What to include in a one-page martech RFP that finds a best-of-breed tool under £5k/year

I’ve written and reviewed more martech RFPs than I care to admit—and most of them are bloated, vague, and ignored by vendors. When you’re shopping for a best-of-breed tool that must sit under a strict budget (say, £5k/year), the RFP needs to be short, sharp and purpose-driven. A one-page RFP forces clarity: you get faster, more comparable responses and can shortlist tools that actually meet the business need without drowning in feature lists.

Why a one-page RFP works

Long RFPs are often written to protect the issuer more than to find the right product. They ask for everything and assume the vendor will fill in the gaps. A one-page brief does the opposite: it tells a vendor what matters, how you’ll judge success, and what constraints they must respect. Vendors that can’t answer clearly on a single page probably won’t be easy partners when you’re on a tight budget and timeline.

Core structure: what to put on that one page

Keep it scannable. I use 5 short blocks that fit easily on one printed page (or a single-screen email). Each block should be 1–2 lines where possible.

Context / Problem: One sentence that describes why you need the tool (e.g., “We need a lightweight CDP to unify first-party site and mobile events for segmentation and simple activation.”).

Primary Use Case: Bullet the 2–3 most important things the tool must do (e.g., event capture, segmentation, webhook + CSV export).

Must-have Constraints: Hard limits such as budget cap (£5k/year), deployment (SaaS-only), self-serve onboarding, data residency, or API access.

Success Criteria / KPIs: How you’ll judge ROI (time saved, increase in campaign conversion rate, reduction in tool count, API latency limits, etc.).

Evaluation Ask: Three-line responses: 1) short product summary, 2) top three relevant features, 3) how you meet the constraints, 4) one customer/reference, 5) pricing model and onboarding time.

What vendors should answer (and how to score it)

For quick comparison I use a 100-point system split across five areas—each with a short, binary-friendly question set so vendors can answer succinctly:

Area	Weight	Quick questions (yes/no / 1–2 lines)
Fit to use case	35	Does the product natively support the 2–3 core use cases? Examples of real customers using it this way?
Cost & terms	20	Can you deliver within £5k/year? Any per-seat, per-event, or module add-ons?
Implementation & time to value	20	Typical setup time for a team of our size (we’re X devs / X marketers). Self-serve docs or managed onboarding?
Integrations & API	15	Key connectors (e.g., Google Analytics, Shopify, HubSpot, Mailchimp)? Open API / webhooks?
Security, support & SLAs	10	Data residency, encryption, uptime SLA, support response time?

Score each vendor and order by weighted total. The scoring model keeps vendors honest and makes trade-offs explicit: a cheap tool that lacks key integrations won’t win over a slightly pricier option that requires minimal dev time.

Technical and integration checklist (keep it minimal)

Under a strict budget, you can’t assume unlimited engineering time. I include a short checklist vendors must address in 1–2 lines each:

Primary ingestion methods (JS SDK, server-side API, GTM snippet, mobile SDKs)

Outbound activation (native integrations with ad platforms, webhooks, CSV export)

Data schema flexibility and transformation options (do they map to your naming conventions?)

API rate limits and export access for backups

Authentication options (OAuth, API keys) and SSO availability

Security, compliance and data protection

Even for small budgets, you can't ignore security. Keep requirements tight and practical:

Do you support TLS-at-rest and in-transit?

Are you GDPR-ready and can you sign a standard DPA?

Where is data hosted (EU/UK preferred for GDPR simplicity)?

Do you perform penetration tests and supply security docs on request?

Pricing transparency: what to demand

Ask vendors to show the exact bill for a small realistic workload. I always require a small worked example in the RFP:

Base plan cost and what’s included

Per-event or per-seat charges spelled out with a worked example (e.g., “10M events/year = £X”)

Onboarding and implementation fees (one-time)

Renewal terms and any auto-escalation clauses

Vendors who hide pricing to force a sales call are often not a good fit when you must stay under a strict cap. If they won’t give ballpark numbers, deprioritise them.

Timeline and decision rules

Be explicit about timelines and what you expect after submission. A typical one-page timeline looks like this:

RFP issue date

Deadline for responses (usually 5–7 business days)

Shortlist notified within 3 business days

Optional 30-minute demo for shortlisted vendors

Decision within 2 weeks of demo

I’m blunt with vendors: “If you can’t demo within five business days, tell us now.” If they’re already stretched on timelines, they’ll be stretched when you need support.

Sample one-page RFP (copy/paste friendly)

Company	[Your company name]
Context / Problem	We need a lightweight customer data platform to centralise web + mobile events for segmentation and simple activation into email and advertising channels.
Primary Use Cases	1) Capture 5–10M events/year; 2) Build and sync behavioural segments to Mailchimp and Facebook ads; 3) Export CSVs for BI.
Must-have constraints	Budget <= £5k/year; EU/UK data residency; self-serve implementation with JS SDK; API access; no hidden per-event upcharges beyond example below.
Success Criteria	Deliver segments to Mailchimp within 1 hour of event; reduce manual CSV exports by 80%; total cost <= £5k/year.
Evaluation ask (one paragraph)	1) Short product summary; 2) Top 3 relevant features; 3) Pricing worked example for 10M events/year; 4) Typical setup time; 5) One customer reference.
Deadline	[date, 5–7 business days]

One-page RFPs simplify procurement conversations and surface vendors that are honest about suitability and pricing. In my experience, the best outcomes come from vendors who can be concise and practical—same values we should apply to martech selection when budgets are small and stakes are real.