Six Considerations When Marketing To Governments.

We might say marketing to the government is similar to marketing to any other target market, particularly another B2B target market. And broadly, the principles remain the same, but there are a few specific considerations when marketing to government.

1. Define Your Objectives Using Data. Any marketing plan should start with defining your objectives, but they often don’t. You need to be clear, is this activity about awareness building, lead generation, or sales? Each different objective is going to equal different tactical execution, so it’s important to be clear upfront.
2. Define Your Target Market. Knowing who your marketing is targeting is critical but remember, government departments are complicated, multi-pronged beasts, all with different needs, and everyone is time-poor. Take the time to analyse exactly which departments you want to appeal to and who ( or whom) within those departments you need to attract.
3. Match Your Product To Your Market. It might sound obvious, but work out which products are suited to meeting the needs of each target market. Consider the specific business challenges of each government department, and provide the best product match to solve the problem. Providing a smorgasbord of opportunity to every potential buyer might make you feel like you are selling, but really, it wastes your time and theirs.
4. Consider Stakeholders. Government shares the same challenges in large B2B buyers, in that there are often multiple stakeholders in any purchase decision. Once you’ve identified your target market, you need to consider who may be other, non-direct targets. Which other stakeholders do you need to reach when marketing. For example, if you are targeting a marketer, but a Head of procurement signs the cheques, you need to make sure your marketing is answering procurement challenges and addressing their objections in the purchase process too.
5. Procurement Has Its Challenges. Marketing to the government is invariably going to mean a procurement process of some sort. For a seller that means really having your ducks in a row with the administrative side of your business, as well as strong proof points like testimonials, case studies, and strong ROI modelling.
6. Prepare For the Long Haul. B2B has a notoriously long purchase cycle no matter what the industry sector. Marketing to the government can have an even longer sales cycle due to the nature of the complex stakeholders and the often protracted procurement processes.

If you’d like to talk to us about how we work with government, our procurement data or research capabilities, don’t hesitate to get in touch.