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Why Does the Government Tender for Digital Marketing Services and How Can You Benefit?

Posted on by Charlotte Jarvis

A government tender for digital marketing could be the opportunity you’re looking for…

Why does the government tender for digital marketing services? How can you secure a marketing tender with the government? Will becoming a government supplier help your business grow?

We’ll answer all these questions and more in this blog, starting from the beginning…

So, why would the government tender for digital marketing services?

Yes, the government has their own communications function, but the government bodies reach far beyond 10 Downing Street. Think about all the government-owned organisations that could require marketing services:

  • Universities
  • Councils
  • Emergency services
  • The NHS.

The list goes on and on, but you get the idea. All these organisations need an online presence. If establishing and maintaining that online presence costs them more than £10,000 it needs to go out to tender.

How to find a government tender for digital marketing services

In the UK, there are hundreds of websites that upload tendering opportunities. We recommend appointing someone in your team to take responsibility for tracking them all.

The government has its own tendering portal, called Contracts Finder. If your designated Opportunity Tracker is using this, they should set aside around 30 minutes a day. This is because the portal relies on CPV codes to categorise the tenders.

CPV codes are often used incorrectly by buyers due to the vast number of codes available. A study by the European Commission sampled 405 contract notices. They found that 23% had the wrong code associated with the scope of work tendered. This results in an inefficient sourcing process for you, the prospective supplier.

To eradicate this, we developed Creative Tenders. Not only is the portal sector-specific, it also doesn’t need CPV codes. Our Opportunity Trackers manually scour over 600 sources to find new tendering opportunities. They then tag them using industry-driven keywords, making the sourcing process easier and more efficient.

Take a look at a sample of the latest marketing tenders we have uploaded or book a free live demo.

What types of digital marketing tenders does the government publish? 

Government bodies publish a vast range of digital marketing tenders. Here are just a few examples of tenders we have previously had on our Creative Tenders portal:

 

PR & Digital Marketing Services – Corn Exchange & Wedding Venues

Medway Council – South East – £20k

 

North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College Contract for Digital Marketing and Web Hosting

North Warwickshire & Hinckley Collaborative – West Midlands – £50k

 

Chester Recovery Campaign Media Partner

Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership – North West – £66,500 

 

Digital Marketing Activities in Mexico Covering Pork

Defra Network eTendering Portal – West Midlands – £180k

 

Digital Advertising Framework

Braintree District Council – Eastern – £5million

 

These are just 5 out of the 200+ government marketing tenders we have sourced over the last eight months alone. As you can see, the values of these contracts range from thousands of pounds to the multi-millions. So, whether you’re a freelancer or an international agency, there’s a tendering opportunity out there for you.

How to secure a government tender for digital marketing

Once you’ve identified a tender you want to bid for, don’t just dive straight in. There’s a couple of boxes to tick first. We would recommend considering the following in your bid or no-bid decision:

  1. Do you turn over enough to be successful?

Most government tenders for digital marketing services will ask for your financial accounts. This is to assess whether you have the resource to deliver the contract. Your financial accounts will prove your economic financial standing. As a general rule, we advise that you don’t bid for contracts worth more than 50% of your annual turnover. For example, if your annual turnover is £1,000,000, you should avoid contracts with values exceeding £500,000.  

  1. Do you have enough relevant experience?

Buyers will usually ask for two to three case studies from work you have delivered in the past five years. The examples you provide should be similar in size and scope to the tender at hand. The evidence needs to be relevant to show the buyer how you will approach the contract. If you can’t prove that you have experience, it’s likely a competitor can and your chances of winning decrease.

  1. Can you demonstrate added value?

In public sector tenders, the buyer is looking to see how you can add value. Government buyers are accountable for their spending of public purse. They have to demonstrate how they have delivered the best value for money. This means that you need to evidence added value, and that doesn’t just mean cost. It’s a combination of quality and price throughout the life of the contract. So, make sure you highlight how and why your approach is cost-effective and helps the government make savings.

Will listing a government body on your client list help your business grow?

If you’re looking for government tenders for digital marketing services, you might be wondering how you can win bigger contracts. If you’re a start-up or an SME, framework agreements are a great place to start. With more places up for grabs, smaller businesses stand a better chance of securing a contract.

To progress to winning larger, single-supplier contracts, you need to build your experience and turnover. Securing government contracts and places on government frameworks is a great way to do this. The more you deliver, the more experience and profit you build. In turn, your case studies for similar contracts grow and those big opportunities move closer to your reach.

