The UK government has committed itself to boosting public sector procurement spending, with special focus on SME participation, which can be structured using a digital marketing plan template.
Considering that the government spent £407 billion on public procurement in 2023/24, getting on the bandwagon is a very good idea.
In fact, it’s such a good idea that we’re going to provide a roadmap for you to capitalise on the opportunities and define clear campaign goals. that suddenly abound.
How to Identify Relevant Tenders
The first point on the map is identifying the opportunities that match your business offerings. This is relatively easy if you also establish your campaign objectives . The government has tender portals where you can register, enter your profile, and set up alerts for contracts that are up your alley.
There are also independent eTendering or eProcurement platforms that provide the same services, but which have a few handy extras in the mix, including creative assets for your marketing efforts. like analytics, certification programmes, and a host of guides like this one, to make navigating the procurement landscape easier.
Filter your search criteria so only matching opportunities land in your inbox. You then avoid a crammed inbox with tender notices that don’t match your requirements.
By using these filters, you can focus on target audiences most likely to be interested in your offerings, ensuring your marketing efforts are directed toward the most relevant opportunities.
Filter options usually include:
- Industry sector: Healthcare
- Goods, services, or works: Your type of business offering
- Product or service subcategories: Healthcare cleaning products
- Location: Your chosen area of operation
- Type of contracts: Framework agreement
- Value: Within financial limits
- Tender status: Open, closed, upcoming
- Keyword: healthcare cleaning materials
- CPV code: Standardised code for specific goods and services, for example, 85110000-3 for hospital and related services.
Building a Marketing Campaign Strategy for Government Contracts
Creating a robust marketing plan for government contracts is essential for standing out in a competitive public sector landscape. It’s essential to understand the government contracting process and identify key decision-makers within your target market to develop a tailored marketing strategy that incorporates your marketing campaign objectives. that aligns with the unique needs of government buyers.
A marketing campaign template helps structure your marketing campaign, ensuring consistency and alignment with your overall marketing plan.
Set clear key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns, including engagement rates, response rates to email marketing campaigns, and the number of qualified leads generated. Review these KPIs to refine your marketing campaigns and include a campaign timeline for better tracking. and ensure your marketing strategy remains on track.
Personalised Marketing for Government Buyers
In B2G marketing, personalisation is two-fold; messages aimed at the buyer, the person making the decisions, should consider the customer’s journey. or influencing purchasing decisions, and the government entity concerned.
For example, email marketing is directed at the buyer with actions/conversion goals based on their behaviour, like engaging with interactive email content, while being mindful of your marketing campaign budget . Segmentation and buyer personas can influence the type of personalised marketing content.
Email marketing for the government body contains product/service-related content, like a new brochure, improvements on design, an upcoming event with expert guest speakers, etc.
That’s not all. Messaging must align with the government body’s mission, values, and goals, like uplifting communities through training and employment-related activities.
Choose the Most Effective Marketing Channels
There are several marketing channels, each offering unique ways to reach your target audience.
For example:
- Direct mail: Sending brochures directly to prospects delivers tangible messages that can be picked up and read by anyone interested in your business offerings.
- Digital: Distributing news, announcements, and content via channels that include press releases, email marketing and LinkedIn groups.
- Social media channels: Platforms like LinkedIn, X, and Facebook are essential for customer engagement, feedback, and advancing prospects through the sales funnel.
- Paid media: Paid advertising channels such as Google Ads and social media ads increase awareness and drive traffic to your website or targeted landing pages.
- Events: Procurement workshops, trade events, and supplier/vendor days for networking and early engagement.
- Traditional: Trade magazine advertising, directories (online and print), and conference sponsorships
Nailing Your Tender Response
Developing a tender response needs a multi-layered approach. It starts with early engagement, like attending industry events to meet contracting authorities from several government departments and local councils.
Some buyers host supplier days to introduce suppliers and strengthen relationships. Supplier days can also be contract-specific, where suppliers ask clarification questions, and buyers provide additional details.
Creating a campaign brief at this stage is crucial, as it outlines objectives, tasks, and timelines, ensuring all team members are on the same page when preparing a tender response.
