Aligning Marketing Strategy in the Public Sector with Government Buying Cycles

B2G marketing differs from B2B and B2C marketing in many, many ways, but one of the most notable is the difference in buying cycles. Government buying cycles are usually quite long, sometimes upwards of 18 months. This time is divided into procurement phases. Marketers must align their strategies to match each phase. The timeliness of each step in the strategy optimises the effectiveness of marketing campaigns because the messaging matches contracting authorities’ needs at that moment.

Central public sector organisations and local government departments are key decision-makers in this buying cycle, as they are central to policy implementation and procurement processes. Aligning your strategy helps suppliers engage with departments responsible for delivering public services, ensuring your messaging resonates with those implementing essential services like healthcare, education, and social welfare.

We’re going to take a deeper look into public sector marketing strategies and buying cycles, why it matters, and how you can develop a marketing strategy step-by-step.

You can also download the Full Guide (PDF) or watch the Intro Webinar for more details.

How to Synchronise Your B2G Marketing Strategy with Public Procurement Phases

First, it’s important to understand why government procurement marketing differs from commercial buying.

In commercial buying, the processes and outcomes are limited to the parties involved in the transaction. In public sector procurement, the government is accountable to everyone. The reason is simple: public sector procurement is funded by taxpayers and other sources of UK government funding. Government organisations must ensure that spending serves the public interest because they have to answer for their decisions, spending, and activities to the general public.

Government agencies have to comply with a tonne of regulations that aren’t applicable to private sector procurement, and it has to do everything in their power to steer clear of a whiff of a scandal like dodgy dealings way down the supply chain. These rules are in place to protect the public interest and ensure responsible use of government funding.

The result is a strict regulatory landscape. Unfortunately, the need to be extremely risk averse increases the length of buying cycles.

However, the rewards are worth the effort.

Why?

In 2023/24, the government spent £407 billion on public sector procurement. That’s £19 billion more than the previous year. An increase of about 10% is expected for 2024/25.

Not too shabby, right?

UK Government Buying Cycle Guide

Now, let’s explore the government buying cycle step by step.

Pre-Solicitation & Market Research

Market research is essential before preparing any kind of transaction. It’s important for buyers and suppliers to understand the market (trends, forecasts, solutions) and the players in the market, including high performing suppliers (competitors), and buyers’ history. A critical part of this process is to identify key trends and opportunities, as well as challenges faced by stakeholders, to enhance strategy and decision-making. Industry-specific knowledge is vital at this stage to tailor approaches and improve credibility.

The resulting information, combined with the buyers’ requirements, determines the content in Requests for Proposals (RFPs). Buyers develop RFPs for suppliers identified in the search process to determine their potential suitability for particular tenders.

During this stage, marketers must ensure their clients are as visible as possible. This includes publishing content. It doesn’t have to be a lot of content, but it needs to be high quality, provide value to buyers, and be published on relevant media channels. Sharing knowledge through published materials also helps build credibility and demonstrates an understanding of the organisational context and stakeholder needs.

For example:

Snippets of whitepapers on LinkedIn or Facebook business, with links to the gated full whitepaper.

Webinars explaining product/service benefits and expected outcomes.

Solicitation/RFP Release

Contracting authorities issue a tender notice, which is required by the Procurement Act 2023.

They can also send RFPs to their chosen candidates for details on their technical methods, relevant experience, and overall quality, including the quality of social value projects. The questions and information required are customised to suit each tender.

Buyers must include Q&A windows for suppliers to clarify what exactly is needed and how exactly to complete the tender documents. This stage also helps suppliers ensure compliance with all tender requirements.

At this stage, marketers must publish content that demonstrates suppliers’ skills, like case studies and technical know-how in “How-to” guides, as well as showcasing an effective strategy for meeting buyer needs.

Evaluation & Award

Buyers evaluate bid submissions on predetermined criteria, including how well they meet the specs, the consistency of good past performance, overall value (Most Advantageous Tender), social value, cost, and the ability to demonstrate positive outcomes for public sector clients.