How is the government helping smaller businesses?

The UK government is targeted with spending £1 in £3 with smaller businesses, so they want to work with you. To level the playing field, the government:

  • Have introduced lower value contracts

Since leaving the EU, there is more flexibility for lower value government contracts to be reserved for SME bidders. There is also more flexibility for Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs).

  • Introduced the prompt payment code

The prompt payment code states that public sector buyers must include 30-day payment terms in their contracts. They also need to ensure that this is passed down the supply chain. If this is not happening, businesses are encouraged to raise this directly with the Public Procurement Review Service.

  • Offer support through The Small Business Commissioner

The Small Business Commissioner is a free service that helps small organisations to resolve payment disputes with larger businesses.

In summary…

Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of government tenders for digital marketing services. We’ve covered:

  • Where to find a government tender for digital marketing – On the government’s website or on Creative Tenders for ease and efficiency.
  • What types of tenders the government publishes – We provided five examples of digital marketing tenders we have previously sourced to give you an idea.
  • What to consider before you dive into the bid – Your economic financial standing, experience and how you can add value.
  • The benefits of bidding for government tenders – Working with the government helps you build experience, expand your portfolio and work towards those big contracts.
  • How the government helps smaller businesses – With lower value contracts, introducing the prompt payment code and through The Small Business Commissioner.

How can we help?

A subscription to Creative Tenders provides you with:

  • Access to all exclusive, public and private sector digital marketing contracts across the UK.
  • A daily email bulletin is sent straight to your inbox when new marketing opportunities are uploaded.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
  • 20-minutes of free consultancy with one of our Bid Management Consultants each month.

Need additional support?

You don’t always have the time or resources to write a winning response in-house. Outsourcing to bid writing experts can help. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, offers four levels of bid writing support. They boast an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of bid writing experience. The services on offer include:

Contact us to find out how we can help your business grow.

We also source opportunities for sectors including:

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see how we can help your business grow.

A Comprehensive Breakdown of Tendering for Event Planning Contracts

Posted on by John Hudson

Here’s an overview of what to expect and prepare for when tendering for event planning contracts

If you’re reading this article, you’re likely wondering two things about event planning contracts. The first is probably, what types of contracts are available for companies within the event planning sector? The second, what does the process of bidding for an event planning contract involve?

Finding tendering opportunities that match your services and capabilities can be an arduous and daunting process. Often, you need to filter through countless tendering platforms. The prospect of heading this process is what informed our foray into the industry. We implemented our strategy especially for bidders where existing responsibilities already take up so much of their time. At Creative Tenders, we have extensive expertise and consultancy experience in sourcing tenders and ultimately, in winning them!

The scope of event planning tenders

First, a disclaimer in relation to event planning bids is the breadth and diversity of tenders that are available. To provide a complete overview, we’ll tackle each prospective opportunity type. We’ll also look at what kind of processes you’ll need to follow when organising and constructing your tenders:

Considerations for event planning contracts

Event planning can itself be quite an intimidating term, inclusive of a diverse range of roles and responsibilities. Something we endeavour always to note with our clients is that the two most important factors to successful tendering are:

  • Experience – This refers specifically to the experience of the bidding organisation, rather than the experience of specific individuals within the organisation. 
  • Proposed methodology/solution – In the context of event planning, this encompasses your organisations management strategies and infrastructural commitments.

When demonstrating experience, it’s important to ensure that your examples illustrate, at a minimum, the following features:

  • An established understanding about the processes and procedures involved in event planning.
  • Prior experience of working on contracts with both a comparable scale and comparable planning/management responsibilities.

Typically, you’ll likely be asked to provide, at a minimum, 2-3 prior contract examples where the stated features are present. The strongest responses for contracts in event planning will often use these prior contracts. These not only act as evidence of past experience, but a platform for validating their methodology and why its suitable.

Common oversights

When entering into the bidding process for event planning/management, there are a variety of considerations you should keep in mind. There are countless instances where wholly suitable, qualified enterprises, through neglecting the following features, lost out on desired contracts:

  1. Read AND refer to the specification

Before committing to a particular contract, it is vital that the ITT (invitation-to-tender) is studied in sufficient depth. This ensures you meet the pre-qualification criteria, but also that you possess the appropriate infrastructure. Infrastructure relates to both recruitment and sourcing procedures, in place from commencement through to the conclusion of contracted works.

