Marketing Your Business, Consistency is Key
Do us a favor and imagine our best James Earl Jones impression “…and if you’ll look to your inbox, everyone is writing about COVID.”
We know, we know.
While we may be exhausted by the constant deluge of COVID this, and social distancing that, the fact remains that the way we do business now has changed. Forever. This doesn’t mean you can’t have some consistency in your marketing.
In the case of marketing there seem to be two camps for business. Those who doubled down on marketing and content, and those who cut down on their GovCon marketing. Can you guess which ones are currently succeeding? If you said “double down” you’re right! Those who continued to push forward with valuable, insightful, and above all else, helpful information are seeing the payoff in website traffic, social discoverability, and new leads. Luckily for those who pulled back on the marketing reigns a bit, the good news is that there’s still an opportunity here. You can create a goal-oriented, measurable strategy for your ongoing marketing efforts and have it pay off.
There’s simply one thing to remember: Be Consistent in your GovCon marketing.
Much like a new routine takes 30 days to become a habit, it takes several opportunities, or “touches” as we call them in marketing, to become recognizable to your ideal customer or client. That means you’ll need to have 3 to 5 times as much content as you expect people to see and read. While content creation may seem like a full-time job itself (and it is) there are ways of making the load a bit easier to bear.
- Do NOT hire a random person off the street to create your content.
It is important that the content you share, whether it be on your website, social media, or in print, be of a consistent voice and tone. You want all of your messaging to come from a single source, the voice of the company. If you, the leadership, are writing content and the part-time virtual assistant from a local college is also writing content on the same platform, chances are it’s not going to sound cohesive. A lack of cohesive branding will encourage confusion and mistrust, two things that are very difficult to combat in the world of marketing. One or two big slip-ups can be the thing that makes someone shy away from your company, it’s important to have a hand in the writing, and better yet if you can hire a professional. Your content should be created by someone internal, or at very least, someone with very good access to your internal stakeholders. This is absolutely critical to consistency in marketing. - Fuel that baby up and get rolling!
Once you jump on the content train, do not stop. Post, share, comment, and interact often. The more active you are on your chosen platforms the better opportunity you have to connect with like-minded individuals and those seeking your services. If you post consistently for a week and then not again for three weeks people will find you forgettable. If you’re concerned about keeping things consistent once you get started, choose 2-3 days per week and share regularly those days instead of forcing content out 5-7 days per week. Offering more consistent content less often is far better than burning out of content early on and being left silent on your social media platforms. In GovCon marketing strategy, this consistency in marketing can be the defining trait that convinces someone of how reliable you are. - Utilize your partnerships.
We all have business friends and frenemies. Choose one day per week or a couple of days each month to highlight content that is shared by other businesses. To do this you’ll need to share it directly from their platforms or website and tag them in your social postings. This will get you the kudos for being a team player and showcase the depth of your bench when it comes to trustworthy sources for referrals and experience. Part of every good GovCon marketing strategy should be leveraging these contacts and creating a mutually beneficial arrangement with each of them.
Once you’ve been bitten by the marketing bug, it’ll feel like things are moving rapidly toward your new opportunities. This is a fast–moving track and you’ll need your wits about you to make timely, poignant decisions regarding the current landscape of content and social responsibility. No GovCon marketing strategy is ever set in stone, and you’ll almost certainly have to make some difficult decisions about what direction to go next. Take time to check in on your initiatives, pivot when things aren’t working (after you’ve given them a fair chance), and always be sure to follow up.
While we know that you’ve always meant to get your marketing chops wet, maybe you haven’t made it a priority. Now is the time. Reach out to the GovCon marketing experts at BOOST to discuss the opportunity for a strategy session and a roadmap for continued growth and success. Contact us today! With BOOST by your side, we’ll develop a GovCon marketing strategy that will get you the contracts you’ve been working toward.
Updated 03/28/2023