Why You Need a Business-To-Government (B2G) Content Marketing Strategy

How much of $759 billion does your firm need to be successful?

That’s what the federal government of the United States spent on contracts in Fiscal Year 2023. This was an increase of roughly $33 billion from the previous year with inflation factored in.

For any government contractor, even a tiny percentage of that total would be a windfall. It’s no wonder that many businesses invest a great deal of time and effort to secure contracts with federal agencies. While many companies have mastered the complex capture and business development dance required to attract the attention of government buyers, these opportunity-specific efforts alone are no longer enough.

Barriers to entry have begun to shift, requiring contractors to adjust their business-to-government (B2G) marketing strategies to increase the visibility of their expertise and bring a new set of marketing tools and techniques to the hunt. And while, after a two-year period of decelerating growth, government contracting firms have begun to grow faster again, there is considerable room to improve their performance.

The federal government is the largest single consumer of goods and services in the economy, and it has a set of challenges that differs from commercial customers. For instance, contracting officers must satisfy market research requirements, solicit competitive bids, and comply with federal acquisition processes when evaluating potential vendors—and they need persuasive information and messages readily available.

If your firm makes tanks or airplanes, you likely have only a few competitors in your space. But most government contractors work in a far more crowded marketplace. Relying on their past performance and standard boilerplate language to carry the day and win the award just isn’t going to cut it.

Instead, savvy B2G marketing professionals are positioning their experts as thought leaders. They are making relevant, well-crafted educational content available online (such as blog posts, webinars, and videos) and elsewhere (think books and speeches), spreading their influence wide and building a following. In fact, creating content is one of the top marketing priorities of the fastest growing government contractors. Ultimately, that’s what makes these experts and their firms the “safe” choice.

If you have been struggling to attract and win enough new business, how do you begin to change your trajectory?

Nail Down Your Overall B2G Strategy

Marketing strategy begins by understanding your audience. This means investing real time (and sometimes money) to get to know your target agencies—their missions, where they spend their money, and which primes and subcontractors they have worked with in the recent past.

Many contracts are set-aside for firms that meet disadvantaged business and other criteria, so dive into the capabilities of your potential teaming partners. Know what contract vehicles you can use, which certifications you should highlight, and what makes you different from other firms (brand differentiation is another top marketing priority of high-growth government contractors).

All of these elements will be important to weave into a content marketing program that helps you position your firm appropriately.

Next, Build Your B2G Content Marketing Strategy

Failing to plan is planning to fail. That old adage is especially true when it comes to creating a content marketing strategy. All too often, firms start developing content without a solid plan in place. They jump in and start blogging. They produce a lot at first. Then, as their enthusiasm flags, the flow of new posts peters out. They write a whitepaper that nobody reads. They post once a month on social media, and when they don’t see it producing any revenue, they stop. Eventually they swear off content marketing as unfit for B2G businesses.

Building your reputation and visibility (and ultimately your revenue) takes time. It also takes a clearly defined strategy.

Typically, this involves choosing a set of issues you will become known for. Then, over time, you produce a steady flow of educational content that addresses those issues and publish it in places they can find it. For instance, to allow your audiences to find you through a Google search, you’ll need to start with some keyword research. Then you can use a combination of on-page and off-site SEO techniques to increase the likelihood of ranking Google. LinkedIn is another popular platform to reach both government and contract partner audiences.

To make your plan tangible—and provide a tool for accountability—you will need to build out an editorial calendar. Use this calendar to schedule every piece of content you will produce, with specific titles, assignments, deadlines and other important details. Some calendars are built out months into the future, while others cover just the next few weeks. Do what works best for you.

Smart marketers repurpose their content. For instance, write a series of blog posts on a single topic, then collect them into a premium content piece such as a whitepaper or executive guide. You might deliver a speech or webinar on the topic, too. You save a lot of time, while making your ideas broadly available.

Promotion is critical to the success of your B2G content marketing strategy, too. Share each piece on social media, and enlist your entire firm to do the same. The more the merrier.

Remember those in-depth white papers and guides? Use them to turn web visitors into new contacts. Put them behind a simple form and require your visitors to provide their name and email address in order to download them. Once they are on your list, you can continue nurturing them through email with other high-quality, relevant content.

Ultimately, the goal of a modern B2G content marketing program is to give your audiences the practical educational content they need to do their jobs better. Once you’ve piqued their interest, they will come back for more, creating a multiplier effect. Already recognizing your firm as experts in the problem your buyers are trying to solve, they will think of you first and be more predisposed to select you based on your reputation. This approach also applies to the sub and prime contractors who you want to team with—and the top professional talent you want to attract.

Content marketing principles transcend industries and enable you to be a hub of information in your niche. Loyal followers will know how you think and get a sense of what it might be like to work with you—before they even speak with you for the first time.