There's never been a better time for marketing to the public sector. Find out why and how to succeed with More Than Words

Winning a contract with a public sector organisation can be an exciting but daunting task.

To have the best chance, you need to invest in public sector marketing, designed specifically to reach key decision makers within a public body, with a message they understand and appreciate.

Successful public sector bids can be highly financially lucrative as well as greatly expanding your professional network.

In this article, we take a look at how you can build an effective marketing strategy to beat the competition and win big bids with public sector organisations.

Public sector marketing – make your messages clear and focused

Before embarking on public sector marketing, it’s important to research the structure that underpins that authority. This will give you thorough understanding of who you need to target.

England is made up of 25 counties, each with their own local government authorities. Further to this, there are 192 district, borough or city councils within each county.

Alongside this, there are 9,000 parish and town councils and 10 national parks. All have their own priorities, needs and budgets. The UK central government has over 455 separate departments that employ multiple staff managing various areas of the supply chain.

This makes getting your business known to the right person or department considerably more difficult than in a private sector company. With this in mind, there are a number of different factors you need to consider.

Public sector organisations are regularly targeted by thousands of businesses through digital marketing and social media.

However, these efforts often fail because they are directed too broadly and not to key decision makers. What you can do to improve your chances of securing a contract with a public sector organisation?

Learn more about contracts

Getting insight into how public sector contracts work is the first necessary step to winning relevant bids. It’s worth doing your research into government agencies and other areas of the sector, to see which businesses have been successful in your sector in the past.

UK tenders are regularly published and updated online.

The government website is a useful tool to browse existing contracts. Learn about upcoming contracts and gather relevant information about previous tenders to improve your pitch.

Register on the Contracts Finder website to receive email alerts when a relevant tender is released. This will keep you up to date with potential business options for your company.

Look out for local contracts

An alternative source for tender information is the local authority website of the area you’re interested in targeting. You may stand a better chance in winning contracts in your local area so it is helpful to stay up to date.

Find out who the relevant decision maker is in the public sector body you’re interested in. You can then open a line of communication with them directly to introduce yourself.

This way you can glean information on what products and services they may need now and in the future. Buyers in the public and private sector are always looking to connect with businesses willing to adapt and grow as needs change.

Understand public sector procurement

Getting clued up on the process of supplying the public sector is vital. Gain in-depth knowledge of public sector procurement processes using the whole host of  available educational resources.

Procurex Live are the UK’s leading public sector training event company. They regularly host live and online workshops to share knowledge in this division. Through workshops and video content they discuss best practise skills to increase your understanding of public sector procurement.

The UK Government are also keen to broaden businesses’ understanding of the procurement process. There are many articles available online for you to read which provide basic knowledge to more advanced insights.

Get help from the experts

If you run a small business, you’ll know that it’s a relentless task in itself. Making time to create the perfect public sector messaging and prepare a campaign or bid uses valuable time and energy.

It can be overwhelming to get started, which is why we recommend you partner with a marketing agency to help.In the SME world, it can feel as if you’re chasing too many projects whilst trying to manage marketing and lead generation all at once. If you are managing too many things then it is likely that none of them are getting your full attention.

Success comes when you focus on one goal at one time. By outsourcing your marketing communications you can focus on the day-to-day running of your business.

Emphasise your achievements and capabilities in your public sector marketing campaign

Don’t be afraid to sell yourself.

There is no room for modesty in a small business and its vital you have faith in your business’s abilities. If you believe your company can take on large public sector contracts successfully you need to convey this through your marketing efforts.

If you’ve worked in the public sector before don’t be shy to mention it. Highlight the success stories you’ve had including the results to make make a good impression.

Your key aim is to make your audience believe you’re the right supplier. Confidence is key, so don’t be scared to shout about your achievements.

Qualify your leads

It can be tempting to find a list of required projects and apply for a lot of them. This isn’t best practise as writing a successful bid takes time, effort and focus.

A successful marketing team knows it’s far more efficient to spend energy creating pitches for bids they have a high chance of winning. Finding good potential contracts can be done by purchasing a UK public sector database.

It includes contact details of key decision makers across the public sector for the organisations you want to work with.

How More Than Words can help your business

More Than Words have access to comprehensive public sector databases that include:

• the name,
• email addresses,
• telephone numbers and
• postal addresses of the clients you need.

We are a full-service marketing agency staffed by experience sales and marketing professionals. Our successful lead generation service helps small businesses and entrepreneurs link up to public sector services.

Purchase our public sector email addresses database to carry out your own campaigns. If you would prefer someone to have the work done for you, choose our managed email marketing campaigns to the public sector.

We can provide you with public sector calling lists for telemarketing campaigns. Alternatively, we can carry out telemarketing campaigns to the public sector for you.

When we’re on the phone for you, let us find out:

• whether the organisation has a need for your product or service
• what their specific procurement process is
• who is the key decision maker and what are their details
• whether or not they have an existing contract with a different supplier, and if so, who

More Than Words Note: Read our recent case studies from a playground company, software provider and a training company to find out the approach we took for marketing to the public sector and the results that were achieved for our clients.