Content marketing for govon demo lab

Content marketing for capturing contracts is different from content marketing on the web. Content marketing is also different for government contractors than it is for B2B and B2C companies. When used to capture contracts, content marketing becomes a way of practicing relationship marketing in writing. It's not a replacement for in-person contacts, but it is an extension that increases your success because content marketing solves key problems.

One thing that holds people back is how to publish their content. Almost everything you will find on the subject deals with the differences between platforms and how to increase your search engine optimization. You must understand the difference between content marketing and practicing sales in writing if you want to increase your win rate.

Here are 28 examples of pieces you should have in your pre-RFP content library to turn content marketing into a valuable tool for influencing the RFP. The gives you ways to extend your relationship by helping the customer in writing.

Can content marketing solve your inbound marketing problems?

Content marketing solves problems that traditional forms of marketing struggle with. For example, if you are selling a highly specialized product or service and need to make contact with particular individuals in large geographically dispersed organizations (Government contracting comes to mind), it can be very difficult. However, with content marketing you can publish material relevant to those individuals and give them a reason to come to you. If you put out a brochure, they might not call. But if you publish something useful and give them a way to get more, you can get them to reach out.

If you are trying to break into a customer that you've not done business before, how do you get them to trust you?  One way is to publish material that they find insightful.

Also, how to get ahead of the RFP and influence the RFP.

How to get your customers to call you instead of the other way around

Content marketing process: publish, give them a way to get more, interact with them, apply your funnel 

Enter the Content Marketing Demonstration

Customer facing demo

Picking, choosing, and deciding

Acquisition

Internal BD, capture, and proposal demo

Bid strategy recipes

Proposal section recipes

What's a proposal recipe?

Content Marketing as Part of Customer Relationship Management and Sales
How to create a resource to help customers understand what matters about what you sell (links to items on understanding the trade-offs, technology, market, etc.)
How to help them procure it (links to items on influencing the RFP, supporting the customer’s acquisition process, SOWs, evaluation criteria recommendations, etc.)
Proving though leadership, subject matter expertise, and earning trust

Content Marketing for GWACs
What content do you need to have for quick turnaround task order proposals?
Content library alternatives that will increase your win rate instead of killing it
How to use content to outcompete other companies
 

What should you publish?

What most people publish are descriptions --- descriptions of themselves, descriptions of their offerings, descriptions of technologies. But the content that readers get the most value from is content that is insightful. Does it solve a challenge? Does it tell you how to resolve a contradiction or trade-off? Is it useful? These kinds of publications attract followers, which is the first step in building a virtual relationship.