Imagine your every decision is closely watched, judged, and sometimes condemned. That’s kind of what it’s like for public sector buyers who are responsible for spending budgets wisely on quality goods and services from reputable suppliers.
If you want to succeed as a public sector supplier, it’s crucial to establish your credibility as early as possible, and maintain your reputation as an industry leader.
The synergy between public relations (PR) and B2G marketing is the best way to make your mark, attract loyal, long-term customers, and stand out from the competition.
In this blog, we’re going to explore the relationship between marketing and public relations campaigns, demonstrating that sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
So …
What is Public Relations in Marketing?
First, let’s take a quick look at their roles.
PR strategy:
- Used from the get-go to generate brand awareness and build a reputation for quality goods and services.
- Promotes businesses or organisations as a whole.
- Creates trust and awareness.
- Long-term process that matches businesses’ progress and evolution.
- Relationship building.
Marketing campaign:
- Follows brand introduction and generates demand for businesses’ products or services.
- Promotes products or services.
- Creates a sales funnel or buyers’ journey.
- Short-term strategies for specific aims, goals, or conversions.
- Generate conversions.
PR and Marketing Overlap
There are areas where marketing and PR efforts overlap, for example:
- Both build brand awareness and aim to turn qualified leads into loyal customers.
- Using transparency and honesty, both aim to build trust with their target audience.
- Both generate interest in products and services.
- Both promote the company using print and digital media channels.
- Both create and maintain a consistent brand narrative with consistency in communication, especially regarding messaging, voice, and tone.
- Both optimise content for various channels, including social media, SEO, and traditional media.
The two are interdependent; the more successful one is, the more successful the other.
Why a Strategic Public Relations Strategy Matters for B2G Suppliers
We’ve mentioned the scrutiny under which public sector buyers operate. It’s necessary because they’re responsible for the public’s money. They must be able to account for every penny spent and justify their reasons for their decisions and actions. This makes them very risk averse and causes them to look favourably on trustworthy suppliers with successful contracts under their belts.
Transparency is essential, ethical business operations are non-negotiable, sustainable practices are highly recommended, community investment is required, and regulatory compliance is set in stone.
Your business might tick all the boxes, but without brand awareness, how are contracting authorities to know?
This is where your PR campaign shines.
How Public Relations Help Suppliers Capture Their Market Share
PR shapes the public’s perception of you and your business. Done well, and customers can become brand evangelists. Done wrong, and your brand’s reputation could suffer untold, potentially irreparable damage.
Successful PR tactics
Creative storytelling (that is, nevertheless true) is a great way to capture public attention, increase awareness of your good reputation, and make your brand more relatable – more human.
Consistency is key. It must be authentic, so all content on all media channels must align with your core values and brand identity. Authentic consistency makes your brand trustworthy and increases its credibility.
Note: Your values need to align with those of the public sector, but remember, they must be authentic. Brown-nosing is usually obvious and achieves the exact opposite of what you want.
Public relations content creation and distribution must help establish your position as an industry or thought leader. It starts with (SEO optimised) website content and includes blogs, guest articles, social media posts, webinars, and white papers.
Distribution to media outlets
It’s tempting to go with blanket distribution. Publish content wherever you can, regardless of quality, reach, target audience, and credibility. No, it’s far better to limit distribution but publish on the channels your target audience favours, for example, LinkedIn.
Working with PR professionals, especially those that specialise in B2G marketing, is the best way to ensure your content is distributed to reach your target market. Marketing agencies have the contacts, relationships, and industry knowledge necessary to optimise the distribution process, so it’s well worth the expense.
5 Ways a Comprehensive PR Strategy Supports B2G Growth
Public relations in the public sector can play a critical role in B2G growth. Here’s why:
1) Public relations strategies increase brand awareness and visibility, placing you in front of key decision-makers in the public procurement process.
2) PR agencies in the B2G sector use content generation and media distribution channels (digital and print) to establish and advertise your unique insights as a thought leader in your field.
3) Strategic PR content distribution can increase your brand’s reach via social media engagement and content sharing. Third-party endorsements (not within your business), especially from industry influencers and key decision-makers, help establish trust and credibility far more effectively than when it comes from the horse’s mouth, as it were.
4) While a strong online presence and good reputation won’t win you contracts directly, they certainly give you a (fair) advantage when competition for tenders is fierce.
5) PR is an ultra-marathon. It takes continuous effort for long-term rewards. Contracting authorities like this. They take comfort in your consistent performance, making you a preferred partner even when contracts aren’t up for grabs. That’s the kind of relationship suppliers want to get out of their PR plans.
The Right Public Relations Tactics for Government Suppliers
You have to walk before you can run. Start small and aim for easy wins, like focusing on local media (online and print), sponsoring community events, and hosting industry-specific events, etc. Engage in strategic PR activities that will attract the attention of local government bodies and decision-makers.
As we mentioned above, it’s worthwhile working with an experienced marketing and PR agency, like Cadence Marketing, to give your PR goals a boost.
Use analytics to measure the performance of your PR strategy. Set measurable KPIs like the number of new backlinks, brand searches, media coverage, and influence on procurement teams. This enables you to make major or micro adjustments to optimise your PR efforts and enjoy even more benefits from positive media coverage.
Wrapping Up
Many businesses, not just B2G suppliers, underestimate the importance of a comprehensive PR strategy in their marketing campaigns. The truth is that PR is a strategic marketing tool that’s essential to the success of B2G marketing campaigns.
The reasons are simple enough. A successful PR strategy establishes credibility, nurtures relationships, and humanises your business, giving contracting authorities an identity they can relate to and trust.
Contact Cadence Marketing to build a public sector PR strategy that drives real business growth.
