In the face of budget cuts, agency downsizing and federal reductions in staff, understandably there is a lot of uncertainty in the government technology market. This has trickled down into the government contracting space where many organizations are grappling with how they want to promote and market themselves. There is concern that the wrong type of attention could cause significant business disruption, leading to losses in contracts.
Over the last few months there have been many conversations about the language that should be used and how these organizations should position themselves.
However, this has also led many organizations in the Public Sector market to become stuck – doing nothing out of fear of doing anything that could cause issues. While this is understandable, it could leave your organization in a precarious position. As the editor-in-chief of GovExec told us in a recent episode of our Gov & Beyond podcast:
“…if you don’t want to tell your story, who will…”
Without a proactive marketing and communications strategy that actively advocates for the value of your brand, your technology and your employees, you run the risk of your detractors and competitors owning the public narrative about your organization. When that happens, you are no longer in control of the storylines affecting your company, instead you are playing defense – spending an inordinate amount of time and resources trying to counter what others have already said about you in the market.
Telling the right story for your company is never easy. Especially given the current government and economic climate, there may be several leaders within your organization that want to be involved to make sure you’re not saying the “wrong thing.” However, this chase for “perfect messaging” can lead to paralysis by analysis, putting you further behind those in the market that are already establishing a dynamic narrative that suits their needs, but not yours.
The story you tell and the messaging you create shouldn’t be a perfect destination. It should be a living journey that evolves with you as your company grows and matures, as new technologies come to the market and as your customer demands change. An inability to articulate how you are changing to continually meet your customers needs puts you behind.
As we’ve seen this year, the Public Sector market is aggressively changing. The question you need to ask is: how are you elevating the perception of your company to show that you can meet that change and support government missions?
The first step is to develop a keen understanding of how you’re seen as a business now and how you want to change your perception. Conduct an audit of your existing messaging and evaluate if you need to adjust your positioning in light of new government demands. Doing this not only allows you to find the storylines that separate yourself, but also the true messaging borders you don’t want to cross. By working with internal thought leaders and external experts that are unbiased outsiders, you can begin telling creative stories that set yourself apart in the market.
If you’d like to learn more about conducting messaging audits and identifying creative approaches to telling the true, unique value of your company in the public sector, reach out to us for a conversation.