Marketing for Government Contractors: Top 4 Strategies

With digital marketing being a broad field, you may not know where to start. What strategies are most effective for helping you earn government contracts?

On this page, we’ll dive into the top four marketing strategies you can use to help you compete for government contracts, including:

• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising
• Content marketing
• Website design and development

If you need help developing the right business-to-government (B2G) marketing strategy for your business, our team of over 500 digital marketing experts is ready to help. Contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about our digital marketing services!

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1. Use SEO to help government officials discover your brand

First on our list of marketing strategies for government contractors is SEO. SEO is the process of boosting your website’s ranking in search results to help more government officials discover your business.

When government officials start looking for a contractor, they turn to search engines like Google to help them see their options. If you’re not ranking in search results for critical keywords, you’ll lose leads to your competitors.

So, how can you start using SEO to earn more government contracts?

The first thing you’ll want to do is conduct keyword research. Keywords determine where your business appears when people search online, so you want to ensure you choose the right ones. A keyword research tool, like KeywordsFX, will help you find relevant terms for your pages.

When you see your list of terms, focus on the keywords that contain three or more words, also known as long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are best for reaching government officials because they’re specific, so they help you connect with the right leads.

If someone searches a keyword like “aerospace,” it’s hard to know what they want to find — it could be anything from what aerospace means to aerospace engineering jobs. With a keyword like “aerospace parts manufacturer,” the intent is much clearer.

Once you identify critical long-tail keywords for your page, you’ll integrate them throughout to help your pages rank for relevant searches.

In addition to keyword selection, there are a few other strategies critical to helping you rank in search, including:

• Improve page speeds: Users hate to wait for slow-loading pages, so Google doesn’t rank those pages highly. Use a tool like Google PageSpeed Insights to see your site’s current load time and make improvements.
• Optimize your title tag and meta description: Your title tag and meta description are the first two things your audience sees when your listing appears in search results. Make sure you integrate your keyword into these tags and make them descriptive to entice people to click.

• Optimize your URLs: Having a clear URL with your keyword integrated helps tell both users and search engines where they are on your website. Integrate your core keyword into your URL to show relevance and match URL SEO best practices.

2. Use PPC advertising to turn qualified leads into contacts

When you do marketing for B2G contractors, you want to reach government officials close to choosing a contractor. With PPC ads, you can put yourself in front of these prospects at the right time and encourage them to choose your business.

PPC advertising involves placing ads at the top of search results and above organic listings. These ads have the word “ad” tagged on the listing to indicate paid content.

With over 65% of all high-intent searches resulting in an ad click, PPC ads are critical to helping you drive qualified government officials to your page.

Like SEO, PPC requires optimizing for relevant keywords –– you’ll bid on these keywords to get your ad’s placement in search results. Focus on long-tail keywords for your ads, as these keywords cost less since they’re more specific and drive more qualified traffic.

Aside from keyword bidding, there are a few things you’ll need to do to make PPC a practical part of marketing for government contractors:

• Use ad extensions on your ad: Ad extensions allow you to provide your audience with more information. From sitelink extensions to structured snippets, you can integrate ad extensions to help provide your audience with more information.

• Create a custom landing page: A custom landing page is critical for keeping leads focused when they visit your ads. Make sure you omit distracting elements, like navigation bars, to keep your audience focused on getting the helpful information they need.
• Use negative keywords: Negative keywords prevent your ads from appearing for irrelevant search results. You can add these keywords to your ads to ensure that your budget goes towards leads looking for what you offer.

3. Use content marketing to help educate your audience about your industry

When you do marketing for B2G companies, don’t forget to include content marketing as part of your plan. Content marketing is one of the most effective B2G marketing strategies for building brand awareness and educating your audience about your industry.

Government officials will turn to the web to find information regarding the industry where they want to offer a contract. The level of knowledge and familiarity will vary depending upon the person. Some people may be familiar with what you do, while others only have a basic understanding.

So, before a government official chooses a contractor, they’re going to do some research to ensure they choose the right company. You can help guide them towards your business by creating content to help educate them while researching.

To get started with content marketing, you must decide what type of content you want to create. You can create content like:

• Blogs
• Videos
• Infographics
• Ebooks

You’ll want to use multiple types of content to ensure you have a diverse strategy that appeals to numerous people.

For content marketing to be one of the most effective marketing strategies for government contractors, you must follow these best practices:

• Create content frequently: If you want content marketing for B2G companies to be effective, you need to create content frequently. Frequent content creation enables you to create new avenues for people to discover your business. The frequency will depend upon your business and audience.
• Check search intent before choosing keywords: When you create content, you want it to rank well in search results, and you can do that by matching the search intent of your keyword. Look at what’s currently ranking for your target keyword to understand what users want to find when they search and match it in your content.
• Use a content marketing calendar: When you create content, you want to make it frequently. Use a content marketing calendar to help you stay organized and plan out when you create, edit, and publish content.

4. Use web design and development to set a positive impression of your business

Did you know that 94% of first impressions relate to web design? That’s why web design and development is a critical component of marketing for B2G companies. Investing in your site’s design helps you set a positive first impression with government officials and keep them engaged on your website.

To start with web design, you must decide if you’re going to use a website builder or partner with a web design company to build a custom website.

A website builder, like WordPress or Wix, is an excellent option if you want to do your web design independently and don’t have much experience. Partnering with a web design company is a perfect option if you want to get a custom look and have your website built exactly how you want.

Aside from deciding how to build your website, you’ll want to follow some essential best practices for web design:

• Create a consistent aesthetic: Whether someone’s on your homepage or looking at your service pages, you want them to feel like they’re on the same website. Create a style guide to ensure you deliver a cohesive experience on your website.
• Make your website mobile-friendly:More people are looking for companies on their mobile devices –– over 50% of Internet traffic comes from mobile. You can ensure your website is mobile-friendly by integrating responsive design. Responsive design will allow your site to adapt to all devices to deliver the best experience.
• Focus on user experience: Delivering a positive user experience is critical to keeping users engaged on your website. Features like simplified navigation and multimedia can help create a better experience on your website and keep leads engaged.

Need help with marketing for government contractors?

By investing in marketing strategies for government contractors, you can help more government officials find your business. If you aren’t sure where to start with marketing for B2G companies, WebFX can help.

We have a team of over 500+ marketing experts dedicated to helping you drive results with your marketing. In the past five years alone, we’ve driven over $3 billion in revenue and over 7.8 million leads for our clients. You can feel confident that our client-first approach will help you earn more contracts for your business.

Ready to increase contracts for your company? Contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about our digital marketing services!

Want to speak with an expert? Call us at 888-601-5359