There is possibly no easier government marketing strategy for a small firm to increase its sales and reach out to a large new consumer base than to become a federal contractor.
This is not as simple as merely offering one's wares for sale to government organizations. Every firm must go through a lengthy and complicated procedure before being approved and handed government contracts. One of the most common stumbling blocks for businesses is not knowing how to sell to the federal government. Here are some government marketing strategies on how to communicate in their language so that your contracts are accepted.
The initial step in the procedure is to register as a government contractor. This is a multi-step procedure that contains the following steps:
Each physical location of your company will require one of these identifying numbers. To request your number online, go to the D&B D-U-N-S Request Service page.
Before any contracts are given, the Federal Acquisitions Regulations (FAR) require that all enterprises doing business with the federal government register here. When completing your SAM registration, you will be required to identify any appropriate North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) numbers, so have them available.
The FAR requires enterprises to produce historical performance reports that extend more than one year to win contracts such as GSA Schedules. These evaluations must be carried out every year.
The federal government marketing strategy as you design your approach for obtaining federal contracts, you should first do market research to determine which federal agencies require your products or services. Rather than depending on traditional marketing, you should tailor your government marketing strategy to the individual agencies with which you intend to do business.
Keep in mind that you are communicating to three distinct groups while developing your marketing campaign: procurers, influencers, and end-users.
Contracting officials or anyone who does procurement is known as procurers. The need for the good or service comes from influencers, who are high-level decision-makers with significant influence on procurers. End users, as the individuals who utilize a service or product, have a lot of say in who the contractors are.
A standard commercial marketing plan will not resonate with government marketing strategy, as many businesses can confirm. You must understand the government marketing strategies, precise goals, and needs of the agency to whom you're marketing. When federal government marketing strategy makes it obvious how your product or service assists that agency in meeting its goals. Make it clear to them how simple it will be to buy from you, and emphasize your contractual knowledge. If you have contracts with other agencies, describe how your services have helped them. Remember, the government marketing strategy does not speak a business language. They aren't concerned about growing earnings or delighting customers, thus such remarks will be ignored. They seek to improve efficiency while also meeting specified mandates. Make sure you're speaking with them in their language, not yours.
When it comes to promoting themselves, government contractors have a particular challenge. Government marketing strategy for Government procurement officers and program managers is a far more limited audience to whom to sell as compared to standard business-to-business or business-to-consumer marketing. Winning contracts entail raising awareness and cultivating connections with all decision-makers. For small to medium-sized contractors, efficient time and resource allocation are essential for successful government marketing. If you are serious about securing government contracts, you should consider the following Government marketing strategies:
Government contractors are best served by leveraging internal technologies to contact individual decision-makers with timely messaging when marketing innovation. Government marketing strategy is also feasible to employ editorial magazines or groups that may host award programs designed to highlight leaders at the federal, state, and local levels of government. Because it is not a direct vendor endorsement, vendor awards programs presented by government marketing strategy are generally an appropriate technique for agencies to recognize innovators, and they may also increase employee morale. Concentrated efforts to generate media attention may also be beneficial in establishing your company as a leader in your industry.
Calls-to-action is common in government marketing strategy; for example, "sign up for our newsletter and you'll be entered to win our product." While a call to action is still required in government marketing, all government personnel must follow ethical laws that ban accepting gifts or freebies. There are certain exceptions, such as instructional materials sent as part of a marketing strategy for government agencies, but generally, make sure your call-to-action is following the ethical norms that government agencies observe.
What constitutes a good call to action? A brief, unambiguous phrase that does not waste space. It should inspire your audience to interact with you in some manner, such as subscribing to your newsletter, downloading a white paper or case study, staying up to date with you on social media, or getting in touch with you personally.
One of the government marketing strategies where Contractors are already aware of is that securing an agency contract often involves a lengthy sales cycle as compared to how many other organizations operate. For smaller contractors, time is a valuable resource—you may only be able to target one federal department at a time. In such a competitive industry, you must create focused ads that can help you get contracts. Examining your branding and outreach activities is a vital component of effectively selling to government entities.
Nowadays, your internet presence may be the initial point of contact for a decision-maker with your company. It is essential to have all of your service and product information online, but there are also numerous creative government marketing strategies to provide your audience with distinctive digital experiences. Creating virtual tours of your facilities might be a terrific method to showcase your company's culture and personality with reasonable simplicity. Creating unique material, such as demonstration videos, is another great approach to be recognized. Remember that online experiences have mostly supplanted many conventional marketing strategies for government agencies, which means you must consider what the digital counterparts are to time-honored methods of reaching out to your clients. If you can't show your goods in person, find a visually appealing way to do so online.
Government marketing strategy when it comes to online marketing, never underestimate the importance of your website. It is advisable to include a part of your website dedicated to government contracts. However, it is equally critical to build adaptable landing pages that function properly: people on mobile devices should have a comparable effective experience to those viewing your site on PCs.
Responsive landing pages improve more than simply the user experience. These websites appear higher in search engine results, allowing your properly optimized website to appear above your competition. This is because having a responsive website allows Google to read your original material more easily, allowing you to rank higher in search results.
In federal government marketing strategy there are several alternatives for showcasing your company's skills to the Federal Government, depending on your marketing budget. These publications may also provide you with the opportunity to learn more about who is doing what in the federal government.
Government marketing strategies such as Government Executive (magazine, www.govexec.com/mediakit) and GovExec.com (online service of Government Executive Magazine) are among these periodicals. Federal Times (newsweekly, www.federaltimes.com) is another.
The Army Times Publishing group is in charge of it. They are also in charge of many additional newsweeklies, including Army Times, Navy Times, Marine Times, Air Force Times, and Defense News.
GSA MarkeTips magazine is published bimonthly for GSA customers. Approximately 90,000 subscribers are now served. Advertisements for Schedule contract holders are free but subject to certain criteria and space availability. Marketing strategy for government agencies, Armed Forces Journal (www.armedforcesjournal.com/magazine) Contract Management, the official journal of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA), is a monthly magazine written for contract managers, and procurement professionals, officers, and administrators in the private and public sectors. It also addresses program managers', industry executives, and other secondary market experts' concerns.
When it comes to promoting themselves, government contractors from Government Marketing have a particular challenge. Their government marketing strategy for Government procurement officers and program managers is a far more limited audience to whom to sell as compared to standard business-to-business or business-to-consumer marketing.
