The proposal is nine pages. The price is on page eight. Page four says "ongoing optimisation", page six says "monthly reporting", and page seven has a paragraph about the term that you skimmed on the way to the number. Most owners read a proposal the same way: straight to the price, then back to the first page to see if it feels right.
Here is how to read a marketing proposal before you sign it the other way round. The price is the least informative line in it. The lines that matter are the vague ones and the ownership ones.
Read it in this order
Deliverables. What, specifically, you will get each month.
Ownership. Who owns the accounts, the content and the data, during and after.
Term and notice. How long you are committed, and how you leave.
Reporting. How you will know whether it worked.
Price, last, once you know what it is buying.
Scope is not the same as deliverables
Scope is an area of work: "SEO", "social media", "Google Ads". A deliverable is something you can count at the end of the month. A proposal that only lists scope gives you no way to tell whether you got what you paid for.
Two lines I made up for this post, to show the difference:
Scope: "Ongoing SEO optimisation of your website."
Deliverable: "Two pages a month reviewed and updated for titles, headings and internal links, each change listed in the monthly report."
The second one can be checked. The first one can mean anything from a full month of work to a plugin running in the background.
What "ongoing optimisation" should mean
It is a fine phrase if it is backed up. Ask one question about it: "What happens in a typical month, and where will I see it?" A good answer names actual tasks and says they will appear in the report. A vague answer is the answer.
Watch the outcome language too. A target is fine, and so is a range with what it depends on. A promise is not: Google's own guidance says no one can guarantee a number one ranking (sourced from Google Search Central). If a proposal guarantees rankings, leads or revenue, that tells you something about everything else in it.
Hours versus outcomes
Some proposals sell hours ("10 hours a month"), some sell deliverables, some sell both. Hours are fine if you know what they buy. Ask what a typical month's hours were spent on for a similar client, and whether unused hours roll over or disappear.
Term, notice and the small print
Find these four things and write them on the front page:
Minimum term. Three months? Twelve?
Notice period to stop, and whether it starts from the day you give it or the end of the month.
Automatic renewal. Does a twelve-month term roll into another twelve unless you cancel in a window?
Setup or onboarding fees, and whether they are refundable.
For comparison, mine are month to month with no annual contract and two months' notice. Whatever you sign, know the exit before you start.
Who owns what at the end
This is the section most likely to cost you later, so go line by line:
Ad accounts. In Google Ads, if a manager account creates a new account, the manager automatically becomes its owner; if it links your existing account, it does not get ownership by default, and your account keeps its own data (sourced from Google Ads Help). Ask for the account to be created in your business's name, or to be made owner of any account set up for you.
Your Google Business Profile. You should be the primary owner. Who actually owns your Google Business Profile explains why and how to check.
Website, domain and hosting, in your name and on your card.
Analytics and Search Console, with you as an owner or administrator, not only a viewer.
Content and photos produced for you: yours to keep and reuse.
Your email list.
On that last one: if the proposal includes email campaigns, the list and the record of how each person agreed to hear from you belong to you. Under Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), every commercial email needs consent, clear identification of who sent it and a working unsubscribe, and whoever claims to have consent has to be able to prove it (sourced from the CRTC). An agency that cannot show you how your list was built is a risk to you, not just to them. This is general guidance, not legal advice.
Questions to send back before you sign
What exactly will you deliver in month one, and in a typical month after that?
What will the monthly report show, and will we go through it together?
Which accounts will be in my name from day one?
What is the notice period, and is there any automatic renewal?
What happens to the work, the content and the accounts if we stop?
What would make you recommend we stop working together?
If you want a longer list for the first conversation, 10 questions to ask before you hire a marketing partner covers the rest.
Now read the price
With the deliverables, the ownership and the exit written on the front page, the price finally means something, because you can compare it like for like. That is also the reason mine are published rather than handed over on page eight: you can line them up against any proposal you are holding.
So, in the proposal on your table right now, which line would you most like someone to explain?