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What Your Content Marketing RFP Should Look Like

content marketing rfp

Choosing the right content marketing agency for your company’s projects can be a minefield.

A content marketing RFP can help narrow down your choice of agencies and give you the necessary insights into their strategies and pricing before you make a commitment. But if you don’t know what to ask for, you’ll never know what you’re going to get back!

We’ve put together eight tips for preparing an RFP with all the criteria to help you make informed decisions.

Related: Is your RFP asking the right questions? You can’t go wrong with these 14 questions.

On the most basic level, your RFP should ask questions that enable you to have:

  • a plan of action
  • a timeline
  • a scope of work
  • an expected project cost 

But who wants to be basic? Creating a truly robust RFP will give you a sneak peek into the processes of each agency that submits a proposal. It can help you uncover their strengths and any potential weaknesses before you sign off on your project.

How to get to the next level with your content marketing RFP

An RFP isn’t just about finding the right content marketing agency. It’s a reflection of your company and your brand, and will help set expectations with the people that you choose to work with moving forward.

  • Make sure your questions are specific. Don’t include questions that will result in “yes” or “no” answers. Specific questions that are designed to return detailed, thoughtful answers will be more useful when it’s time to compare proposals and make a decision.
  • Start with an overview. Giving a brief introduction about your company and your content marketing project helps prospective agencies see immediately whether they can help you or not. If an agency isn’t aligned with what your company does, or who your audience is, it will save them time bidding for something that’s not a good fit.
  • Goals matter. What are the overall goals for your content marketing? Get specific on what you hope to achieve, and what success will look like for your project so that expectations are clear from the outset.
  • Rein in the scope. Be specific about the amount and type of deliverables you need. It’s okay to explain what the project is and is not in order to prevent the project from creeping beyond its original purpose.
  • Be honest about the time frame. Do you have tight content deadlines to meet? Let the prospects know. It’s helpful for agencies to see a proposed schedule of deliverables so they can ensure they’re up to the challenge. Being specific about your requirements means content agencies can gauge if they have enough bandwidth to meet your needs on time.
  • Identify potential problems. If your company is dealing with new tech integrations, upcoming changes, limited resources, or facing any hurdles that might impact a potential content marketing agency, it’s best that they know this up front to avoid any awkward conversations further down the track.
  • Don’t be shy about your budget. This should not be a sticky question. A clear expectation about pricing is best for everyone. You want to ensure you only receive proposals that work within your price range.

Creating a robust RFP takes the hassle out of finding your ideal content marketing agency. The more information you collect up front, the better off you’ll be. With the right agency to match your needs, you can make sure you get everything done right the first time.

Would you like to know more about our expertise as a B2B content marketing agency? Get in touch.

Illustration by Jessica Turner, Spring 2020 Art Intern