Trying to earn government contracts is tough as it is competitive. If you want to secure as many contracts as possible, you need to start digital marketing to make your business more discoverable for government officials, by pushing content via strategies, such as retargeting, SEO, and database marketing (more on these in a moment).
But where does one start? And how do you act upon the strategies mentioned above? Keep reading to learn more.
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
One digital marketing strategy that is effective for government contractors is search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is the process of optimizing your website content so it ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). The higher your website ranks in SERPs, the more likely officials are to discover your company when they are searching for businesses that provide the goods or services you offer.
To improve your website’s SEO, start by conducting keyword research. Keyword research helps you identify the keywords and phrases officials are searching for when they are looking for businesses like yours. Once you have identified relevant keywords, incorporate them into your website content in a natural way. And as you get more technical over time, you can also use keywords to optimize your website’s title tags, meta descriptions, alternate tags, etc. to fast-track the ranking process.
SEO is an ongoing process, so it’s important to regularly monitor your website’s SEO performance and make changes as needed. You should also keep an eye on your competition; if they are outranking you in SERPs, analyze their websites to see what they are doing differently and make changes accordingly.
2. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
In addition to SEO, another digital marketing strategy that can help government contractors is pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. A common of PPC ads is Google search ads, which you may recall as the top most search results when searching for anything on Google (image below). PPC advertising is a type of online advertising in which businesses can bid on keywords and phrases relevant to their product or service. When officials search for those keywords, your ad may appear at the top of SERPs. If officials click on your ad, you will then have to pay the amount you bid per click.
PPC advertising can be an effective way to reach officials who are actively searching for businesses like yours; however, it can be costly if not managed correctly. To avoid overspending on PPC ads, start by setting a budget and sticking to it, while tracking your PPC campaigns closely so you can see which ones are performing well.
Example of search ads in the search results for ‘CRM.’
3. Content Marketing
Another digital marketing strategy that can help government contractors is content marketing. Content marketing involves creating and sharing high-quality content that educates, entertains, or both and can come in the form of blog content (popular for SEO), social media posts, newsletters, video content, podcasting, etc. The goal of content marketing is to attract officials to your website and build trust with them so they will consider doing business with you when they need the goods or services you offer.
To get started with content marketing, first identify the topics that would be most relevant and interesting to officials in your target market. Then, create blog posts, infographics, videos, or other types of content around those topics. Once you have created some content, share it on social media and other online channels frequented by officials in your target market.
4. Website Design and Development
Finally, having a well-designed website is essential for any business trying to impress its target demographic —after all, effective website design and development is a form of digital marketing. A well-designed website will help build trust with officials by conveying professionalism and credibility.
Furthermore, a well-organized website makes it easy for officials to find the information they need about your company, which is crucial since officials are typically short on time. To ensure your website meets these standards, work with a professional web design and development team which has experience designing websites for businesses in your industry, and make sure they understand the specific needs of government contractors when it comes to compliance regulations, security requirements, etc.
A well-designed website conveys exactly what the customer wants to know as effectively as possible.
Additional Tips For Marketing
The trouble with man is not achieving his goals… Men do that! … It’s establishing them and having the courage to follow-through on them – Earl Nightingale
1. Have an action plan:
Remember, Rome was not built in a day! As such, as execute the strategies mentioned above, you would do well to create a trackable action plan first. It will save you from a world of hurt — and it’s extremely simple. Just create a google sheet with different sub-sheets for each of the 4 strategies above, followed by establishing KPIs to track progress and designating responsibilities to your marketing team, if any. Finally, create a monthly, weekly, or even daily schedule and take baby steps toward your long-term goal.
2. Track. Track. Track.
If you don’t know how far you have come, you won’t know how much farther you have to go! Therefore, set aside at least one day a week (perhaps a Sunday) to track your progress, troubleshoot problems, and modify your approach accordingly.
3. Think outside of the box… but don’t be too far out!
Over 60B messages are sent across social media, 400,000 posts are made every single day, and there are tons of competitors trying to cut through the noise every waking moment. Therefore, merely making a social media post and/or creating a website won’t cut it. You cannot go through the motions in the 21st century. You must think outside the box to come up with new and creative ways of connecting with the target customers, be it government officials and/or your local car mechanic. Sometimes it will work, other times, it won’t. But having the courage to go against the consensus is perhaps to key to making viral content and making the most out of digital marketing.
4. Follow-through.
Discipline and consistency are underrated and yet the most important determinant in, well, most things in life. This is especially true with SEO (appearing on that coveted first page of Google search results), which can take months of consistent work with no guarantees. So be sure to follow through on your action plan every single day or according to whatever schedule you have concocted.
Conclusion: Marketing Your Business as a Government Contractor Is Crucial If You Want To Win Contracts
If you want your business to win government contracts, then implementing an effective digital marketing strategy should be a top priority. By using channels like SEO, PPC advertising, content marketing, and web design & development, you can make sure that officials in charge of awarding contracts are aware of your business and consider it favorably when making their decisions.
