Social value isn’t new to public procurement. What is new, however, is its new mandatory status. All government contracts have to include social value and public sector buyers have to assign it a minimum weighting of 10%. The thing is, contracting authorities and suppliers aren’t the only ones who have to get to grips with social value. B2G marketers also have to know their stuff if they want to keep running successful campaigns.
We’re going to explore social value in B2G marketing, but first, let’s ensure we fully understand what social value means in public procurement.
Social Value In Government Procurement
We said social value isn’t new and we meant it. It was first formally recognised when the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 came into force on the 31st of January, 2013. It was only mandatory for buyers to think about whether their requirements could generate social, economic, or environmental benefits for their stakeholders and local communities.
The Public Contracts Regulations 2015; Reg 67(2) says that environmental and/or social aspects of a tender must be considered during tender evaluation.
PPN 06/20 is a procurement policy note that includes social value when awarding central government contracts.
The Social Value Model in procurement came into effect following COVID.
According to PPN 05/21, national and local priorities featuring social value must be considered in the procurement process. It also introduced the National Procurement Policy Statement.
Now, the new Procurement Act 2023 mandates social value – there’s no avoiding it.
Social Value Priorities in the Public Sector
Key priorities have always included environmental sustainability, community development, and workforce diversity.
After COVID, the government decided that a Social Value Model was in order. The model drilled a bit deeper into the priorities mentioned above, by listing five themes and eight policy outcomes.
Outcomes include:
- Create new jobs and develop skills to address economic inequality.
- Flight climate change/promote environmental wellbeing.
- Eliminate workforce inequality, for example, addressing the disability employment gap by creating employment opportunities for disabled people and other minority and disadvantaged groups.
- Improve health and wellbeing through community development and cohesion.
Incorporating Social Value Into Procurement
It’s never too early to work social value into public procurement, with the first vital steps in the pre-procurement stage. Ideally, all key stakeholders should be involved during this stage, but collaboration between buyers and suppliers is especially important because they can properly define the social value objectives (what is realistic, what resources are required) and nail down the desired outcome. Assessment or evaluation criteria should also be determined, as well as how social impact will be measured (KPIs).
One of the easiest ways to hit social value targets (easy being relative) is to collaborate with local businesses, charitable organisations, and SMEs. Local community leaders and charitable organisations are a good start because they usually have an ear to the ground and can help you determine where initiatives are most needed (elderly care, mental health in children, urban upliftment) and help you develop a plan that includes community input. This is important because you want to work with people to achieve objectives, not dump a plan on them and tell them it’s for their own good.
Social Value & B2G Marketing
B2G marketers must take special pains to emphasise social value in their marketing campaigns. because it’s not as straightforward as it might seem. The primary aim (after winning public sector contracts) is to build a brand’s reputation for economic, social, and environmental awareness. It requires in-depth understanding of the needs and challenges in their local communities and then developing long-term solutions to maximise the social impact.
The tricky bit is developing a balanced marketing strategy that doesn’t cause offense or create a scandal. For example, religion in marketing is controversial enough as it is, but you really don’t want to drag the central government (politics) into it. You’ll alienate your audience faster than you can say, “Oops”.
Stick to the contract’s theme as it relates to the buyers’, communities’, governments’, and suppliers’ visions, missions, and values. You’re onto a winning wicket if you can get all of them to align.
It’s a strategy that requires a lot of market research to fully understand the challenges that public sector organisations want to address. You also need to understand what the challenges mean to the communities or groups concerned. Public bodies might see things one way and want to implement their “fix”, but the local community’s perspective could be entirely different.
This highlights the need for input from all key stakeholders.
What Are Social Value Marketing Objectives?
What is that your clients want to achieve?
It’s best to be as specific as possible. For example, if you’re going to collaborate with a charity that provides free adult education classes, you could host a formal dinner to raise funds for new textbooks. The goal is to raise £5000 from ticket sales. It’s a pretty easy metric to track.
Work with the charity to arrange the event and when it goes off without a hitch, the supplier will get all the kudos for a job well done. It’s a great way for suppliers to prove their reliability and build trust, which helps establish their good reputation and build brand loyalty. After all, if the community loves you, contracting authorities will have to give your social value project – and your bid – the attention it deserves.
A fundraiser is a fabulous short-term goal, but marketers also need to focus on the long term. For example, the charity wants to establish another branch in a different part of the community and the supplier intends to make that happen. That’s at least another year of marketing ahead of you, with realistic milestones (or KPIs) on the way.
The Government – and the public – Loves Transparency
It’s all about transparency these days. Transparency and accountability in local and central government processes and that includes public sector procurement, which includes B2G marketing.
What does it mean for marketers?
For one thing, it means transparency in data collection, use, and storage. It’s essential when dealing with delicate matters, like adults who are willing to complete interviews and surveys, but don’t want their local communities to know that they are going to night classes to finish their education.
Marketers must guarantee anonymity. They must have robust security measures in place to protect data while it is stored in the cloud (or on their servers). And, if necessary, they must be able to safely remove data without any of it slipping into cyberspace where it’s easily accessible to anyone who wants it.
Social Value Into The Future
The Labour party has big plans for central government procurement and social value. Not only has the go-live date for the new Procurement Act been pushed back so they can strengthen environmental, social, and economic benefits, but the party also plans to set up a Social Value Council that will contain public, employer, and trade union representatives. The aim is to review the national social value strategy and determine how it can be improved.
Knowing this, B2G marketers should begin polishing their social value marketing skills so they can also review, revamp, and renew their approach to an evolving market with increasingly diverse needs.
Cadence Marketing has extensive experience in B2G marketing and, backed by its parent company BiP Solutions, is perfectly positioned to help public sector buyers and suppliers dominate this relatively new field with creative, innovative, and, above all, effective, marketing strategies.
Contact us to book a free consultation and find out more about how our expertise can work for you.
