Social media proposal template (filled-in example)

Clients sign a social media proposal when they can see what they get each month, what it costs, and what happens if they approve content late. This social media proposal template is filled in for a fictional client: account audit, 90-day goal, three retainer packages with counted deliverables, pricing built from hours, exclusions and working terms.

Eight sections, in this order: cover, audit, goal, packages, how we work, what's not included, investment and next steps. Price comes after the audit and the packages, because a number only makes sense once the client has seen the problem and the work.

Cover: client name, the period, and the outcome they want, in one line.
Audit: three to five observations about their current accounts, each with the data point you saw.
Goal: what changes in 90 days and which metric you'll both track.
Packages: up to three, with counts per month and per platform.
How we work: content calendar, approval deadline, revision rounds, client inputs, account access, content ownership.
What's not included: ad spend, extra production, after-hours community management.
Investment: monthly retainer per package, payment terms, minimum term and notice period.
Next steps: what happens in the first week after they say yes.

Sections 5 and 6 are what save you from the month-three argument, when the client asks for an extra Reel by tomorrow or asks why their card shows a LinkedIn Ads charge.

Here is the full template for a fictional client, Calder & Co., a three-person accounting firm with a LinkedIn company page and a quiet Instagram account. The numbers are examples. Swap in your client's details and keep the structure.

1. Cover

Calder & Co. · Social media, November through January

More consultation bookings from LinkedIn, with a content calendar in place before tax season, so nothing is written at the last minute.

2. Audit

We reviewed the last 60 days on Calder & Co.'s LinkedIn and Instagram:

6 posts on the LinkedIn company page, all office announcements. None answers a question clients ask.

The two partners post on their personal profiles, and those posts drew more comments than anything on the company page.

Instagram's last post was in June.

The link in both bios goes to the homepage, not the "Book a consultation" page.

Two Instagram DMs asking about pricing went unanswered for over a week.

Use what you found on the client's own accounts, not an industry statistic. They can check it in ten seconds, and it proves you looked before you quoted.

3. Goal for the first 90 days

By the end of January: 4 LinkedIn posts a week on the company page, Instagram back to 3 posts a week, and DMs answered within 1 business day. The main metric is consultation bookings from social links, tracked monthly against October.

Promise output plus one metric you can both measure. Followers and reach depend on each platform's algorithm and on ad budget, so if they appear in the proposal, list them as tracked, with no target.

4. Packages

Essentials · $1,800/month

LinkedIn company page.

12 posts a month: 8 single-image posts and 4 carousels.

Captions written for Calder & Co.'s voice, with a link to the booking page.

One-page monthly report and one 30-minute call.

Growth · $5,000/month · recommended

LinkedIn and Instagram.

16 LinkedIn posts a month: 10 single-image posts and 6 carousels.

8 of those adapted for Instagram, plus 4 Reels from a monthly half-day shoot at the office.

Comments and DMs answered on business days, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, within 1 business day.

Monthly report and two 30-minute calls.

Full · $6,100/month

Everything in Growth.

LinkedIn Ads management: setup, creatives and weekly optimization, for ad spend up to $3,000 a month.

One LinkedIn newsletter article a month, drafted from a 30-minute interview with a partner.

Each step up adds something the client can name: a platform, video, community management, ads. That is what the client compares, so write all three lists in the same order.

5. How we work

Next month's calendar arrives by the 20th. Calder & Co. approves by the 25th, with up to two rounds of revisions per post.

Any post with tax or accounting guidance is approved by a Calder & Co. partner before it goes live.

A post not approved by the 25th moves to the next open slot on the calendar.

Changes requested after approval count as a new post.

Client inputs (deadlines, events, team photos) arrive by the 15th of the prior month.

Account access is granted through each platform's permission settings, with every account owned by Calder & Co. No personal passwords are shared.

Calder & Co. receives a license to use the final published posts on its social channels and website. Source files and shoot outtakes are not included.

6. What's not included

Ad spend and boosted posts, paid by Calder & Co. directly to the platform on its own card.

Photo or video beyond the shoots in the package.

Influencer or creator outreach.

Community management outside the hours above, including during a crisis.

Replies that need a decision from Calder & Co., such as fee disputes or complaints: we route them to the named contact.

Logo, brand identity, website and print design.

Platforms not listed in the package.

7. Investment and terms

Monthly retainer for the chosen package, invoiced on the 1st, due net 15, by ACH or card.

First month due at signing. It covers onboarding.

3-month minimum term, then 30 days' written notice to cancel or change packages.

Extra posts outside the package: $150 per single-image post, $400 per Reel.

Proposal valid for 15 days.

8. Next steps

Accept the proposal and sign the contract.

Week 1: access granted, 1-hour kickoff call, brand files sent over.

Week 2: first month's calendar sent for approval.

Week 3: first half-day shoot and first posts live.

In Nepfy, the template becomes a page with your brand, in one of the templates (Minimal, Papel, Ember, Kaleo or Fullstack), sent as a link. The "Proposal valid for 15 days" line is the link's expiration date: after it, anyone who opens the link sees an expiry page, and the proposal shows as Expired on your dashboard, so you don't track the date by hand. A password is optional, and the client doesn't need an account. See the full loop, from first draft to acceptance.

How do you price each package?

Add up the hours each deliverable takes, multiply by your hourly rate, then add a buffer for revisions. The times below belong to the example: track your own for a month before you use them.

