This is the first in a two-part post that looks at how to make the most of multi-channel marketing in public sector procurement.
B2G or public sector marketing is a rich field with lots of opportunities to be creative, expressive, compelling, and omnipresent. And we do mean omnipresent because multi-channel marketing, which is marketing on every channel you can think of, is also known as omni-marketing.
Imagine the power of being everywhere simultaneously. With some coordination, marketing know-how, and a good story to tell, you can be. We’re going to look at the power of multi-channel marketing; what it is, how it works, why it works, and why you should crack on with it.
What is Multi-Channel Marketing?
Multi-channel marketing refers to the practice of engaging with customers through multiple channels, both online and offline, to promote products or services. In today’s digital age, customers expect to interact with brands no matter where they are media-wise. This makes a multi-channel approach essential.
By leveraging multiple channels, you can increase your reach, improve customer satisfaction, and drive sales. A well-planned multi-channel marketing strategy allows you to target your audience effectively, build brand awareness, and drive revenue.
Effective multi-channel marketing combines online and offline channels, such as social media, webinars, email marketing, direct mail, live events, and content marketing to create a cohesive customer experience.
There are many reasons to have a multi-channel marketing strategy, but perhaps the most important include the ability to personalise your marketing messages and meet your target audience on their turf; the platforms where they are most comfortable, like LinkedIn, for example, or trade shows.
There’s also the extended reach, of course, establishing your brand’s presence in both online and offline worlds.
When it comes to B2G multi-channel marketing, you have to be somewhat discerning. If you’re going to target social media, for instance, your best bets are LinkedIn and X (ex-Twitter), rather than TikTok and Instagram.
It makes B2G marketing interesting – a challenge rather than a limitation. So, let’s look at how you can tackle the challenge.
Understanding Customer Needs
To develop a successful multi-channel marketing strategy, understanding customer needs and preferences is crucial. By examining customer behaviour, businesses can identify patterns, preferences, and pain points, which can help create targeted messaging.
Understanding customer needs is critical to creating effective multi-channel marketing campaigns that resonate with the target audience and foster customer loyalty. By leveraging these insights, businesses can tailor their marketing strategies to better meet the needs of their customers, ultimately driving engagement and satisfaction.
Social Media’s Place in the Customer Journey
The first rule of social media marketing is to understand the platform. TikTok has some pretty funny videos, but you wouldn’t put them on LinkedIn. Unless your aim is to alienate your audience.
The second rule is don’t try too hard. That doesn’t mean a lack of effort or strategising. Instead, it’s about being too pushy, too gushy, too funny, trying too hard to fit in and going overboard or missing the mark.
Be authentic, genuine, true to your brand, and above all, research the platform so you understand how to act and interact.
Let’s look at LinkedIn.
LinkedIn Marketing Best Practices
There are so many tips here that we’re just going to focus on the top five.
1) #Hashtags
The world is divided into two types of people: Those who hashtag everything and those who think the world would be a better place if hashtags had never been invented.
B2G marketers know it’s not that black and white. Hashtags can actually be very handy when used judiciously. For example, #socialmediamanagement will deliver a chunk of results that you can filter by people, jobs, companies, groups, etc. This tells you how many people use the hashtag – people you can connect with because you have similar interests.
You’ll find companies that you can follow and even relevant upcoming events. Essentially, it’s a hashtag that’s worthwhile using.
You can also create your own hashtags, for example #CompanyBwebinar2025. Use the hashtag to support valuable event-related content and it could end up trending.
2) Keep them guessing
Too much of a good thing might be bad for you – but it’s also boring. Bear that in mind when you post content on LinkedIn. Long posts that establish your reputation as a thought leader are great, but too many long posts might make you appear to be long-winded and rather fond of your own voice.
The best thing to do is vary your content. The occasional in-depth case study, interspersed with short, snappy posts, maybe include an infographic in a post, or snippet of a video clip from a webinar.
Get a reputation for being authoritative and interesting and you’ll have a horde of followers waiting to see what you’re going to come up with next.
3) Optimise your profile
This is about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – what you do to your website, blog posts, and other content. Decide on some keywords – the words that will deliver people to your page – and use them in your headline, your work experience, etc. The usual SEO rules apply. Don’t stuff your profile and only use them where they make sense and add to the content. If it doesn’t flow when you read it, bin it.
4) Timing is everything
This works on two levels.
1) Your publishing schedule: The time of day/week/month that you post content. It should be consistent, basically, the same day and time, every time.
2) The actual time: Research has been done into what day and what time of day you should post new content. According to Hootsuite, that’s 1pm on Monday afternoon. But that might not be a good time for you and your target audience, especially if your audience crosses time zones.
You might have to experiment a bit before you hit on the right time for your marketing strategy. Just make sure you have proper analytics that records the time whenever content is accessed.
5) Join LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn groups are the perfect social media networking tool. A group of like-minded professionals discussing ideas, trends, regulatory changes, that kind of thing.
There are two things to remember here.
1) Ensure the group is relevant to your interests and that you’re likely to get value out of joining the group. You won’t get what you’re looking for if it looks like there’s more arguing than discussing or discussions go on a tangential meander before getting back to the point.
2) There are no wallflowers in social media marketing. You have to participate in discussions to get the most out of group membership. Always be respectful and courteous, even when you think someone is smoking their socks.
If you can’t find a group that resonates with you, start your own. It’s a great way to enhance your reputation as a thought leader and because you control who can enter the group, you’re in a good position to build a substantial network of professional peers.
Event Marketing’s Role in Multi-Channel Strategies
Event marketing is pretty broad. It covers a range of online and in-person functions, including webinars, trade shows, workshops, hybrid events, online and in-person conferences, etc. This is a good thing because you can meet your audience in different contexts. This is great for personalisation, which is the biggest factor in your marketing campaign’s success.
COVID had a major impact on event marketing. Marketers had no choice but to go online. They had to innovate their hearts out to maintain engagement, encourage interactions, and stay top of mind.
With COVID in the rearview mirror, people are returning to in-person events, rather than remaining devoted to the online varieties. The numbers are pretty interesting, as you can see in an article Eventcube posted on stats, trends, and industry insights for event marketing in 2025.
- 78% of marketers will focus on in-person events.
- 76.6% of marketers consider in-person events essential for their organisations’ success.
- 80.4% of marketers say in-person events will be the most impactful marketing channel of their organisation.
- 82.8% of marketers and 77.7% of attendees say that in-person conferences are ideal for networking.
It’s not like online events are going away. According to the article:
- 81% of marketers will host virtual events in 2025.
- 79% said virtual events provided new opportunities.
- 66% found virtual events delivered better ROI than in-person events.
- 68% of attendees rewatch content.
- 75% of attendees rewatch missed sessions.
We’re going to end the first part of our blog post on a cliffhanger. Join us again to find out which types of events work best for B2G Marketing.
If you have any questions in the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact us. One of our marketing specialists will be happy to provide you with the information you’re looking for.