At this stage, the ball is entirely in the buyers’ court, however, marketers can still carry out the tail end of their campaigns. For instance, post mini-demos of the products and services concerned. It’s one thing to see it writing. It’s another to see it in action. Action usually wins. Don’t underestimate the power of videos on websites, YouTube, or invitation only webinars.

Post-Award & Implementation

All the major activity starts during this stage.

Onboarding comes first, orientation to the work environment and the people who will be forming the team or teams delivering the contract. Streamlined onboarding processes can help save time for all parties involved.

Training may be required if there is new or different equipment and machinery – and if local (relatively inexperienced) community members are employed and they need to learn how to use systems.

Change management might be necessary in some circumstances to maintain employee satisfaction, commitment, and motivation.

Marketers are still relevant because they need to help create different types of content, including client success videos. Suppliers also need onboarding roadmaps to get everyone off on the right foot and performance dashboards to track KPIs, progress, and costs.

Aligning Marketing Tactics with Procurement Stages

So, we had a peek at what marketers can do in the anatomy of the government buying cycle. Now, we’ll dig a bit deeper into their roles during procurement. The main purpose of aligning marketing tactics with each stage is to ensure that communication and engagement are tailored to meet the specific needs and objectives of public sector organisations.

Public sector marketing focuses on building trust and credibility with stakeholders, emphasising transparency and accountability. A well-defined strategy is essential for facilitating these processes and achieving meaningful impact within the community.

Pre-Solicitation Tactics

This is all about getting suppliers known, building their reputations, and establishing them as thought leaders. The best types of content to achieve these goals are webinars and eBooks.

Webinars should focus on common challenges buyers in the industry face and how their solution puts their worries to rest. These materials are specifically designed to engage public sector professionals by addressing their unique needs and priorities.

You can repurpose your webinar content and write an eBook that explores the challenges more in-depth and include tactics and techniques and comparisons of tactics and techniques to reveal the solution that provides the utmost value. eBooks can be distributed via targeted email lists. You can also publish short blog posts or snippets on social media to generate interest and encourage stakeholders to download the full book.

It’s never too early to attend and participate in government-sector events, from conferences and expos to fundraising events. Suppliers establish a physical presence to match their online one.

Evaluation & Award Support

You might have submitted your bid, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still woo buyers. You can still create and share product demos, success stories, and compliance toolkits. Basically, reminding contracting authorities that your business provides top-notch products or services. 

You can invite evaluators to view product demos (on-demand), but don’t bombard them with video links or attachments. You’ve already submitted your bid; you don’t want to become a pain in the tuchus and negatively impact your chances of success. 

Post-Award Engagement

Marketers can help their clients by creating a general “Government Onboarding Guide” so they know what to expect when they are awarded contracts. Government agencies have their own onboarding processes, but the guide helps prepare clients so they can adapt to diverse onboarding practices and focus on building a high-performing team.

You can host in-person or virtual conferences or user groups to demonstrate clients’ deliverables – their ability to meet and exceed expectations with their innovative, high-quality products or services, and to showcase the positive impact of their work.

Measuring Success

If you don’t know how successful a marketing campaign is, how can you improve? Measuring KPIs not only tracks current performance but also helps organisations plan for the future and improve long-term outcomes. Here are some important KPIs you need to measure.

Next Steps

You’ve done all the hard work; or have you?

This is no time to rest on your laurels, there are still plenty of things you can do to optimise all your current marketing campaigns.

For example:

• Double-check all campaigns to ensure they still comply with all relevant regulations.
• Create a content calendar aligned with buying cycles and/or fiscal quarters, incorporating strategic planning to ensure your marketing efforts support overall organisational goals.
• Provide value by creating a landing page that provides insights specifically for public sector RFPs.

Cadence Marketing provides support in the form of downloadable, customisable templates for RFP outreach emails and budget-cycle planning, and more.

Find out more about government buying cycles and other aspects of B2G marketing. Simply schedule a strategy call and our specialists will help you create and manage a relevant campaign.

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