2019 has been a big year for Bluetext full of limitless growth and many successful launches. As one of the top digital marketing agencies in the Washington, D.C. area, we are growing faster than ever in both size and knowledge.

As we look back on 2019, we can reflect on some of our major accomplishments. Partnering with impressive and innovative clientele gives our team the opportunity to push our creative boundaries and exceed client expectations.

This past year, ResMan, a property management platform with a robust range of solutions, sought out Bluetext as a top marketing firm for their digital needs. With the introduction of a new suite of offerings and a more holistic platform, ResMan needed to repackage their solutions and relaunch their digital presence. ResMan brought in Bluetext to reinvigorate the ResMan brand with an updated website and CVI, while modernizing and streamlining their existing brand.

Bluetext took inspiration from Resman’s customer-centric philosophy and delivered on a request for external messaging and marketing efforts to reflect their goals as a company. Bluetext stepped up to the challenge and seized this project as an opportunity to enhance expertise as a top user experience agency. Resman’s request was met by a fully redesigned—and responsive—website, focusing on an enhanced UX that guides users with an intuitive⁠ website flow.

Similarly, Bluetext assisted in creating the new Mindtree.com, which offers an intuitive, fully responsive user experiences and personalization to serve relevant content to each user. As a leading global digital transformation and technology services provider, MindTree needed a brand and website that reflected their capabilities and future-focused customers. The website utilized Drupal 8 CMS platform to provide the utmost flexibility and scalability needed by such a large enterprise while allowing a design that reflects a vibrant brand and its employees. This improved user experience translated to measurable results, as the bounce rate decreased by 20% and website traffic rose 60% post-launch.

What does MindTree have to say about the experience? “Bluetext has been a tremendous digital agency partner to the Global Marketing Team at Mindtree. From digital brand strategy, to innovative user experience design, to enterprise Drupal content management implementation expertise… they were impressive every step of the way. Great collaborators with our in-house folks – I would strongly recommend the amazing team at Bluetext!”

Bluetext takes pride in offering exceptional client service and taking the time to learn a client’s distinct brand values and user needs. Bluetext has succeeded in bringing our client’s values to life through digital marketing and campaign deliverables. A portfolio of industry-leading clients has taught us to treat every new project as a two-sided relationship to grow and enhance both parties’ business value. Our efforts to work backward, prioritizing the end-user experience and ultimate brand goals have translated into the measurable success that we look forward to continuing into 2020.

In today’s Internet ecosystem, there seems to be a blog for everything. Fashion blogs, fan club blogs, cooking blogs, review blogs — you name it. Blog types range from personal, professional, niche-interest and most importantly, business.

This begs the question; who writes these blogs? What does it take to be a blogger?

The beauty of the Internet is anyone can be a blogger. Blog writers range from influencers to B2B government contractors! In 2019 there were over 500 million blogs published on the Internet. Blogging is more than just a hobby, it is actually a very useful digital marketing tool.

What is the point of these blogs?

The average reader might guess entertainment. But to a digital content strategy firm, the value is search engine optimization.

But what does that mean and why should my company care about SEO?

Search engine optimization, or SEO, refers to the strategic content writing and website design meant to increase a website’s organic visibility. With over 3.5 billion Google searches a day, it is critical for customers, partners, and even investors to be able to find information about your business through search engines.

Blogging helps boost SEO quality by positioning your website as an appropriate answer to your customers’ questions. When potential customers and partners enter queries or keywords into the search engine, they are matched with algorithm-based results Google has determined most valuable and relevant to their search intent.

When you optimize web pages — including blog posts — you’re making your website more visible to people who are entering keywords associated with your product or service via search engines like Google.

But…how do I optimize?

There is more to a search engine optimization strategy than repeating select phrases over and over again! A digital content marketing agency will advise you to be smart about your blog. Almost as smart as Google’s algorithms, which crawl websites to determine which websites best match the intent of each user.

