Government marketing
Brought to you by Market Connections’ strategic partner, Government Marketing University, GAIN 2021 is the premier government marketing conference where you will learn along with the brightest minds in the government marketing community.
GAIN 2021 will have all the hottest content and speakers to ensure you’re “In the Know”. Hear the latest tips and techniques in reaching your government audience by checking out their agenda and registering today. You can count on Government Marketing University to lead the way with incredible and innovative training content like Creating a Holistic Marketing Strategy, Staying Agile in an Evolving Landscape, Translating Policies and Mandates into Actionable Campaigns and so much more.
Check out their new format of a 3-part series with episodes streaming over a 3-week period so you can watch and learn at your own pace.
Streaming in November 2021:
- Episode #1 Strategic Marketing: Streaming Thursday, November 4th
- Episode #2 Government Personas: Streaming Thursday, November 11th
- Episode #3 Campaign Strategy: Streaming Thursday, November 18th
Brought to you by Market Connections’ strategic partner, Government Marketing University, GAIN 2020 is the premier government marketing conference where you will learn along with the brightest minds in the government marketing community. This year’s conference will be virtual over the course of four days in November with two-hour segments each day focused on the four core areas: Grow, Accelerate, Innovate and Network. (GAIN!)
Each day you will hear from dynamic speakers followed by keynote commentary brought to you by senior government marketers, a government CIO, CISO and program manager will be in the virtual house along with a stellar line up of experts delivering insightful training workshops and more!
Attendees will be provided with tools, insights and inspiration needed to take their 2021 government marketing to the next level via an online environment that can be accessed anywhere.
Schedule
GROW
Tuesday, November 10th
10:00 a.m. thru 12:00 noon EST
ACCELERATE
Thursday, November 12th
1:00 p.m. thru 3:00 p.m. EST
INNOVATE
Tuesday, November 17th
10:00 a.m. thru 12:30 p.m. EST (GAINER Awards)
NETWORK
Thursday, November 19th
1:00 p.m. thru 3:00 p.m. EST
The Importance of Influencer Personas for the Win
How many times have you sat around a table, planning your next campaign and someone says, “We should just target CTOs, CISOs or CIOs – they make the final decision…”? We’re often faced with the same statement by public sector marketers who are looking to find out specifically what agency plans are and the likelihood their company would be short-listed for an upcoming opportunity. Are senior executives the only type of federal persona to consider for the win?
One Can Say “Yes,” But Many Can Say “No”
When prodded further about their marketing plans, the goals stretch far beyond just getting in front of a specific CTO, but rather to increase the overall likelihood their company will make the final consideration list for specific contracts or broader multi-agency contracts. Based on this, we employ a research plan that identifies not only the likes and dislikes of the C-level executive, but more importantly, the general disposition of all those at the agency who, in some manner, participate in the product and vendor selection process. These are the influencers that can say “no” before your company ever reaches final consideration.
As part of our 2020 efforts to inform the public sector marketing community, we have been constructing descriptive personas to help guide marketing strategy, language and execution. The chief executive is not the only federal persona at the agency you should rely on if you want to influence decision-making towards your product or service. To truly understand your agency’s challenges and priorities, you must expand your reach to include decision-makers AND key influencers.
Understanding the perspectives of decision makers and influencers throughout the agency is especially critical for federal IT purchasing. In addition to executives, key influencers for major purchasing decisions can range from a procurement specialist to a program manager or even an end user. Within a single agency or contract, the different players around the table have varying priorities, challenges and pain points that need to be overcome, and your marketing efforts need to reflect this.
Role of Personas in Your Federal Marketing
When creating marketing materials to engage key influencers, marketers need to consider the varying personality styles and preferences, sometimes more than levels of expertise or technical skills. How do they prefer to communicate? Where do they seek more information? What do they value in a contractor? Would you market to someone in an IT role the same way you would market to a procurement specialist? Once you have a good understanding of the similarities and differences of each individual, you can use this information to ground your marketing efforts to ensure you are marketing towards their personalities and preferences.
Successful government marketers understand that their efforts may need to be multi-faceted and approaches may need to vary. While one signature is required for that multi-million (and even billion) dollar contract, there may be a dozen people behind the scenes that are helping to make the final decision. In federal IT, where mission rules, stakes are high and contracts are huge, having an in-depth understanding of the complex cast of characters that guide the final decision leads to successful marketing to those key players, which in turn can help lead to that win.
Learn More
Join our virtual event: Federal IT Persona Study: Deeper Insight into Your Federal Customer
Thursday, June 11, 2020, 2-3:30 PM EDT