Federal salespeople need to constantly be prospecting to new agencies or departments within their Total Addressable Market (TAM) in order to keep their pipeline full. However, uncovering new B2G sales prospects can sometimes feel like a very inefficient process. Between the lack of B2G specific tools for prospecting and the shear depth of government agencies, prospecting can feel like running into a brick wall on repeat for days on end. Through this post, we hope to provide a few tried and true strategies for B2G sales prospecting to help you make the process a bit more bearable.  

5 Strategies For Generating Qualified B2G Prospects

Before diving into the specific approaches, the key here is to focus your B2G sales prospecting strategies on government officials responsible for handing out work contracts to businesses like yours. That being said, it is imperative that you have a detailed understanding of your TAM, whitespace and your key decision-makers in order to narrow your focus within each of these strategies.   

1. Keyword Research

Just like an everyday user, government officials also leverage the Internet to search for service providers. For this, government officials use keywords and phrases to search for the right business. 

You can use different keyword research software such as SemRush or Google Trends to find what keywords people type into their search bar to find the products or services you offer. This will give you a list of keywords you can use in your sales and marketing content, so the next time a government official goes online and searches for a product or service you are providing, your business name will appear on the Google search engine result page or SERP.  

Keep in mind this approach will also populate your solution to non-government searchers, so if you only offer solutions for government agencies make sure your website clearly states that.

2. SEO Optimization

This B2G sales prospecting strategy builds off of the first. Once you know the right keywords and terms, you must use them in conjunction with the government sector you are targeting. This is known as search engine optimization (SEO), and it helps you target government officials and offices in a specific area.  

Let’s say you’re a construction contractor aiming to generate B2G sales leads in California. In that case, you can optimize your content based on your industry and location. For example, you can use terms such as "builder in California", "builder for government in California", etc.  

This way, every time a government office or official searches for a product or service your business offers, your name will appear among the top search results. When your webpage has a higher search engine ranking, there’s a greater chance that government officials will click on your link.  

According to statistics, the top 3 links on Google search results get 75% of all the clicks. So, aim to be among the top 3 or 5 results. You can even streamline your website to focus on selling to the government exclusively.  

You can use keyword research to optimize your marketing content.  Once again, this will help your digital marketing ads appear amongst the top results on search engines, social media pages, etc.  

3. Online Business Directories  

One of the easiest ways to get in front of government agencies is through online business directories such as Google My Business and Yelp and agency specific intranets. Think of these as the modern-day yellow pages that allow people to find your business and reach out to buy. Similarly, government intranets take this same concept but implement it through an online environment exclusive to their agency and allow contactors to create profiles with information about the company and the solutions they offer.

When building out your company profile on these directories, give as much information as possible about your business and focus your pitch toward government officials and offices.  

4. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Marketing

You can now use pay-per-click marketing tools on Google, YouTube, and other social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. The benefit of using this tool is that you can pinpoint the exact target audience that you wish to attract.  

For example, you will be able to target the city, state, specific area, and sometimes even the government offices you want to sell to. This will help the PPC engine strategically place your ad in front of the right government officials, increasing your chances of B2G lead generation.  

While some government officials may not be able to access certain sites at work, such as social networking sites, you can still catch their attention out of the office.

5. Business Networking

Promoting your products and services on the right platforms is critical to showcasing your business in front of the right government officials. You can use specific business networking platforms such as LinkedIn to target B2G clients. LinkedIn is a great way to connect with government officials and make connections before pitching your sales idea.  

Similarly, you can use Twitter as a powerful tool to create a buzz around your business serving the government sector. Although not an exclusive business networking tool, you can use Twitter to directly engage with government officials and decision-makers.  

Learn More B2G Prospecting Strategies In Our OnDemand Federal Sales Certification Training Course

Implementing effective B2G sales tools is only one aspect of an effective B2G sales strategy. In order to sell to the government, you must understand its nuances including how to identify and address a customer's rank, how they describe various products and services and the specific certifications and frameworks they need to follow.   

Remember, generating business to government leads is far more challenging than enticing B2B or B2C customers. However, once you’ve successfully worked with the government once or twice, you can use that past performance as an effective way to promote your services to other government offices at all levels.   

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