Your rate comes from one division: the monthly pay you want plus overhead, divided by the hours you can bill. In the example, $7,500 of pay and $1,500 of overhead (software, insurance, bookkeeping) over 120 billable hours gives $75 an hour.

Essentials: 8 single-image posts × 1 h = 8 h; 4 carousels × 2 h = 8 h; calendar and approvals, 3 h; report and call, 2 h. That is 21 h × $75 = $1,575. With a 15% buffer, $1,811, rounded to $1,800.
Growth: 10 single-image posts × 1 h = 10 h; 6 carousels × 2 h = 12 h; 8 Instagram adaptations × 30 min = 4 h; 4 Reels × 2.5 h = 10 h. Then the half-day shoot plus travel, 5 h; comments and DMs, 20 business days × 30 min = 10 h; calendar and approvals, 4 h; report and calls, 3 h. That is 58 h × $75 = $4,350. With the buffer, $5,002, rounded to $5,000.
Full: Growth's 58 h; LinkedIn Ads, 6 h of setup and creatives plus 4 h of weekly optimization = 10 h; newsletter article, 3 h. That is 71 h × $75 = $5,325. With the buffer, $6,124, rounded to $6,100.

The math shows where the weight sits. Of the 37 extra hours between Essentials and Growth, 15 are video (Reels plus the shoot) and 10 are community management. When the client asks for a discount, drop one of those and keep your rate. The longer version of trading scope for price is in how to price services in a proposal.

The same math sets your à la carte price. Inside a package, a single-image post costs about $86 (1 h × $75 plus the buffer). Sold alone, it's $150, so a client who buys extras every month sees that the next package up is the better deal.

Why keep ad spend out of your fee?

Ad spend changes every month, and it is not your price. If it runs through your invoice, your invoice grows with it, and the client starts reading the total as what you cost.

Three rules fix it:

The ad account belongs to the client and runs on the client's card. You get management access, and the campaign history stays with them if the contract ends.
Your management fee is fixed within a spend range. In the template, Full covers up to $3,000 a month in ad spend; above that, the package gets repriced.
The proposal shows recommended ad spend as a separate line, outside the investment in your work.

Which terms stop rework and late approvals?

An approval deadline with a consequence, a revision limit, a due date for client inputs, and accounts owned by the client. Without those four, the calendar slips and you are the one who looks late.

Approval deadline with a consequence. "Approve by the 25th" with nothing after it turns into "can this go out tomorrow?" In the template, an unapproved post moves to the next open slot. Skip "no reply means approved": if a post goes out unapproved and goes wrong, it lands on you.
Revision limit. Two rounds per post; anything after approval is a new post. A swap the night before now has a price, and the client decides whether it's worth it.
Client inputs with a date. A promotion that arrives on launch day doesn't make the calendar. The 15th of the prior month leaves time to create and approve.
Client-owned accounts. Ask for access through each platform's permission settings, never someone's personal password. When the contract ends, the client removes your access and keeps a working account.

If the client works in a regulated field (accounting, legal, health), add who signs off on posts that give advice, as the template does.

Who owns the content after the contract ends?

If you work as an independent contractor, the copyright is yours by default, until a signed writing transfers it. Under US copyright law, copyright belongs first to the person who created the work (17 U.S.C. § 201), and a transfer is valid only in a signed writing (17 U.S.C. § 204).

A "work made for hire" clause covers contractors only for specific categories of work and only with a written agreement signed by both sides (17 U.S.C. § 101). So say it plainly in the proposal and put it in the contract. Either the client gets a license for named uses (social and website, as in the template), or a full assignment at a higher price. This is general information, not legal advice; have a lawyer check the contract.

How should you present the three packages?

Put them side by side, with the recommended one marked and every list in the same order. The client should see in seconds what each step up adds.

Price goes after the audit and the packages, never on the cover.
Mark one package as recommended and say why in one sentence tied to the audit. In the example: "Growth, because Instagram is dormant and DMs about pricing are going unanswered."
Use the same package name in the proposal, the contract and the invoice.

If you sell content alongside paid ads and SEO, the marketing agency proposal covers the audit and timeline for that larger scope. If you work alone and the client asks whether it's just you, the freelance proposal guide covers the answer.

In Nepfy, the investment section can hold more than one plan, and the client picks one when they accept from the link, without creating an account. Acceptance records name, signature and time; the contract with the terms above stays a separate document. After you send it, the proposal detail shows how many times it was opened, how far it was read and whether a visit reached the price. If it was opened three times and no visit reached the investment section, your follow-up starts with the price.

If you already have the brief, "Write with AI" drafts the sections, and your prices go in exactly as you typed them in "The numbers". Start free: 14 days of Pro, no credit card.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. The proposal shows package and price so the client can decide. The contract sets the minimum term, notice period, responsibilities and content ownership, which needs a signed writing to transfer under 17 U.S.C. § 204.

Should ad spend be included in the retainer?

No. Ad spend stays in the client's ad account on the client's card, and your proposal charges for management within a set spend range.

How long should the minimum term be?

In the template, three months: the first is setup and the next two show the calendar running. Anything shorter and the final report measures onboarding, which is a poor basis for a renewal.

Should I send the proposal as a PDF or a link?

A link, if you want to know whether it was opened and how far it was read before you follow up. With a PDF, you don't see anything after you hit send; the trade-offs are in why PDF proposals cost you clients.

Can I sell extra posts outside the packages?

Yes, priced per post above what a post costs inside a package. In the example, a single-image post is about $86 inside a package and $150 on its own.