The UK’s public sector procurement market is growing rapidly. The government is pushing for more SMEs and VCSEs (Voluntary Community and Social Enterprises) to enter the market, with knock-on effects that include a stronger national economy and healthier local economies.
Sustainability is also a factor. The public procurement market is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Encouraging more suppliers with green credentials or sustainability potential will help the government reach its net zero goal by 2050.
However, growth requires significant time, labour, and financial investments.
There is one tool that overcomes these challenges: Data.
Data is essential in marketing decision-making, especially when identifying and optimising opportunities and turning leads into clients.
Let’s look at the impact data-driven marketing has on the procurement process.
Procurement Trends in the Public Sector
Trends come and go, but it’s not enough for marketing teams to keep up with trends. You must anticipate them to stay ahead of the curve.
How does one anticipate trends in marketing?
One uses predictive analytics.
Digital Technologies for Data-Driven Marketers
AI and automation aren’t trends anymore, not with their crucial role in data-driven marketing efforts. They even play a role in predictive analytics.
AI dives deeper into customer behaviour and preferences to predict what they’ll do in the future. You can then plan your marketing campaigns down to the smallest detail, which improves personalisation.
Automation boosts traditional marketing to the next level by streamlining your marketing approach in the following ways:
1) Segments your target audience, providing valuable insights into specific categories (e.g., demographics)
2) Send targeted or personalised email campaigns to the key decision-makers in local and national councils.
3) Track customer engagement across digital marketing channels, including social media platforms.
This also plays a role in personalisation as you can use the data to tailor your campaigns to individual preferences. It’s handy for data-driven email marketing but bolsters data points in all marketing efforts.
The Versatility of Sustainability
There’s a lot of talk about sustainability in procurement, but that talk must translate into action. The UK government has prioritised sustainability in procurement, as seen in the new Procurement Act.
The Act also prioritises social value, which falls under the sustainability umbrella.
Social value is divided into three elements:
- Social
- Economic
- Environmental
Sustainability is a feature in all of them.
For example:
Social: A community veggie garden can feed locals (sustainable food), excess can be sold at markets (sustainable local economy), and gardens can be established in a derelict park (sustainable environment).
However, marketers can’t develop social value plans without detailed community data. The data-driven approach delves deeply into community research to provide valuable, actionable insights that ensure social value initiatives are relevant to the people they serve.
Social value is contract-specific, but data-driven marketers must consider sustainability over the long term. They must incorporate sustainability into their procedures, policies, and practices – really embed them in company culture.
Marketers must also prove sustainability if they want to catch contracting authorities’ attention. Data comes to the rescue, as marketers use their in-depth customer data to create compelling case studies that showcase their expertise and sustainability.
The Power of Data-Driven Marketing in Procurement
Before we can delve into the power of data-driven marketing, we must understand how it is collected and used to boost marketing campaigns.
How is Data Used in Marketing?
The first thing to know is that you must be specific about the customer data you need. This is targeted information based on metrics that enable you to develop highly personalised strategies.
Data is typically collected from website analytics, social media platforms, email marketing campaigns, and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems. There are many analytics tools available, some for free and some with paid packages. Free versions are fine to start, but to compete seriously in the public sector, you need something that delivers more in-depth data analysis.
Google Analytics provides a wealth of information. The trick is to know what to do with all of it. Happily, Google provides training options for marketing teams to learn how to optimise your data analytics.
Other market intelligence tools are also available. Delta eSourcing includes Delta Market Analytics in its range of services. Your marketing team gains invaluable insights into precision targeting to optimise data in highly targeted ads.
The Power of Data-Driven Marketing
We’ve said you need to be specific about your marketing goals. Here are some metrics you should include in your data analytics.
- Conversion Rates: The percentage of visitors who reach your objective; like registering for a webinar.
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Total revenue per customer over their lifetime
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The cost of each new customer
- Engagement metrics: There are several types of engagement metrics, including:
- Time on site
- Bounce rate
- Social media interactions
- Revenue generated versus cost-of-goal
- Most profitable marketing channel, so you know where to focus your resources on future marketing campaigns.
When you have analysed these metrics, you can:
- Create targeted messages for each segmented group and individuals within the group.
- High levels of personalisation enhance customer experience and satisfaction, leading to loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals.
- Improve conversion rates by directly addressing specific pain points.
- Use real-time data analysis and reporting to make informed decisions regarding campaigns on the spot.
These four points increase marketing ROI by increasing conversions, improving engagement and interaction, building relationships with contracting authorities, and enhancing tender processes.
Best Practices for Data-Driven Procurement Marketing
There are many best practice tips out there, so we’ll stick to the top five you should incorporate into your data-driven marketing campaigns.
1) Be clear about what you want to achieve
Your data-driven strategy must include relevant metrics and KPIs (key performance indicators) that track your progress and correct you if you’re veering off course.
2) Use the right data analytics tools
As mentioned, these include Google Analytics, CRM software, and other advanced analytics software, like Delta eSourcing’s Analytics tool.
3) Schedule regular training sessions for your marketing team
Marketing teams must understand data collection and analysis to optimise the information for quick decisions and long-term planning.
4) Ensure utmost quality and robust data security
Data can be outdated. Some subscribers might not work for the government anymore and some data could be plain wrong – like an email address missing a letter. You must clean your data regularly to ensure it represents a true reflection of your target audience and marketing metrics.
You must ensure your data is as secure as possible. You’re dealing with government data, so robust data security systems are essential. There are also data security regulations, including GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and the UK government’s Cyber Essentials certification.
It’s also in your best interests to investigate ISO certifications, like ISO 27001, the international standard for information security management.
5) Test Test Test
If you don’t test, you can’t improve. Actually, if you don’t act on test results, you can’t improve. A/B testing is great for comparing single elements in your marketing campaign, like email subject lines. Use the results to refine your campaigns. Increased personalisation should increase your ROI.
Data-Driven Marketing in Real Life
There are many examples of how big brands have used data to drive their marketing strategies. Here are two of the best:
1) Netflix
Netflix analyses viewer preferences and viewing history to provide personalised recommendations for shows and movies subscribers might like. The results:
- Increased engagement as viewers trust recommendations and maintain their subscriptions.
- Increased viewing time as they consumed the recommended content.
- Increased customer satisfaction because viewers were introduced to content they might have missed.
2) Amazon
Amazon is famous for its personalisation. It uses browsing history, purchases, and search queries to provide highly targeted recommendations, emails, and adverts. The results are:
- Higher conversions, basically customers buy recommended products
- Higher order values as customers take advantage of upselling opportunities.
- Increased customer loyalty due to the accuracy of the recommendations.
Cadence Marketing Supports Your Targeted Campaigns
Cadence Marketing is part of BiP Solutions’ portfolio of services. We’re backed by expertise from over 40 years in public sector procurement. Our data-driven marketing solutions have grown from eSourcing solutions for the public sector to consultancy and business intelligence services.
Contact us to learn more about our targeted services, including data-driven email and content marketing strategies, webinars and live events, market research, and PR.
Book a free consultation and see how our expert staff can help you.
