Assignment

Proposal

Overview: Drawing from the research findings you previously shared in your report, you will prepare a persuasive proposal (4-6 single spaced pages, 11-12point font, not including title page, table of contents, etc).

This proposal should outline and suggest a specific plan for preparing a social media campaign for your company. Remember that your company is a new up-and-coming company that does not yet have a social media presence.

Path to Completion: You will continue to use the primary research from your report as examples. The proposal will also require you to search for and use secondary research sources to support your recommendations.

Audience: Your audience for this project is the Social Media Communications Committee, which includes the company’s CEO and CTO. This is a different audience than the report! This time, you should not need to focus on explaining general information about social media.

Purpose: Your goal in this proposal is to advocate for a specific course of action of what your company should do to use social media effectively.

You are not only presenting or positioning information for decision makers (as you did in the report project), but this time you are also presenting a persuasive case about developing and implementing a social media campaign that is responsive to the company’s needs.

When drafting the proposal please remember to review models/samples of other proposals as a way to plan and guide your writing. Reading chapter 8 in the book will help you understand this assignment – make sure you read it many times throughout the proposal project process.

Required Elements:

Regardless of how you choose to draft and organize the proposal, your project is required to have these sections:

Title Page	Introduce yourself, the business, and the main social media marketing strategy
Introduction	A brief overview or summary of the project that includes your purpose for drafting the proposal. Do not include information that the audience would know (i.e. information about your company, general information about social media platforms, etc.)
Primary Research	The most important/ persuasive data and facts pulled from your report
Secondary Research	At least two outside sources pulled from your secondary research worksheets
Strategy for Implementation	Persuasive appeals that invite the reader to act on the information presented. Consider including a timeline, budget, or other action items that indicate the next steps in your plan of action. This is where you tell your audience HOW to make your plan happen
Conclusion	End with strength: summarize main points, look to the future, and thank readers for their time.

Grading Criteria:

In addition to the criteria specified in the WPC Written Communication Rubric, in order to earn an “A” on this assignment, your report should:

· Demonstrate audience awareness through tone and content choices

· Follow the Genre Pattern to organize ideas and sections logically

· Eliminate unnecessary repetitions or redundancies in the document by using the Paramedic Method

· Use visual content effectively by explaining and contextualizing images and graphs

· Integrate secondary sources effectively and seamlessly

· Follow the principles of design (contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity) to create a visually pleasing and effective document

· Cite and attribute outside sources properly throughout the body of the document (There is no need for a Works Cited at the end…generally you don’t see bibliographies or works cited in business documents unless someone specifically asks for it)

Your final draft of your report should also be free of any unnecessary errors and/or discrepancies that might undercut your ethos or credibility as a writer