Marketing to Government: What Works, What Doesn't

Reaching government buyers is priority one for many marketing pros in the DC region and beyond. Business development efforts to agencies and departments are unlike those for any other vertical industry. So for marketing to support sales, it's important to focus on programs and strategies that work for the audience. Read on for best practice tips for marketing-driven sales to government buyers.

High level government decision makers caution again and again that their inboxes are flooded and sales-focused emails won't be opened. Calls from sales reps won't be returned. What's a marketer to do?

Start from Start
Knowing which agencies and/or specific departments to target is essential. Big and mid-size companies know this. Smart smaller firms do too. A catch-all strategy is difficult to sustain, and even more difficult to have resonate. Once you know who you want to target, then the real commitment begins. You'll need to do your homework to determine buying trends. And you'll need to identify the decision makers for your services. This legwork is no small effort, but will pay off in a big way in the end.

Align Tactics with Strategy
There's no substitute for relationships. These tips are meant to augment the relationships your business development people have or are developing. You'll need to map out a strategic plan of attack to enable your business sales pros to get face time with strategic agencies.

Targeted tabletop trade shows are often worth the investment. So too are targeted conferences. CIOs and Deputy CIOs from a broad cross section of civilian and defense agencies routinely speak on panels and at conference. By staying plugged in and monitoring event calendars and other resources, you'll be able to ensure your business development people are where they need to be to build and sustain their relationships.

Be Realistic with Selected Programs
In reaching government buyers, public relations can work. Radio advertising can work. Print advertising can work. But nothing can work in a vacuum. Integration across marketing programs is critical in government marketing. There's a lot of clutter and it's difficult to make messages "stick."

It's an unproductive knee jerk reaction to run a few ads and say, "They didn't work. No one called." It's probably true that no one called, but not necessarily true that the effort didn't work. Ads are rarely effective in making the phone ring. Part of overall branding objectives, the purpose of ads is to work in tandem with other initiatives so the prospect has a working knowledge of your organization, products, etc.

Inform and Engage. Don't Interrupt
Content is still king. Resources that will help them and their teams be more effective in accomplishing their missions do get read. Whether they're content-driven newsletters, in-depth articles or white papers, these resources can make a difference. (After all, you're reading this.) But sending them off blindly to an unwitting recipient may not get you very far. But arming your business development staff with valuable tools can help position you ahead of the competition.

Q2's advice: Create a library of resources and have it at the ready for your sales staff to leverage.

Use PR Strategically
One positive article in a newspaper or trade publication, in and of itself, will rarely make the phone ring. But a sustained effort, along with other strategic marketing initiatives, can be hugely successful. PR is often overlooked by small and mid-sized companies who don't believe they have the resources. But for the money they would spend on a handful of high profile ads, they could sustain a targeted, scaled PR program. The key is in leveraging publications your audience reads. And sometimes, one targeted article in a targeted publication does prompt a call from a buyer.

There's no shortage of ways to try to reach government buyers. But there are better ways than others. As with all quantifiable marketing, it begins with a sound strategy and ends with measurement. For more on quantifiable marketing to government, read Becky Sheetz-Runkle's Washington Business Journal article, "When Marketing to Government, Get Real."

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