How to Create an Advertising Proposal [Free Template]

Regardless of whether you are part of an in-house marketing team or an agency developing a sales pitch, it is essential to pinpoint your promotional proposal to gain clarity from stakeholders and secure their buy-in.

After all, advertising is expensive, and a poorly managed campaign results in a waste of money and resources with no return on investment. This could affect a company’s ability to meet its awareness and sales goals.

Executives need to know that an advertising project is well thought out from all angles before spending the money on developing more creatively and buying ad space. The best way to educate and convince these decision makers is to have a crystal clear and actionable promotional proposal.

This article describes the steps to take, templates to use, and questions to answer as you develop your promotion to help you get your promotion project done faster and get the most out of it.

Follow the free HubSpot promotional proposal template for PowerPoint. The template is fully customizable to your company’s needs and makes it easy to develop a presentation of promotional offers.

• Project timeline.
• Project team.
• Project budget and fees.
• … And more.

While the template is best for marketing agencies, it can easily be customized for in-house marketing teams for in-house project management. Download the template now to get started.

This is how you make your advertising proposal

1. Plan your advertising project.

Creating an advertising plan is an essential first step in an advertising project. As a rule of thumb, it is recommended that you create an advertising plan template to ensure that you check all of the required check boxes for the project.

In the next few sections we will highlight What You should include it in your promotion plan and proposal, but the reason to start with this step is to make sure it is organized. Proactively setting up your framework will help you prioritize your tasks later and understand what roadblocks you might face – and stay one step ahead of them in the process.

2. Specify your duties and / or services.

So you’re moving on with your promotional proposal – but what exactly are you planning to do?

The next step is to outline the scope of work for the project, including:

• Do market research.
• Choosing an advertising platform.
• Develop and copy creatively.
• Working with vendors for buying / selling media.
• Analyze and present results.

Depending on the makeup of your team or agency, you may be responsible for some or all of these tasks – or some not even listed here.

The most important thing to remember about this step is to be clear about the expectations of what your team will do.

There shouldn’t be a question from those you present to what your team will or won’t do.

3. Select your team members.

An advertising campaign requires input from marketing, sales, sales promotion, finance, and / or the product teams.

In your proposal, name faces by explaining who is responsible for what. Of course, this process can take more time if you combine the efforts of people inside and outside your company, or if there are different team members in the same department deciding who is responsible for it.

4. Create a timeline.

Managers need to know what is happening and when it is happening. Hence, the next step in this process is to create a timeline for your activities.

After you’ve made a list of the people involved in your campaign, work with their schedules and areas of expertise to determine who will do what and when.

Your timeline should be clear, efficient, and achievable. When making your proposal, you don’t want someone to feel unsure whether your team is achieving their goals, but you also don’t want to give the impression that you are not moving as diligently as possible.

So make sure you can talk about why each step of the process is taking as long as you suggest and what contingency plans, if any, are in place.

5. Consolidate your budget.

The main difference between marketing and advertising is Budget. Advertising requires an additional investment to buy space on a desired platform. When asking for money, you need to be transparent about how much you are asking and why.

Your budget summary should include all the funds necessary to run the campaign, such as: B .:

• Agency fees (if applicable).
• Fees for the creative development of video, image and / or graphic design elements.
• Cost of placing advertising on your intended platforms.
• Additional number of employees (internal or freelance).

In addition to your budget, talk about the likely financial impact of your advertising campaign, including both revenue and Profit and, if available, the forecast increase in customer and sales. Adding these elements can help make the budget more manageable.

6. Share your presentation.

Once you have all of these elements set out in your promotional proposal, it’s time to share your presentation.

If it’s an email, make sure that relevant articles or resources are included in your messages or in an attachment, and encourage the recipients of the email to promptly send questions for you to answer and that Resume the project quickly.

If the presentation is in person or via a video call, always Make sure you rehearse your presentation – especially if more than one person is explaining the proposal. As a best practice, at the end of your presentation, you should allow enough time to answer any outstanding questions before signing the proposal.

3 tips for an outstanding presentation of an advertising proposal

1. Be creative.

You are hired to work on this promotional project because you are creative. So why should you allow your promotional proposal to be less creative?

Make sure your proposal and presentation are filled with pictures and well designed. You might also want to throw in some references, GIFs, or jokes to appeal to the more lighthearted side of your audience.

2. Be clear.

We have already said this, but advertising campaigns can require a huge investment in time, resources and capital. Do not leave any stone unturned in your presentation or you may risk false expectations of your team’s capabilities.

A lack of clarity can also convince your audience that you haven’t fully answered all of the questions, which can lead to the decision not to continue the campaign. When it comes to numbers, schedules, and processes, clarity is key.

3. Be specific.

In the end, always remember that we are all pressed for time. While clarity is important, there is no point in using redundancy or wasting your audience’s time. Some information is best suited to be clarified in the Q&A session after the presentation or upon request in follow-up certainties.

In your presentation, prioritize providing the information you need – but be ready to keep track of anything that needs clarification.

Deliver a successful advertising proposal

With these steps and this template, you have the foundation to bring your ad campaign idea to life. Find the balance between clarity and creativity, know your numbers, explain your process, and you are on your way to getting your promotional proposal approved.