
Beyond common belief, being a social media manager is more complicated than it looks. Apart from managing multiple social media platforms, managers can also dabble in marketing strategies, paid advertising campaigns, influencer collaborations, public relations… so on.
This is a valuable career that more and more marketing professionals are stepping into, transforming a brand’s digital presence. A strong social media manager proposal will help individuals transmit how they will work with clients to help them achieve their goals.
But, what is a social media manager proposal? In this article, I will discuss the importance of creating a powerful proposal to present your work, exemplify your skillset, and win clients.
What is a Social Media Manager Proposal?
As with any job, creating a professional portfolio helps employers understand a candidate’s experiences, strengths, and highlighted work. This is known as a social media manager proposal. Think of this as a mix between a professional portfolio and a media kit, mixing your scope of work, social media goals, timeline, and pricing packages in one document.
With the ever-changing social media world, social media managers need to be ready on their toes to adapt to any changes. Instead of working harder, you can optimize your social media tasks to work for you. Here are some tips to help you stay on top of your efforts:
How to Write a Social Media Manager Proposal in 8 Steps
To ensure your clients have a clear picture of what contributions you will give to their marketing efforts, this proposal should include 7 key elements. This proposal is tailored toward freelance social media professionals seeking to advance their career or personal brand.
Introduction
This step is straightforward and should follow a similar structure to a portfolio, CV, or media kit introduction. In this section, you will present yourself authentically including any standout experiences, skills, and backgrounds. As you want to tailor this to a social media management angle, ensure this introduction conveys your attitude and efforts in a work setting. Keep it professional, but don’t be afraid to let your personality shine.
Overview
The second part of this social media manager proposal is to give an overview of the work you will be doing, a.k.a, explicitly explaining what you will do for your client and what you expect from them. This can include the following clarification points, such as:
- How you will communicate with clients and how they can reach you
- How much time you can dedicate to this project/agreement
- What information or materials (if any) you need from your client
- Any tools or platforms you currently use in your day-to-day social media work
This step is open to interpretation and will depend on the client you’re working with. This should briefly overview the collaboration, including any clarifications or questions. Again, this doesn’t need to be lengthy.
Social Media Goals
Next, you will define social media goals based on your client’s pain points. With these goals, you will explain how you plan to solve and overcome these challenges. We recommend creating 3-5 goals, remembering the SMART goals framework.
What are SMART goals? These are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Based goals. This will ensure you can keep track of your progress, so when you reach those, you can aim for bigger ones. For example, “Increase engagement on Instagram by 15% by the end of the quarter.”
Timeline
Now is the time to define what your ideal contract length will be. 3 months, 6 months, a year? This timeline is up to you, but we recommend at least a 3-month contract. When it comes to winning new clients, building these relationships is crucial. Rather than a one-off campaign, a 3-month agreement allows you to understand the brand and those behind it.
If you are open to any timeline, add this note, however, if you’re looking for longer-term agreements, mention this preference.
Scope of Work
This section will expand on the overview, explaining the exact tasks and responsibilities you will take on for your client. This will mimic a social media content plan, breaking down what, when, and how you will execute your strategy.
This can include a few elements, such as:
- Social Media Platforms: Define which social media platforms you will manage for the brand. If your client hasn’t tapped into a network you think they should be on, include this reasoning.
- Social Media Audit: After acquiring the accounts, conducting a social media audit will ensure the accounts are up to date and include accurate information.
- Posting Frequency and Formats: How often do you plan to post weekly content? What content topics and formats will you post each week?
- Content Creation: Define the content creation process. Will your client provide the content or will you be responsible for creating the content? When carrying out a content marketing strategy, we recommend using a social media management tool to help automate scheduling, offer new ideas, and provide insightful analytics.
- Hashtags and Keyword Research: Include hashtag bundles and keywords that align with your client’s target audience. These should encompass what the brand does, and how they can help solve their potential customer’s issues. For this, I recommend using a keyword research tool.
- Analytics and Reports: How will you track your client’s social media analytics? This is a big task, especially if you plan to extract data manually. Creating customized social media marketing reports can automate aggregated data to send to your client.
Price Packages
This step will present your client with different pricing “packages” for your work. This could offer a specific number of platforms, posts per week, specific types of content creation, data analyses, consultations, reporting, check-ins, etc. Whether you want to group these responsibilities as a whole or a la carte is up to you.
When it comes to setting your rates, don’t sell yourself short. If you decide to offer package-style pricing, offer a variety of package sizes so the client can select the package best suited to their brand.
| Types | Prices | Description |
| Package 1 | $X | What will this package include? |
| Package 2 | $X | What will this package include? |
| Package 3 | $X | What will this package include? |
Payment
The last section is to open the discussion on payment options. Here you can include your preferred payment method and frequency. This may need to be further negotiated with your client, however, it’s important to be candid and open during this process.
Closing
This last step is to wrap up the proposal, with a clear vision of the next steps. The time frame a client needs to respond is up to you, whether you want to set a 2-week response time or keep it open-ended without a time limit.
After confirming with a client, you can set a meeting with the client to confirm the package, answer any questions, and make sure both parties are completely clear about the collaboration. Again, transparent communication is crucial for a successful partnership.
Social Media Management Proposal Template
Now you have the steps to create your robust social media manager proposal. If you are looking for a pre-formatted template, we have you covered.
We have created a social media manager proposal template that you can copy and customize to fit your own social media manager story. This template is completely free and will walk you through the explanations of each step and other resources to nail down your scope of work.
We recommend using a social media management tool alongside your work to facilitate your social media scheduling, data analyses, keyword research, content creation, and strategy evaluation. By automating tasks and working in the future, you can alleviate the daily stress of deciding what to post, while tackling the strategy and client support behind this.