Mastering Marketing RFPs: A Comprehensive Guide for Success

Sometimes, you need a little help launching your marketing campaign or bringing an initiative to life. That’s where vendors and external digital marketing agencies come in. These experts can save you time and effort by handling certain aspects of your marketing campaigns that your team doesn’t have the capacity for.

The best way to reach out to these experts is to create a marketing request for proposal (RFP). This document is a simple request form, making it easy to communicate your needs and get the exact services required for the project.

Here, we’ll explain what marketing RFPs are, including key components yours should include. We’ll also offer an easy-to-follow guide to creating a marketing RFP, tips for writing an effective one, and advice for finding the best opportunities. ✨

Mastering Marketing RFPs: A Comprehensive Guide for Success

What Is a Marketing RFP?

A marketing request for proposal, or RFP, is a document asking for services that your team can’t handle internally. You may send an RFP because your team is at capacity and can’t take on additional tasks or you may need help from an expert who has knowledge that your team doesn’t.

It’s a key component of most marketing planning processes, especially for teams that need outside resources to get the job done. 📄

You can send your marketing RFP to a specific marketing agency you’re interested in or publish it online as an open application form for broader reach. Typically, vendors respond to the RFP with a general quote, specific services they can offer, and an expected timeframe for deliverables.

An RFP differs from a request for information (RFI) or a request for quotes (RFQ). An RFI is a simpler questionnaire that’s used before an RFP to decide whether vendors should be included on the outreach list. It essentially pre-qualifies companies based on services or budget needs.

An RFQ is a document that requests detailed cost and quote information related to the service being requested in an RFP document. While an RFP asks for an estimated proposal amount, an RFQ is more detailed, with breakdowns of the costs of specific services based on the estimated timeline and scope of work.

Understanding Marketing RFPs

Marketing RFPs are an excellent resource for businesses needing extra help with marketing strategy, execution, or outreach. The function of a marketing RFP is to get outside assistance. Not only does this save your team time, but it also builds valuable connections with marketing experts. 🤝

A marketing project can move faster with marketing RFPs. With outside help, you can increase the number of campaigns you run or shift your internal team’s focus to more important marketing projects.

Some benefits of using a marketing RFP include:

Expands your reach: Sending out RFPs brings experts straight to you. That means you can make connections, build valuable relationships, and expand your knowledge base while also making progress on initiatives
Increases efficiency: A marketing RFP creates a standardized procurement process for getting external help on projects. This reduces the risk of miscommunications and streamlines decision-making, so you can move faster and more efficiently
Builds a database of proven partners and solutions: Each time you reach out with an RFP, you’ll get replies from various professionals in the marketing space. The RFP sets evaluation criteria so you can build a database of potential vendors with experience you can turn to when you launch new campaigns

By sending an RFP, you can connect with other marketing experts and move projects through the pipeline more efficiently.

Here are some scenarios where marketing agencies may send RFPs:

A marketing team that wants to expand their blog may send a digital marketing RFP to a digital agency or a content agency with SEO specialists
A marketing team lead that wants to launch a creative project with professional visual content may send a creative brief RFP to find the right agency partner
A marketing department is helping the product team launch a new feature and will send an RFP to advertising agencies to get help announcing the launch
A marketing firm that has encountered a problem with a social media campaign may create an RFP to get help from public relations (PR) firms to handle the media firestorm
A brick-and-mortar business wants to create a website and sell online products. They decide to send an RFP to social media marketing experts and website developers to build their website, branding, and online presence

The Components of a Marketing RFP

Every marketing RFP will be different but should contain a standard set of items. The actual information you include or services you’re requesting will change, but you still want to include key details in each document. ✅

Here are the critical components to include in your marketing RFP:

Company information: Before you can ask people to help you, they need to know who you are. Include basic company information like your company name, its main function or mission, and the types of products or services you offer
Contact information: Include the phone number and email for key contacts handling the project. In some cases, this may be the marketing team lead. On larger initiatives, you may include multiple points of contact from several departments
Project overview and purpose of the RFP: Clearly state the purpose of the RFP including any objectives you have and resources you’re looking for. The more succinct you are here, the more likely you are to get relevant responses to your RFP
Evaluation criteria: Highlight the selection criteria you’ll use to evaluate applicants. In most cases, the selection process will include things like topic experience, pricing, or specific services
Requirements for consideration: Indicate how applicants should apply (e.g., via an online portal, using a specific submissions form, or sending a business proposal to the main contact’s email). Be sure to include any specific requirements for proposals to be considered
Selection timeline: Include your project timeline and an estimated deadline for the services you’re requesting—that way only service providers that can meet your timeline will apply
Budget details: Don’t waste time reviewing proposals that are over your budget. In your marketing RFP, list your budget details, and briefly describe the process for negotiating if the bidder is selected