Sound complicated? It is, but your search engine optimization strategy doesn’t need to be. A consistently updated blog can be an incredibly effective and user-friendly way to boost your website’s organic search rank.

A digital marketing and analytics agency will analyze not only your business’ website but also competitors’ sites to identify a strategic blend of keywords to integrate into your website. Blog pages are an optimal place to include keywords because content can naturally accommodate frequently searched subjects. Using digital marketing and analytics tools, such as SEMrush or Moz, a top search engine optimization firm will recommend a series of blog topics and titles, a strategic cadence for updating your blog, and some expert tips and tricks.

Here are Bluetext’s top tips and tricks to blogging your way to the top:

Identify the focus keywords. These should 2-3 phrases or words per post that receive high levels of search volume but have a realistically achievable level of competition.
Head for the headers! H1 text and titles are weighted more heavily by search engines. Put your keywords in these fields, but don’t fill your pages with H1’s, as this will deduct from your search equity.
Repeat, repeat, repeat. Aim to repeat the selected keywords 4-5 throughout the post. However, be warned: Google crawlers are smart. They value relevancy and will not rank a site that seems inauthentic or filled with spam-like content.
A picture is worth a thousand words…quite literally! Place your keywords in the alt text section on post images, and Google crawlers will include this in your keyword count and most users won’t ever even notice.

For more tips and tricks when it comes to blog writing and SEO, check out our blog.

Every agency today is buzzing with the word “digital”, but only the best branding agencies understand that a company’s brand identity must be executed both digitally and physically. Many traditional physical marketing tactics are still very effective at building and promoting your company’s online brand. From business cards to branded gifts and accessories, the top branding agencies will tell you that consistency is key to bringing your brand to life on and offline.

It’s important to note that physical and digital branding are not substitutes for each other; instead, they should serve as complementary parts of your marketing plan. To create a strong and recognizable brand, your company’s visual identity should be carried out across all mediums. Marketing strategies that deliver the greatest impact use a combination of online and offline techniques.

Bluetext, one of DC’s top branding agencies, recommends the following tactics for a creative, strategic spin on your brand.

Bring your A-game to networking and recruiting events.

Especially important for trade shows or industry conferences, come prepared with fully branded Powerpoints, case studies, signage, and business cards. This will surely get competitors and potential customers’ attention.

George Mason sought out Bluetext, a top dc digital branding agency for a new brand look and feel. Their website rebrand was not complete without a modernized recruitment brochure to display a new logo and tagline.

Be your own brand advocate.

Employees are by far the best brand ambassadors! Equipping them with branded portfolios, notepads and apparel provide face-to-face reinforcement that your company is well-established and cohesive. It is also a subtle yet effective strategy to showcase your proud company culture without saying a word.

Eye-catching Collateral

For any customer-facing company, using branded templates brings a sense of authority and confidence to any presentation or pitch. Take Invictus for example, whose recent website revamp was complimented by expertly designed templates to elevate their brand in future contracting proposals. Be sure to consult a top branding agency, though, to conduct thorough competitor research and ensure your brand is distinctive.

Celebrate Successes!

From a brand launch to a company anniversary event, don’t forget to celebrate! Any corporate event provides an opportunity for brand promotion. Company banners, napkins, and decor may seem trivial, but they go a long way. Having branded elements at the event can do wonders for company morale, and create great photo ops!

Pro Tip: Hosting a happy hour? Design company Koozies! It’s a savvy way to ensure drinks stay cold all evening and give employees a neat gift to take home and use in the future!

The bottom line is a brand is more than just a logo. A top branding agency will tell you that first impressions and emotions are at the core of brand strategy. Impactful brands trigger these feelings across all platforms. Digital KPIs are often centered around impressions, and the same strategy should be applied offline. Brand recognition is built upon repetition, and seeing a brand’s logo, colors or taglines carried out consistently in-person and online will trigger familiarity and ultimately conversions.

Ready to find out how a unified marketing strategy can amplify your brand? Check out our physical and digital branding services.

