How to best present past projects in your marketing proposal

It’s important to the process of closing sales that you don’t confuse your prospective client by putting irrelevant content into the wrong sections.

We often see marketers (such as yourself) put the performance data into the experience section of their marketing proposals.

Remember, experience refers to the past involvement on projects that are similar to your prospect’s needs, whereas performance refers to the evidence of success.

You may not get the credit you deserve when you place performance markers into the ‘experience’ section of your proposal. In order to keep the proposal succinct and focused, it’s critical that you avoid devoting precious space to misplaced content.

As a marketing agency, your company has spent hours on the execution of your projects. These projects are the lifeblood of your business- they’re what makes up your portfolio. In order to show prospective clients successes with your services, you need to include them into your marketing proposals.

Doing this, however, is not as simple as it seems. From picking the right media form to positioning your content, there’s a lot more to than just dragging and dropping into your proposal.

The last thing you want to do is not give your past projects the credit they deserve. Instead of throwing it into your proposal without much thought, here are some tips for you to consider for your next proposal.

Utilizing Rich Media

Shifting away from the standard of boring PDFs means that the days of text-heavy proposals are long gone. Successful, modern proposals are built with the inclusion of media and allow creators to utilize them in ways that close deals.

Surprisingly, there are many businesses that still fail to include rich media to showcase past projects in their proposals. These businesses instead opt to attach an external link to their website that showcases an entire range of their work.

If you find yourself among these businesses, remember that the aim of your proposal is to sell your services directly to your propspective clients and as such, we recommend that you start attaching your projects directly into your proposal.

The nature of service-based businesses is intangible, and as such, clients may have difficulty visualizing what they are paying for. Attaching photos, videos, or even GIFs of deliverables across your proposal is a great way to grab the attention of your client and demonstrate what end product they should be expecting.

Space out your media

Avoid cluttering your marketing proposal with images that are too close to one another- saturating your proposal is ill-advised. A block that has too many images serves as a deterrent, preventing your prospective client from absorbing your content.

Ideally, you want to spread your images across the proposal so as to maintain your client’s attention consistently across the entire proposal. Remember, your images are meant to complement your text- it’s all about finding the balance between your copy and visual media!

Marketing Specific Projects

If your marketing agency has created engaging deliverables like video campaigns or infographics, be sure to include these in your proposal. Demonstrating a diverse range of projects across different industries can successfully demonstrate and highlight your experience.

Breaking Up Proposal Documents

As for every proposal, there should be a balanced approach between text and media. Too much media can be as every bit of detrimental as too much text.

If your proposal ends up being too short to spread your media across, consider displaying the project as a way to break up the proposal- like a page break.

Thanks to Qwilr, you’re able to dedicate an entire block of content to past projects. If you’re hesitant about including too many projects, we’ve got you covered with our “Unfold” feature.

Using the Unfold feature allows you to collapse the content block- giving your proposal a streamlined, condensed appearance. When your client wants to learn more about your work, they can simply click the button to expand.

Don’t Be Afraid to Boast

The overall goal of showcasing your past projects is to reassure your prospective client on the quality of your services. It’s a critical part of the trust-building process. In addition to showcasing your work, you can double down on the effectiveness of your projects by quantifying the results achieved.

It doesn’t matter if it’s an increase in site traffic or revenue, if you’ve achieved impressive results do not hold back on using them to prove that you are the best for the job.

When faced with other projects that are difficult to quantify with results, spend time painting the story of your client and the problems you helped them solve. This can help your prospective client understand how your services are more than just the final deliverable. 

Final Word

Selling services is already a difficult challenge facing many businesses today. Since it’s intangible, clients may have difficulty conceptualizing the end product they’re paying for. By utilizing your past work in the proposal process, you can more effectively engage your prospective clients and give your business the credibility it deserves.