Creating Your RFP for Marketing Services

Whether you want marketing communications assistance, seek ad support, or need to launch big campaigns faster, use this guide to create your RFP. Below, we’ll cover everything you need to know to write a marketing RFP, including marketing project management strategies to get the job done.

Start with a template

Make your life easier by using a template—like the Web Development RFP Template from ClickUp—to create the framework of your request. While this template is specifically for marketing teams looking for external web development assistance, you can find templates for all kinds of RFPs.

Marketing RFPs: ClickUp's Web Development RFP Template — Plan out the web dev process, purpose, objective, budget, timeline, and more in this detailed template

When choosing an RFP template, make sure it includes the essential components of a good RFP. It should include the sections we mentioned above, like the project overview and basic company information.

Download This Template

Add detailed information to each section

Once you have the general structure of the RFP document, you need to fill in all of the relevant details. Work through the document section by section, adding in your specific requests.

Marketing RFPs: using ClickUp's AI tool — Spark creativity, create templates, or generate copy at lightning speed with the world’s best brainstorming partner

Make this step easier using tools like ClickUp AI to automatically fill out key information like your company’s contact details and experience information. Create your RFP in ClickUp Docs, which allows you to collaborate with other team members to draft a more effective request. Use the embed feature to include tables or charts that make your RFP more engaging.

Identify potential vendors and send the RFP

Now that you have your RFP, you’ll want to make it available to potential vendors. You can cast a wide net by publishing the RFP on your site and inviting anyone to apply. Alternatively, you can contact specific agencies you’re interested in working with.

If you choose the latter approach, creating a list of vendors is helpful. With ClickUp’s Marketing features, including customer relationship management (CRM), you can build a database of vendors. Use custom fields in ClickUp’s marketing project management software to qualify potential vendors or indicate their willingness to participate if you’ve already reached out before.

Marketing RFPs: adding custom tags to a task in ClickUp — Enhance your task organization by adding custom tags and use the filter options in List and Board View to precisely identify your highest priority tasks

As you send RFPs, document the responses you receive, and create profiles for new vendors with category tags for services they offer—like video production, case studies, or digital marketing services. That way, when it’s time to send a new RFP or request other services, you already have a pool of candidates to contact.

Use tools to manage the process

The best way to manage the process is with tools like proposal management software and blueprints like ClickUp’s RFP Process Template. This template keeps your team organized by tracking important due dates—like the submission deadline—and collects responses in one convenient space. 🛠️

Create custom fields to track each proposal, and add priority flags to highlight specific proposals that meet your needs. Various views—including Kanban boards, Calendar views, and Gantt charts—make evaluating all applicants equally and keeping track of progress easy.

Viewing and managing active Automations in ClickUp — Quickly view and manage active and inactive Automations across Spaces with user updates and descriptions

ClickUp’s project management features also streamline workflows, thanks to automations that move RFPs through your work pipeline. Add triggers to instantly assign someone on the team to review an application once it’s submitted. Set custom permissions to simplify decision-making and include dependencies to create workflows that show which tasks are blocking the next steps in the review process.

Follow up

After you’ve selected a vendor, it’s essential to follow up and incorporate a clear messaging plan. You’ll want to reach out to the vendor that won the bid and applicants that didn’t make the cut. Like your other marketing plans and strategies, tailor your response to different categories of applicants.

If you’ve reached out to a handful of providers, you can send a personal email to each one. If you’ve cast a wider net, you can categorize providers as “not qualified,” “qualified but out of budget,” or “qualified but not the right fit.” Based on these categories, you can send tailored email replies to multiple candidates indicating why they weren’t picked.

Sending an email using ClickUp — Manage your emails and work in one place—Send and receive emails anywhere in ClickUp, create tasks from emails, set up automations, attach emails to any task, and more.