Cybersecurity has been a hot topic in recent news, and the threat of hackers and cyber-attacks has every industry on edge. The cybersecurity industry is booming in B2B and B2C markets, but so much media attention can be a double-edged sword. Consumers and businesses are tuning in for the latest updates, but the industry is crowded with voices. Cybersecurity firms must now pivot their attention toward marketing efforts to further differentiate their products and services from competitors. A fierce marketing strategy is a relatively new requisite in the cyber arena, leaving many experts turning to a top cybersecurity marketing agency for advice.

Bluetext’s Tactics to Tackle the Competitive Cybersecurity Landscape

Proper PR Prep

They’re called cyber specialists for a reason. Their expertise is in security and data protection, not press relations. While your firm may be at the top of their game in industry knowledge, nothing tanks credibility like a fumbled interview. Employing a marketing agency will ensure your firm is properly prepared to speak to the press by….

Briefing Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) before interviews
Planning an editorial calendar far in advance
Putting a creative spin on trending news topics, even the negative ones
Developing unique pitch angles
Maintaining positive long-term relationships with reporters

To learn more about mastering the art of media relations, read Bluetext’s “4 Public Relations Tips and learn how Bluetext can help your brand’s media relations program.

Controlled Communication

Cybercrime can spark panic within a business of any size. Especially within retail, healthcare or financial industries protecting consumer’s sensitive data has become a top priority. Media attention can be both helpful and harmful, raising red flags but also spurring paranoia. This requires a communication strategy designed to simultaneously calm nerves and warn against potential threats. A third-party agency perspective will provide balance to ensure messaging sounds both competent and comprehensible to customers with minimal subject knowledge. A skilled cybersecurity marketing agency with PR services will craft the right messaging that walks the line between reassurance and realism.

As FireEye’s cybersecurity marketing agency, Bluetext developed a series of branded marketing materials to explain a complex suite of products. The new tagline “We Don’t Blink” helped communicate their brand promise in a nonthreatening manner.

Credibility Through Content Marketing

Trust is a key component of any company’s success. Positioning the firm as a reliable source of thought leadership will lead to more long term business growth. Gain credibility in the industry by establishing subject matter expertise.

Prove expertise to clients by regularly publishing case studies, white papers, and blog insights. To stand out against the noise in a crowded industry, velocity is critical. Plan ahead and develop a schedule with content variety. Consistently publish insights in an attractive and readable format to boost your SEO rank and put you miles ahead of competitors.

Regardless of industry focus, content is key. Any cybersecurity marketing agency will tell you having valuable and relevant content is necessary to establish digital authority and elevating a site’s SERP ranking. Housing content on your site may seem like a simple fix-all solution, however, it requires a plan and a bit of legwork to get off the ground. Read Bluetext’s advice for building the Foundation for an Effective Content Strategy that will maximize the cybersecurity marketing agency relationship so that content receives the active attention it needs.

Audience & Placement

Cybersecurity firms have a wide range of buyer personas, and it is important to recognize the unique needs of each. A common flaw of marketing strategies is putting all your eggs in one basket. Don’t let your marketing strategy fall flat with a two-dimensional approach. A marketing agency will ensure your efforts reach all intended audiences at every stage of the funnel.

Any agency will conduct thorough industry research and competitive analysis. Staying up to date and identifying the right trade shows and channels will put you ahead of competitors.

Every audience will have distinct needs and pressure points, a cybersecurity marketing agency will conduct market research and recommend tailored messaging. Bluetext was hired as Varonis’ cybersecurity marketing agency and developed a multi-faceted campaign, using performance and audience targeting to generate both brand awareness and leads. Read more on this cheeky cyber campaign.

Seriously Smart Branding

For many potential customers, your cybersecurity products and services may be a little over their heads. Therefore, their decision may lean on the affective factors. How your brand presents itself becomes critical. Be smart with your branding, think carefully about what tone, colors, and styles will best communicate your brand value. Your brand aesthetics may seem trivial, but do make neglect this step. Going too bright and vibrant in color palette runs the risk of your company not being taken seriously, but too toned down and your company will never stand out in a sea of the greyscale.

