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Small businesses often think they should only pitch for small projects.
But SMEs today are in a better position than ever before to win public sector contracts.
Recent government initiatives have been implemented to eliminate barriers to success in the public sector, including a pledge to increase spending with SMEs to 33%.
The first step to small business success in the public sector is to forget some of the myths that keep some businesses from even starting the race.
Procurement is often seen as a complicated process and difficult to enter into.
There is also the myth that public bodies always have a preferred supplier and are unlikely to give any serious attention to others.
The government has set a goal that £1 in every £3 will be spent on SMEs by the end of 2022. These targets have increased opportunities for SMEs to land contracts.
If you are not already marketing to the public sector, now is the time.
Rather than viewing your size as a weakness, you should embrace it.
Public sector clients can benefit from the personal touch offered by small businesses and sole traders.
As well as being able to specialise in a way that larger firms can’t always match, they can provide a high degree of flexibility as well.
Public sector positions and contracts are also available in a wide variety of industries, so almost any small business owner can find a match.
How do public and private sector marketing differ?
There are some differences between any public and private sector marketing campaign.
Still, many of the basic marketing rules apply.
It is important to have a decent marketing strategy based on a website with relevant content.
You will need to engage with digital marketing and SEO, participate in social media, and have a strong email marketing strategy with a targeted mailing list of public sector decision-makers to work from.
There is a key difference between the two sectors in terms of communication and access points.
It can be challenging to identify the senior decision-makers in public sector departments.
If you don’t know how to navigate the buying channels for the public sector, you might find it difficult to sell to them.
Getting a contract requires learning about public sector procurement before sending promotional emails and targeted marketing messages.
Marketing and sales cycles take considerably longer, so patience and perseverance are essential.
Why choose a B2B email marketing campaign?
While marketers often use social media and other forms of digital marketing to find new suppliers, the public sector uses other channels.
Within this industry, direct marketing has a unique advantage, allowing suppliers to connect with the organisations they feel most need for their products and services.
You can communicate this information best through an email campaign.
The impact of 12 months’ email marketing to public sector buyers
The team at More Than Words Marketing usually plan email marketing campaigns to the public sector over 12-month periods.
We are here to help our clients take advantage of every opportunity in order to make the greatest investment return possible.
Thus, where standard email content may consist of a welcome email, transactional emails and occasional brand awareness content, our strategy relies on building long-term relationships over email.
If you send just one transactional email to public sector decision-makers, you won’t get the results you want.
Public sector success requires nurturing emails to build the relationship between suppliers and customers due to:
- the public sector’s extended buying cycle,
- the complexity of the decision-making process,
- the higher value attached to tenders, and
- the fact that public purchases are subject to greater scrutiny.
When you want to build a relationship with email subscribers, sending them a monthly automated email newsletter is much more effective.
A public sector target audience needs to feel that they know and trust you before engaging with you.
This way, your experience and expertise are valued, and you know their pressure to make the right choice.
Boost your chances of reaching influential public decision-makers with More Than Words Marketing’s fully managed public sector email marketing service.
We can provide a targeted email list featuring the public sector email addresses that are most relevant to your business.
Your campaigns will be sent from our dedicated email marketing software and we provide full tracking and analytics.
Feel free to contact us at 0330 010 8300 or visit www.morethanwordsuk.co.uk to find out why More Than Words is the best email marketing service for your public sector campaign.
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