Boost Your Government Contractor Branding

Boost your government contractor branding b2g marketing and branding

Government Contractor Brand Trust, Brand Visibility, and Brand Perception

As a government contractor, you are constantly challenged with the frustration of a sales process that can be 12, 18, 24 months, or even longer. Meanwhile, you are simultaneously trying to look at the new business that’s out there, as well as keeping the business that you already have.

The GovCon space has huge opportunity. Data from Bloomberg Government estimates that in fiscal year 2024, federal procurement spending will reach as high as $870 billion. There are billions of dollars and thousands of opportunities available in the DoD market alone.

Marketing Approaches for Different Buckets

The targeted customers of a GovCon company fall into two buckets.

The first is those that you’re already working with. You want to keep their business, maybe grow it. You’re the incumbent, the returning vendor coming back to that opportunity. But, it’s up for recompete!

The other bucket is approaching that new area, penetrating the green field that’s out there. You’re approaching those individuals who don’t know much, if anything, about you. Those who don’t have any experience with your company—or even some of the technologies or systems that you’re trying to put in place and bring forward.

You will need a different approach and strategy for each of these groups. Developing a marketing plan and aligning your key teams—getting everyone onboard and on the same page—is imperative.

Synchronicity

Over the past few years the importance of synchronicity between the marketing teams, the sales teams, and the capture teams has grown substantially. Studies show that companies who facilitate these groups meeting together to collaborate with a regular cadence have a better chance of winning. These companies both increase their odds of closing new business, retaining the business they already have, and closing more contracts going forward.

GovCon Marketing Strategy—Get Started Now

Start planning now for your agency-based marketing and BD efforts one to two years out. Don’t wait until the solicitations come out. By then, you’re too late. You want to be out there shaping the opportunities, not chasing them. Get your marketing, sales, and capture teams together around a table—or, these days, your virtual table—and make sure you ask yourselves these questions.

  1. Does the agency know who we are?
  2. What do they know about us and
  3. What do they think they know?

Are they aware of us? What do they think they know? These are different questions.

  1. Are you known?
  2. Have you established brand trust?
  3. Will the agency open the door to you?
  4. Will you make the downselect to the final 2 or 3?

If they don’t know your company, your target decision-makers will be relying on their perception of you. What information can they find? Does your digital presence and messaging properly define the experience they will receive? Can they find you at all? Does your website instill a sense of professionalism, expertise, and reliability?

This is where brand trust and brand visibility come into play. Brand trust plus brand visibility equals brand perception. And, get it right or get it wrong, you control that perception through your brand messaging and marketing. Here is a related article. Government Marketing is Crucial for Government Contractors—Brand Matters

Federal Contracting Incumbents

Incumbents have historically maintained a significant advantage over their competitors, sometimes as high as 90%. And, while the trend is slowly shifting over time, it still remains in favor of the company that already has the relationship. This is one of the best examples of the advantage of experience over perception. But what about when that experience has been negative instead of positive? That is an ideal opportunity for another company to lean into a well-crafted brand perception and become the favored vendor.

  1. If it is not you, what do you know about the incumbent?
  2. If you’re the incumbent, are you at risk of losing?
  3. How satisfied is the agency?
  4. What is the loyalty of the agency to the incumbent?
  5. What is the agency’s perception of you?
  6. Do you have specific weaknesses and need to find a partner?

Get your leadership and key teams to collaborate. You need to know your approach and how you are going to position your company differently than your competitors. You need to consistently communicate the passion that drives you to deliver value to your prospects, customers/clients, teaming partners, and recruits/employees. Here is a related article. Specialized Government Marketing Branding for GovCon Companies

B2G Research and Messaging

When planning your agency-based marketing approach, do the research and get your messaging right, or hire a third-party expert to help you. What exactly is messaging? Messaging is your ability to explain that your company has the ideal solution to your target audience’s problems. The greater the targeting and alignment between your message and your clients’ problems, the more likely you are to close new deals.

Here are just a few questions to answer when creating your messaging.

  1. What is your target agency’s mission?
  2. What problems do you solve for the decision-makers?
  3. What are their needs?
  4. What makes you different from your competitors?

Aligning Your Government Contracting Messaging

Once you have refined and clarified your messaging, disseminate it throughout all your communications, internal and external. Get everyone involved and aligned—marketing, BD, capture, proposal, HR. This process is time-consuming but imperative. If internal resources are thin, hire a third-party expert to help you get it right. Don’t skip this step. Remember, get it right or get it wrong, you control perception through your brand messaging and marketing.

Building a brand takes a lot of time and work. There is a good reason why top government contractors are successful. They deliver great results and have strong brand perception. They understand brand matters and invest to elevate their brand visibility.

To see how the top companies are doing, GovExec, the leading sales and marketing intelligence company for government leaders and contractors, conducts a Leading Brands study every year. They consider brand awareness, product delivery, and client satisfaction as key measures in their determination of top brands in the government contracting space.

Unsurprisingly, companies investing heavily in their brand over time made the top 9 in 2023.

The Next 24 Months

As you are planning with your capture team, your BD team, and your marketing team at the table and looking out to the next 24 months ask yourself some specific questions about your target agencies.

Do they know who you are?

The last thing you want is to have an initial recommendation get to the final decision maker and they say, “Who?” Make sure your company has brand visibility.

Will they trust your company to meet their needs?

Have you built brand trust with your messaging, content, and case studies?

What is their perception of you?

If it is weak or poor, say, “OK, I understand this is how they feel and I’m going to improve that”.

Get it Right

If you need help, the team at Ocean 5 Strategies is here to help. We are experienced GovCon marketing experts and help our clients modernize their branding, clarify their messaging, redesign their website, and build visibility and trust with government decision-makers, teaming partners, and top talent. We help B2G companies clearly communicate their services, differentiators, and the value that they bring to these critical audiences using modern marketing best practices and techniques specifically refined for the GovCon industry.

  • Branding
  • Brand Trust
  • Brand Visibility
  • Brand Perception
  • Messaging
  • Website Design and Development
  • Content
  • Social Media
  • Agency Based Marketing
  • Digital Advertising
  • SEO/Getting Found

We are here to become your marketing partner, fractional marketing department, and growth marketing expert.

Talk to a Government Contractor Branding Consultant

Government Marketing with Ocean 5 Strategies

Ocean 5 provides consulting and marketing services to government contractors. Most engagements start with an assessment of the existing brand messaging, digital presence, or website status.

The services we are hired for the most:

  1. Messaging
  2. Website design and development
  3. Content

We help our clients modernize their branding, clarify their messaging, redesign their website, and build visibility and trust with government decision-makers, teaming partners, and top talent. We help B2G companies clearly communicate their services, differentiators and the value that they bring to these critical audiences using modern marketing best practices and techniques specifically refined for the GovCon industry.

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