For some rebrand inspiration, check out how Bluetext revamped a hot cybersecurity startup, Finite State’s, visual identity and website. Finite State was able to communicate its value and relevance with a smart, modernized style to communicate their mission of clarity.

Bluetext is a top cybersecurity marketing agency, and we can prove it. Check out more of our cybersecurity marketing solutions.

What’s in a name? Perception.

For federal contractors, your brand is likely delivering an undersized impression. Find out how we help GovCon stand out in D.C. and play a full-sized federal marketing game in a series brought to you by Bluetext & Baird.

Is your brand name down-sizing your federal market presence?

Your company’s name is its ultimate first impression.

As it turns out, who you say you say a lot about who people think you are.

After all, which brand is more intriguing? Aegis Solutions, a company with an arcane, hard-to-spell or pronounce name or Blue Halo? A slightly dated Quantitech or Axient?

In the competitive pool of hundreds of thousands of federal contractors, your name is your first opportunity to stand out from the crowd. Early on, it’s an opportunity most companies miss, settling for a bland description of the company or an assortment of initials.

They’re conventions so familiar, they simply make your business feel smaller than it is. If you have a name like any other business, you’ll be perceived like any other business.

And while brands themselves do not win or lose work, or attract investment or employees, they certainly make all three easier or harder.

Why You Should Consider Rebranding

A corporate brand is the professional veneer that creates interest, conveys excitement, and sets you apart as something different, something special. As a growing company, it is among the best investments you can make for brand perception.

It lets you play bigger.

Brand to be the company you want. The names that are initialisms, descriptions, or dated names (say, as a general rule, anything with ‘Net’ as a suffix or ‘e’ as a prefix.) make companies seem like an also-ran. They generate less brand equity as the names themselves are simply forgettable. Any three letters will mostly sound like any other. An IT Solutions Company and an Agile Technologies Incorporated do little to stand out from the thousands of other companies selling a concept as broad as “IT” or who have agility in their win themes.

Break free from the convention. What sounds bigger? Integrity Applications Incorporated or Centauri?

It sets a feel for your company like nothing else.

Bland descriptions and initialisms simply create the stuffy feel of an also-ran federal contractor, of rows of dingy cubicles and coffee-stained cost volumes. Bold names start your brand story with the feeling you choose. Be bold and expeditionary like TorchLight or approachable and expert like Tria. Brand for excellence with Stellant. Lead the feeling you want to convey, the sense of what it’s like to work with you, not a description of who you are.

Employees, customers, and teammates all make snap decisions.

As a federal contractor, you are one of many. And while a brand itself may never win or lose your business, it will help your impression and inclusion into downselects. It’s not just customers, either. It’s the teammates who will be intrigued by your brand story, the candidates who will have their corporate name as a part of their identity, and the full ecosystem of your programs who will see it on lanyards, PowerPoints, and desk toys. Your brand may be forgotten if you do it wrong, but it will never be anonymous. Work with a name that starts your brand conversation on your terms.

How to Choose a Brand Name

With the size of the competitive landscape, choosing a brand name is never as simple as picking a word you like. Which is fine. Competition forces us to think harder, to find more compelling ways into our brand story.

Focused sells in branding too. Pick a name that leads into your brand story and doesn’t obscure your high value work.

Pick a Name That Intrigues

Above all, start with a name that draws an eyebrow raise. Maybe it’s a creative spelling or a combination of two words that aren’t typically used together. Perhaps it’s a word that borrows on a literary allusion or combines roots from Greek or Latin to create a new word with a good brand story. Whatever you choose, be sure it catches your attention. As an exercise, take your potential name and put it in a list of awardees for a recent ID/IQ. See if catches your eye.