Understand Request Documents
Buyers often send selected suppliers documents requesting specific information. These include:
- Request for Information (RFI): Information regarding suppliers’ capabilities, products, or services.
- Request for Quotation (RFQ): Competitive bids are evaluated by buyers to find suitable candidates
- Request for Proposal (RFP): Innovative, cost-effective solutions for contract requirements
Completing these documents is tricky, so don’t hesitate to outsource to professional bid writers.
Government Marketing Regulations
Strict rules govern marketing campaigns to ensure transparency, fairness, and compliance with legal standards. Your marketing team must be familiar with regulations related to marketing practices, data privacy, and anti-corruption.
Integrate compliance checks into your campaign planning process from the outset and regularly review all marketing materials and activities to ensure they meet government requirements and ethical standards.
Staying compliant protects your business and builds trust with government buyers, positioning your company as a reliable and responsible partner.
Build Long-Term Relationships
Long-term relationships are essential for suppliers to improve their chances of winning contracts, extend their networks, and establish a credible reputation for successfully delivering contracts.
One way to do this is to leverage the benefits of account-based marketing (ABM). ABM is a highly targeted or personalised approach that is traditionally directed at the buyers with the highest value contracts. Basically, it’s based on an in-depth understanding of government entities’ overall procurement needs and not those related to specific contracts only.
Government buyers, like all people, want to feel understood and are likely to look favourably on suppliers who have nailed their due diligence rather than those with a blinkered approach to bidding.
Ongoing Value
Unfortunately, good relationships with buyers are conditional. You have to keep coming up with the goods to stay top of mind. You have to produce valuable content regularly, like webinars on creative solutions to common pain points, newsletters with relevant industry news, and updates, etc.
Government Procurement Marketing Trends
There is a growing emphasis on sustainability, diversity, and inclusion within government procurement. Businesses that demonstrate these values in their marketing campaign activities are more likely to stand out in the selection process.
By incorporating these trends into your marketing campaigns, you can create more relevant and impactful campaigns that align with government priorities and the evolving expectations of your target audience.
Measure the Impact of Marketing Efforts
Marketing campaigns live and die by metrics and KPIs. However, not all metrics are equal. It’s important to decide which ones are important enough to drive change (actionable) and which are nice to know, but don’t have practical value.
For example, win rate has actionable value. A low win rate means you need to step up your game, while a high win rate means your campaign is hitting the mark.
Dashboards are a great tool for tracking performance per campaign and comparing performance against industry averages, so you know where you stand in the bigger picture.
Common Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them
No campaign is perfect. Even experienced marketers can trip up on common challenges. There’s a reason they’re common, after all.
Here are 3 of the most common pitfalls to avoid
- Compliance gaps: Missing a certification or accreditation, perhaps even overlooking a renewal date, which puts you on the wrong side of procurement regulations.
- Generic collateral: Adopting a one-size-fits-all approach instead of tailoring marketing efforts to each government body and its needs.
- Neglecting relationships: Underestimating the importance of long-term relationships and burgeoning partnerships, after all, it’s not what you know, but who you know.
What Next?
Let’s recap the points on your B2G marketing strategy.
Receive relevant tenders by registering on eTendering portals and use filters to narrow your search to your niche.
Adapt your marketing strategy and messaging using a campaign plan template to ensure consistency. to each new contract and government body.
Ensure you’re compliant with procurement rules and regulations, including quality standards, cybersecurity, and social value.
Nurture relationships with contracting authorities, and other suppliers with products or services that complement yours. You never know when you’ll need to collaborate on a lucrative contract that’s just a tiny bit out of reach.
Use metrics and KPIs to track performance. Determine the most important metrics at the outset and use those to drive change.
Cadence Marketing Guides Your Campaign Strategy
Does it sound like a lot of work? Don’t worry, we have a downloadable checklist for mapping your key points and progress, including how to prepare for proposals and optimise your registration on eProcurement platforms.
Contact us for a free strategy consultation and develop a successful marketing campaign by reviewing marketing campaign examples that resonate with your goals.
