The government contracting business development, sales, and pursuit method was a generally understood set of communication and research tactics prior to the COVID-19 virus. We know – we were there along with you “before COVID.” We were at the industry conferences & events, the local Starbucks and networking happy hours, hitting send on press releases and LinkedIn updates, reaching out via email and phone calls to agency insiders and influencers to develop actionable relationships. We did everything possible around the beltway to understand, shape and influence RFP/RFIs with our capabilities and value messaging, as well as build teaming opportunities with Primes, vendor partners and future employees.
Now it’s Zoom, Zoom, Zoom (or WebEx, Teams, Hangouts, even FaceTime). We are all trying to successfully navigate this sudden and unrelenting shift to online communication with little opportunity for in-person engagement. But let’s be honest, this is hardly an effective substitute for the traditional BD/sales process we know and love. It’s depressing sales, shifting the pipeline to the right.
Ready to accept this digital environment as the ‘new normal’ and make informed and strategic decisions so your business can go from surviving to thriving? Bolster your strategy and amplify your GovCon digital marketing – take these steps, as 2021 unfolds.
Find and Learn About New Contracting Opportunities
The standard for finding opportunities is to search within and sign up for alerts from Beta.SAM.gov, as well as Agency-specific or FedSim notices issued for RFI/RFPs, IDIQs & TORs, GWACs, market surveys, and more. How’s that working?
Now that everyone’s online, contractors are getting less intel on acquisition strategies from partner and agency contacts they have spent years nurturing. As a result, BD/sales market intelligence and analysis have become the lifeblood of contracting success in 2020 and beyond. We work directly with a few select partners in this space to help other GovCons implement cost-effective and integrated sales intelligence and CRM automation tailored to the pursuit and capture lifecycle. Let’s talk, or even meet, in a socially-distanced manner (when will this end?).
Differentiating Your Digital GovCon Brand
News flash: the reputation you’ve worked so hard to build through in-person interaction doesn’t automatically translate into the digital space. Your website and online presence is no longer supplemental, it’s essential. Here are a few questions you need to be asking:
- Who are you and how are you different?
- Does your capability statement speak to the unique mission needs and challenges of the agency?
- Are you investing your resources into the online communities that care?
- Is your market leadership clear?
- Are the client-facing representatives of your business acting as thought-leaders in the press and on social?
Are you questioning the strength of your brand yet? If so, start by investing in your website, social media strategy, and PR efforts. Optimizing these customer entry points creates an explosion of exposure – seen far and wide by the audiences that matter (i.e. customers, market research, partners, teammates, employees), in the locations and online channels they prefer.
Step out and lead the pack. Schedule your free digital evaluation – we can show you examples that work.
Add Digital Marketing for GovCon Sales, Capture, Market Research
In your sales and capture lifecycle, particularly if you’re following a GovCon business development lifecycle like Shipley, it’s imperative that your digital marketing be executed correctly and in coordination with the acquisition schedule.
Hiring a run-of-the-mill commercial marking company that lacks an insider understanding of the contacting space will stunt your growth. You need a specialized team on your side that has expertise in implementing a data-driven, targeted, agency-based digital marketing (ABM) plan.
Moreover, this team must have a deep understanding of the needs and priorities of your critical audiences, including:
- government acquisition and procurement teams
- industry influencers (analysts and SMEs)
- possible Primes (if subcontracting)
- teammates
- staff and key personnel
- industry partners, vendors, reporters, and analysts who all may influence the online conversation and exposure of your capabilities
We know, it’s exhausting and you can’t go it alone.
At KME.digital – we do what others can’t. We deliver GovCon-tailored SEO, SEM-PPC, Inbound Marketing, Geofencing, Programmatic, and Platform-specific Ad Buys, Geo-Targeting, along with all the precise Analytics required for nailing the exposure and conversions of your message.
Work with KME, the only marketing firm around that tailors their services precisely to the GovCon BD, sales, and capture lifecycle. We’re in the government sales community, your community, and have been for a long time.