Pick a Name That Leads Into Your Brand Story

But don’t tell your full brand story. Limiting yourself by capability or even category can cause problems down the road. Moreover, it can be marketing thought-ender. As marketers, we thrive on the tension created by wanting to know the rest of the story. Pick a name that begins to tell the story but doesn’t complete the idea. Blue Halo tells a story that relates to its protective capabilities in space and air.

After all, marketing is a practice of creating demand, not providing all the answers.

Spelling or Pronunciation: Choose At Least One

While the largest federal contractor in existence breaks this one, as a general rule, get creative, not complex. Be sure your name is either easy to pronounce when you see it or easy to spell when you hear it. Otherwise, you’re asking a lot of those you want to reach … and you. And if we opt for creative spelling at Bluetext, we stick to a one-change limit per brand name.

Avoid Dated or Extraneous Additions

Brand names, like fashion and music, are constantly changing. Companies now with -Net extensions sound like remnants of the late 90s. We’ve avoided Cyber in names as it is likely headed for a similar fate as the practice of “cybersecurity” is just as wide as “information technology” is now. Extraneous modifiers (Services, solutions, group, or the most bothersome, Incorporated), which often are added to appease the trademark lawyers, just ask potential customers and employees to remember more to build brand equity. Focus on your brand name as much as possible.

Pick What You Love, Not What You Dislike the Least

There is nothing inevitable about a brand. There is no inherent magic in the name Facebook that the name MySpace didn’t also provide. Brands are what you make of them. For every brand, there is an objection to it. Sony was once a made-up word, Nike once an obscure allusion, and Apple a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Find something you love and build around it aggressively.

Because what you’re called will define you like nothing else.

“Baird’s Government & Defense team is a leading M&A advisor to the sector. Since 2018, we closed 64 transactions totaling over 23 billion in value.”

About Bluetext

Bluetext provides integrated communications services designed to help clients connect with key audiences, reach new communities, enhance their brand and protect their reputation. With deep expertise leveraging many diverse marketing strategies, we utilize every channel to attack the most critical challenges facing our clients. From repairing damaged reputations to connecting with key government decision-makers to driving product demand, our clients know that the team at Bluetext will help them achieve their goals with measurable results every step of the way.

About Baird

Baird is a leading global investment bank with more than 400 banking professionals in the U.S., Europe and Asia. We provide corporations, entrepreneurs, private equity and venture capital firms with in-depth market knowledge and extensive experience in merger and acquisition, restructuring, debt advisory and equity financing transactions. Committed to being a great workplace, Baird ranked No. 23 on the 2023 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list – its 20th consecutive year on the list.

For more information, please visit Baird’s website at www.rwbaird.com.

Does GovCon need marketing? Or is it really all in the proposal?

Find out how why we think marketing the single most important tool federal contractors have to play big in D.C. and leave small-sized perceptions behind in a series brought to you by Bluetext & Baird.

Is your marketing making your D.C. presence seem smaller than it is?

“Why do we need marketing? Everything that matters is in the proposal.”

While possibly an odd question, it isn’t out of line for the way contractors operate. After all, awards are decided by very specific and very transparent evaluation of proposals, and, not once in a debrief has any evaluator ever said the difference was an incredibly impressive display ad on Washington Technology.

But it’s exactly the type of thinking why most federal contractors squander their single most important opportunity to step out of the sea of sameness.

Because in government contracting, marketing isn’t just important. It’s absolutely essential.

And most of us are doing it completely wrong.

Why We Get It Wrong

Perhaps the reluctance to embrace marketing is that most contractors do it wrong and don’t understand how to make marketing most effective when marketing to the core audience of federal contractors. The marketing isn’t full cycle and aligned to the pipeline. It’s insular. It’s more customer-following than demand-generating. It’s focused on the safe and the bland, not the intriguing.

And generally speaking, it has all the variety of a Baskin Robbins that’s out of 30 flavors. Everybody is innovative, everybody is a great partner, and everybody solves the most complex challenges of the federal government. Every company is exactly what you’ve asked for in the proposal, whether we’ve actually done it or not and whether we can even find the client site without Google Maps.

