Article by Kris Brinker, VP of Business Development and GovCon industry expert.
“We are fortunate to have gotten as far as we have to date, but we want to grow and need to look like a grown-up company.” This is the number one reason that growing GovCon companies reach out to Ocean 5.
These are the companies with growth targets in mind and searching for a marketing partner that specializes in website design and development and government contractor marketing to help them get there.
The conversations generally start with “We need to redesign our website because…”
- “Our current website is outdated or stale.”
- “Our current website represents where we were, but not where we want to be in the future.”
- “Our website does not make us look professional.”
- “We need to revamp our branding.”
Government Contractor Messaging
If messaging is not mentioned in the first sentence, it generally follows next. Messaging is the process of communicating key concepts to your target audiences. It narrates your journey, underscores your best attributes, articulates your value, and ideally motivates your target audience to engage with you. All of your information needs to be presented in clear, simple language. Leave the technical jargon for the technical spec sheet.
Sometimes people we’re in conversation with confuse messaging with content. These are related but not the same, so it’s important that we explain the difference. Content incorporates your messaging and is a very important part of a Government Contractor marketing playbook. But that topic is a different blog.
The messaging pain points we hear are usually one of the following.
- “The messaging on our website is too technical. We need it translated into human.”
- “The messaging on our website is old and no longer represents our current solutions.”
- “Government decision-makers do not understand our differentiators, and we are losing to competitors.”
- “Our website does not clearly articulate our value and talks about our services instead of the problems that we solve.”
I love talking with these companies because they already understand the importance of government contractor websites and messaging and have a growth mindset. They have realized that their website should be a critical asset that contributes to their brand trust and visibility, business development, win rate, and, ultimately revenue. With government decision-makers citing contractor websites as their number one resource for information, building a trustworthy brand online must be a high priority.
To put things in perspective, according to independent research firm Market Connections:
82% of Federal decision-makers ranked search engines as their top-rated sources for research.
This means that these decision-makers are finding your competition too!
Websites are the #1 most important resource at various stages of the government buyer decision-making process.
So, you better show up as the most experienced, most trustworthy, and best solution to their problem!
Do Government Buyers Search Online?
Federal decision-makers are busy and want to find what they need fast!
We have frequent conversations with key government decision-makers and influencers. These conversations have guided us in creating a detailed list of information they expect to find on a GovCon website. Government decision-makers want to find this information easily and quickly. If they can’t find what they need on your website, they will move on in seconds.
These are very busy people trying to find the best solution to their problems, meet their deadlines, reduce risk, and support their mission. They need your help! A winning Government Contractor website contains all the critical information they are looking for in a well-organized, easy-to-use website.
Is There a Government Contractor Website Checklist?
Our Ocean 5 GovCon experts created a website checklist to help guide Government Contractors in the right direction.
And, based on our research and conversations with government decision-makers, we also created an insightful guide, The Biggest Reason Federal Buyers Can’t Find You…And How To Fix It!
Target Personas for Government Contractors
What GovCons often don’t take into account is that there are three separate target audiences (and subsets of personas) that a government contractor website needs to speak to—not just the government decision-makers. I watch a lightbulb go on as I prompt the conversation to discuss the importance of their website and messaging, not only to the government decision-makers and influencers but also to attract teaming partners and potential employees.
At this point in the conversation, I generally get vigorous head nodding and hear an “Yes, those audiences are critical to our growth, but we hadn’t fully realized the important role our website should play!”
For government contractors, a website is essential to the business development process, acquiring top talent, and building relationships with teaming partners. To perform these multiple functions simultaneously requires precise planning and implementation to produce results.
We spend time with our clients, helping them understand how to influence decision-makers, teaming partners, and top talent with specific messaging and 5 Essential Website Design and Development Considerations for a website tailored to their specific growth goals.
Learn how your website design is unlocking (or blocking) your growth
What About Branding?
When we are working with our clients on a brand refresh and creating their B2G brand messaging, we pay close attention to the above three target audiences and take a deep dive into our client’s unique combination of factors such as:
- Key differentiators (three uniques)
- Services and solutions
- Problems you solve
- Leadership expertise
- Target agencies
- Prime/subcontract goals
- Current maturity stage
- Growth goals
- Top talent
- and others
We evaluate all of the above and then create a customized playbook using our proprietary SWIM® methodology (Strategy With Implementation and Measurement), with a cadence and budget that helps them reach their specific growth goals.
We also take into consideration where they are currently in our Maturity Matrix Model™, where they want to be in the future, and how quickly they want to get there. Strategic growth isn’t reached with cookie-cutter solutions. Every company is unique.
Strategic growth isn’t reached with cookie-cutter solutions. Every company is unique.
If this blog resonates with you and your GovCon company has concluded that “We need to look like a grown-up company.” the growth marketing experts and Ocean 5 would love to chat with you. We’ll even give you a free website evaluation to get the conversation started.
Learn how your site is serving you now and how you could utilize this powerful tool to grow your business even more.
Ocean 5 Builds Outstanding Websites for Business
Ocean 5 creates websites and online presence for Government Contracting companies that are fully customized to meet our clients’ business objectives. Our websites are technically advanced, responsive (mobile-friendly), professionally designed, and provide an outstanding user experience. We use Growth-Driven Design to build a digital platform for growth and long-term success.
Kris Brinker is co-founder of Ocean 5 Strategies, providing continuous improvement of sales and marketing performance with plans, strategies, and programs that deliver results, and a track record of helping their customers grow their businesses.
You can connect with Kris on LinkedIn. Or send a message below.
Related Blogs:
- Best Government Contractor Website Design Companies and Content
- Top Branding Tips for Government Contractors from Website Design Companies
- The Best Website Design Companies Include Messaging
- 8 Technical Elements of Website Design and Development
- Government Contractor Websites—5 Essential Design and Development Considerations