Building a Content Strategy Proposal: How to Move Straight to "Yes"

Here’s a thought exercise for you. 

It’s hot out and you decide you’d like to buy something tasty to cool you down.

You head to the neighborhood ice cream shop.

Scenario 1

The person helping you says “We have a banana split sundae with hot fudge for 4 people. Do you want it?” 

Scenario 2

The person helping you says “We have a banana split sundae, a scoop on a cone, or a milkshake. Which do you want?” 

Which would make you more likely to buy something?

If you said scenario two, you’re like a lot of buyers. When presented with a choice, you immediately bypass the question “Should I buy something?” Instead, you jump to asking “Which of these options should I buy?”

It’s the same when pitching content strategies. 

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THIS ARTICLE IN A SNAPSHOT

TOPIC

Help your prospects skip asking “Should I buy something at all?” right into “How should I work with this amazing consultant?” You’ll get a blueprint for applying this pitching concept and will walk away ready to give it a try.

TL;DR

Don’t be too quick to give prospects a proposal to react “yes” or “no” to. Instead, pull them in as scope-building partners. How? By presenting them with 3 directions first. 

TOP RESOURCE

I include links to the templates I use to draft:

  1. My 3 proposed directions

  2. My final proposal (for a full content strategy project, as an example)

WHEN DO I PITCH MULTIPLE OPTIONS?

Often, prospective clients don’t know what they want from me. 

To paraphrase:

👩🏽‍💻👨🏻‍💻“Hi Adrienne, nice to meet you. We really need to start using content.”

💁🏻‍♀️ “Great! Why?”

👩🏽‍💻👨🏻‍💻 “....I’m not sure. Because that’s what businesses need to do?”

💁🏻‍♀️“Ok, what kinds of content do you think will work best?”

👩🏽‍💻👨🏻‍💻 “...We were hoping you’d tell us.”

And so on and so forth.

It’s ok if a client doesn’t have a clear scope in mind. 

When that happens, I adjust my pitching process accordingly. I don’t want to give the prospect one solution too quickly. 

They need to understand their options. 

So I pitch them 3 rough directions first, at 3 different price points. 

We then work together to pick one option and expand it into a formal scope. 

THE BENEFITS OF THIS METHOD

Straight to “yes” 

Clients instantly bypass the question “Should I work with Adrienne?” Instead, their question becomes “Which option should I buy?”

Collaboration off the bat

Clients have a hand in picking and designing the scope that works best for their budget and their needs.

Partnership off the bat

We both get a feel for what working together would look like, before committing to a big project.

$$$

More often than not, clients pick the most expensive option or the middle option.

HOW I STRUCTURE MULTIPLE OPTIONS FOR PROSPECTS

Don’t underestimate the power of having 3 options. One isn’t a choice at all, two is too few. Four and beyond, and you’re overwhelmed by options. 

So yes, I create 3 options.

Each option includes a:

  • Rough scope with 2-3 sentences about what we’ll accomplish and how

  • Fee range. I don’t give a specific fee yet. I don’t have enough information!

  • Timeline range. See: Fee range. 

Over the years, I’ve built a few go-to options that I turn to:

  1. Quick roadmapping sprint, where a client doesn’t know where to start but feels intimidated by a full strategic project. Instead, they need a quarterly roadmap outlining how to set their content strategy and start creating content in 3 months. This takes about 2-3 weeks. 

  2. Mini content strategy for a client that has already tried creating content and has some research to look to. They need someone to help them make sense of their progress, and plan a strategic path forward. It takes 4-6 weeks.

  3. Full content strategy for a client that hasn’t started any content marketing yet. They need all the help: Research, strategy setting, and activation. This takes about 6-8 weeks.

Over time, you’ll be able to construct your own go-to options.

SETTING PRICING, GOLDILOCKS STYLE

I’m going to refer you to Jonathan Stark’s pricing strategies as you price your options. (Jonathan is a favorite resource of mine on building a business based on your authority.)

He recommends a few options for pricing: 

1x, 2.2x, 5x

Drives the buyer to option 2.

For when you don’t care whether you get the sale and can take a bigger risk.

1x, 1.5x, 1.75x

Drives the buyer to option 3.

For when you want to get the gig and play it safer.

For example, I typically price my 3 go-to options like this:

  1. 1x: Roadmapping

  2. 2.2x: Mini content strategy

  3. 5x: Full content strategy

Remember: I don’t give a specific fee and timeline yet. Rather, I give a range. 

So I take those numbers mentioned above, and 1.3x each of them. That’s the range I give the prospect.

Once we nail down one specific scope together, I can give a set fee. But right now, I have questions like:

  • How slowly will they respond to questions?

  • How many rounds of feedback will they give?

  • Will they need more hand holding? Or less?

  • How asap is this project?

These all determine whether to charge on the low or high end of that range.

MY PITCHING PROCESS: HOW I PULL THE PROSPECT INTO COLLABORATING

With this method, I’m collaborating with the prospect before we’re even in a client-consultant relationship.

This is a good thing!

It’s one thing to say how on a pitch call. It’s another thing to show the prospect first-hand.

Everyone’s process will differ, because everyone collaborates with clients differently. But here’s mine: 

1) Discovery call

This is where I learn the prospect’s pain points, needs, and (ideally) budget.

2) Build 3 ideas

I use a template to cut my time spent here. Just make a copy and it’s all yours!

3) Present 3 options

I like to present the options on a call. It pulls the prospective client into collaborating in real time. “Which direction feels best?” “What would you change about that option?” “Which price point works best?” are all questions I ask here. 

4) Build 1 scope in a proposal

Once I have a clear direction, I build one scope with a set fee, timeline, and scope. Here’s my template I use for my full content strategy projects. Just make a copy and it’s all yours!

5) Deliver 1 scope
Depending on the prospective client, I’ll either just email this or present it on another call. I frame this as “Here’s the scope that is a reflection of our last call. Please let me know if I’m missing anything we’d discussed.” 

6) Kick off

Once the prospect agrees to the scope, I send a general contract and set a time to kick off together. 

All told, this takes me 3-5 hours per prospect that moves forward.

Prospects that don’t move forward tend to take just 1 hour or less. We’ll either realize they’re not a fit after the discovery call or after I present 3 options. So I’ve avoided the time to build a formal scope and general agreement. 

Whew! That was a lot of information. Feel free to email me at hi@adrienneksmith.com with questions. If you’d like more info like this, subscribe to my weekly newsletter.