Why? Because we market to say we are what the prop says and what we think the government wants repeated back to it.

But there is nothing more valuable than thinking a level deeper than the bromides, thinking not about just how you answer the mail, but what makes you you.

In federal contracting, market to stand out. Not to fit in.

Why Marketing Matters in Government Contracting

By design, federal contracting is a market designed to create commodity.

The government doesn’t want a single bidder for any services, nor does it explicitly want to disadvantage any competitor. (At least, this is the way the system is designed). As a result, procurements are much longer and more transparent than B2B. Federal contractors all respond to the same RFPs, work with the same labor categories, same general pricing targets and promise to deliver against the same statement of objectives. Contractors talk to the same small handful of people that sit on the evaluation board and we repeat all the post-contact factors.

And this is where marketing matters most. When you get squeezed into commodity and differentiation is all but impossible, distinction matters.

Marketing Is Your Biggest Opportunity Stand Out

“You may have any attributes you like,” the famously rigid Henry Ford might’ve quipped if he marketed contractors rather than made cars, “so long as it’s innovation, partnership, and commitment to mission.”

Because contractor marketing is often so insular and customer-following, we recite the bromides of the government. Innovation is important. Partnership. Mission above all. These are category factors. Things true of everyone in your category. After all, have you ever seen a company position as proud Luddites, terrible partners or only driven by the SOW?

So, no matter how much you spend, all you’re doing is telling the market and your own company that you’re just another contractor.

But in marketing, you can be distinct.

The big tagline. The great brand name. The incredible brand promise. The forward design makes you stand out from the sea of templated design. The customer-focus on what you enable them to do, not the recitation of your biography of more than X years.

In marketing, federal contractors can be distinct, the live musician in a sea of elevator music, even though they’re not differentiated on capability.

Marketing Means You Start Ahead

Because the first question the evaluation board ponders when a prop is reviewed shouldn’t be ‘who?’

Marketing builds an identity, and a feel for your business. If you do it right, it makes you seem larger than you are. It makes you distinct, so your prop gets read with a positive feeling of your company, not the prove-it-to-me approach to an unknown bidder.

At least at the current time, evaluation boards are people, not AI. People can be influenced. The small handful of people who will decide awards may control millions or billions, but they’re influenced into buying major programs just as they are peanut butter. Evaluators, like everyone else, are comfortable with the brands they know. Building that relationship starts with building your brand. (And of course, if your marketing is focused on the RFP, you’re already behind the curve. We’ll get further into how to align your marketing to your pipeline and how to influence perception well to the left of the RFP later).

Be the company they want to award, not the company they have to be talked into.

It Creates an Identity for Your Company

It’s not just the government that pays attention to your marketing.

It’s potential investors, too.

Marketing is the most important expression of how you want your company to be perceived. No one will ever consider your company more exciting and impressive than you do. Your marketing should set the highest bounds of how you want to be thought of.

It’s not just for your customers and your teammates. It’s your current and future employees, those invaluable assets that actually do the work for federal contractors. The same ones you are unlikely to be able to pay much more than anyone else bidding for the experience and qualifications, due to the commoditization of labor in federal contracting. Offer them an opportunity to work in something that’s meaningful in a way that doesn’t sound like everyone else. (And if the phrase, “It’s more than a job, it’s a career,” appears on your website, please stop what you’re doing, delete it, and then return.)

It becomes a clear statement of who you are, what you’re trying to achieve, and how they’ll play a part in incredibly big stories. Most employees, particularly those that want to support the government, want to be a small part of a small story. Marketing is where the big story gets defined.

Because in a sea of sameness and industry lifers, the ability to be distinct is the single greatest opportunity any contractor has.

“Baird’s Government & Defense team is a leading M&A advisor to the sector. Since 2018, we closed 64 transactions totaling over 23 billion in value. ”

About Bluetext

About Baird

For more information, please visit Baird’s website at www.rwbaird.com.