In your messages, clearly state that all stakeholders appreciated the application and indicate why they weren’t selected. Keep things professional and brief, and include wording if you plan to reach out again for future projects.

Finding Marketing RFP Opportunities

If you have services you can offer to other agencies, you can use several channels to find and apply to other company’s RFPs so you can grow your own business. 🙌

Here are some of the best channels and platforms for finding marketing RFPs:

Social media: Some organizations post RFPs on their social media channels—with LinkedIn being the most common, though Twitter is a close second
RFP databases and public notices: Government agencies are required to publish their RFPs publicly, and many do so in online portals–like the RFP database. These databases are usually searchable so you can filter by industry or services
Internet search: Some companies publish their RFPs on their own websites or in news sites and databases. Find these by using search engines and typing in the industry or services and the words “RFP” to find relevant results

Tips for Writing a Great Response to a Marketing RFP

You know how to write an RFP asking for services from vendors, but what about if you want to apply to RFPs with your own offerings? Here, we’ll provide top tips and best practices when crafting a response to a marketing RFP. ✍️

If you want to land clients successfully by applying to an RFP, you need to do some legwork. Before applying, do research on the company. By learning what drives the company, you can tailor your application to precisely what they want. Find out if they’ve sent out RFPs before and who successfully won the bid. Then, try to determine what they did right and replicate that.

It’s also essential to make sure you’re qualified. You don’t want to waste time applying to postings if you can’t meet the requirements. Carefully read and follow all instructions if you do apply, and ask questions if you need clarity.

Rich formatting and slash commands in ClickUp Docs — ClickUp Docs allows rich formatting and slash commands to work more efficiently

Here are some examples of successful RFP responses:

Answer with deliverables: “Our content team is agile. We create human content—not run-of-the-mill AI pieces—to connect with readers, build your audience, and develop your branding.”
Demonstrate your expertise: “We use an empathetic approach to meet your PR needs. In past projects, our security team created incident reports and news articles to explain what went wrong, how we planned to fix it, and what customers could expect. While assuring customers their best interests were addressed, we also established the client as a leader who could be trusted.”
Let customers do the work for you with a testimonial: “How can we help you? We’ll let our customers show how much value we provide and why we’ve won dozens of RFPs in the past: ‘The [company] branding team met our project scope, came in under budget, and did it all in record time. With clear communication channels, we always knew where the project was and what was coming next—without any surprises.”

Crafting a response to an RFP isn’t just about including relevant information. It’s also important to leave some things out.

Here’s what you should not include in an RFP:

Pricing that’s too low: Bottom-of-the-barrel pricing can be off-putting, and companies will wonder why your services are so much cheaper—and may think it’s because you provide less value. Instead, use value-based pricing to create a fair quote that reflects your expertise and makes it worth your time
Copy and paste answers: Each RFP response should be tailored to the specific proposal. Copied answers mean you’re less likely to get the gig, and you can create confusion if you copy information that isn’t relevant
Too much technical jargon: If a company is sending an RFP, they may need help in terms of knowledge in the subject area. If your proposal is too technical, they may not understand the value you offer or feel like it’s not a good fit

Common FAQs

Still want to know more? Here are the most commonly asked questions about RFPs.

1. What is an RFP for marketing and branding?

This type of RFP is a proposal sent by a company to vendors that offer marketing and branding services.

2. How do I find marketing RFPs?

If you want to apply to marketing RFPs, look on sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and portals where government agencies and public companies post their proposal requests.

3. Is an RFP public information?

The private sector does not have to make RFPs public. However, government agencies and companies in the public sector are required to list RFPs as public information.

Concluding Insights on RFPs for Marketing and Advertising

RFPs in marketing and advertising are key tools to get outside expertise to supplement your existing projects. They’re an opportunity to build better campaigns and deliver improved services to your customers, without having to take time away from other internal focuses.

To create a great marketing RFP, it’s important to include key sections, leverage tools like AI to simplify the process, and use software to track responses and store analytics for your campaigns.

Sign up for ClickUp today to start building better marketing RFPs. With built-in AI tools and templates, you can create drafts and outlines for your RFPs in seconds. Paired with project management features and multiple views, it’s easy to manage the RFP process from start to finish. 💪