In lieu of an internal writing team, the following list details several strategies for determining personal/corporate suitability:

  • Location: Establish where the contracted works will take place. Firstly, where is the site/event? Secondly, where is your base-of-operations? And thirdly, is it in close enough proximity to assure the buyers of your capability to deliver during the contract?
  • Budget/scale: This should be a key consideration in all bidding proposals. Once you’ve consulted the ITT/specification for an overall budget and contract scale, take this opportunity to determine:
    • Is the budget reflective of the services that your corporation is capable of providing? If not, how will works be subcontracted to supplement this?
    • Is the scale of the project/event reflective of your infrastructure? If no, how will you alter your recruitment and outsourcing practices to make sure events are planned and managed effectively.
  • Key dates: Other key factors when searching for suitable bids are your resources and the timescales for deadlines and production. An awareness of basic key dates: contract commencement and tender submission deadlines being the primary figures worthy of note.
  • Pre-qualifying/required accreditations: Though variable per tender, contracts in the event planning industry can require an array of qualifications and licenses. These are foundational indicators of your ability to carry out and effectively meet the specified criteria for service delivery. Required qualifications may be extended to include individual experience and credentials of team members (lighting, filming, etc.). 

  1. Innovations and USPs (Unique Selling Points)

Given the diverse operational requirements which define event planning, another element worth including in responses is your enterprise’s USPs.

USPs refer to any innovations which might distinguish you amongst your competitors. To demonstrate your enterprises commitment to ongoing growth, it’s worthwhile to include >3 innovations that your company has implemented. These USPs may include any mechanisms which streamline procedures and increase productivity. Innovations come in many forms, including:

  • Systems: Though not exhaustive, systematic innovations can refer to your operating system, communications platforms, planning and reporting tools, and financial software. Assuming, for example, your organisation provides its personnel with IM platform(s), you should detail why these are comparably effective.
  • Resources: An overarching term to describe your material and infrastructural sourcing strategies. For example, if your organisation uses a unique hiring platform/strategy, how is it superior to the standard strategy?

  1. Policies and other pre-requisite documents

Like most enterprises emerging into the tendering market, your company is likely in its infancy. It may be worthwhile – prior to tendering – to ensure all appropriate corporate policies are documented and recently renewed. Though not exhaustive, the list below provides an insight into areas where policies are expected:

  • Data protection
  • Safeguarding
  • Health and safety
  • Equality
  • Code of conduct
  • Complaints

To tenderers, your policies act as indicators regarding your general operations and delivery standards. Additionally, they provide further insights into your enterprise’s lines of accountability, expectations and your treatment of employees. Policies are varied and often span numerous pages, making their production a daunting prospect for those foraying into corporate status. Luckily, at Creative Tenders, our established team of bid professionals have provided aid in refining and producing tenders. We also have extensive experience providing bespoke advice and guidance to organisations creating them.

Why tender for event planning contracts in 2022?

Since the advent of COVID-19, it’s no wonder countless suppliers assume planning contract opportunities would be scarce and excessively competitive. This isn’t completely accurate, however, as the government projection posits 35% of all tourism-based revenue will originate from events. Coupled with the government drive towards SME and VCSE sourcing, this demonstrates the present tendering climate is rife with opportunities.

How can we help?

 Presently (July 2022), restrictions continue to ease, and public events are once more becoming a commonplace occurrence. As such, the need for planning and management personnel on events of all sizes is greater than ever. A subscription to Creative Tenders provides the following support mechanisms to aid you in the process:

  • Access to all exclusive, public and private sector creative contracts in the UK.
  • An on-hand Account Manager is available to answer any questions you may have about event planning tenders. They can help you understand the process and answer any questions you have about the tendering process in general.
  • A daily email bulletin is sent straight to your inbox when new event opportunities are uploaded.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
  • 20-minutes of free consultancy with one of our Bid Management Consultants each month.

Need additional support?

You don’t always have the time or resources to write a winning response in-house. Outsourcing to bid writing experts can help. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, offers four levels of bid writing support. They boast an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of bid writing experience. The services on offer include:

Contact us to find out how we can help your business grow.

We also source opportunities for sectors including:

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see how we can help your business grow.

Past examples of event planning tenders found on our portal 

Event Planning & Delivery Services of the Para-Cycling Road

2023 UCI Cycling World Championships – Scotland – Budget: £990,000

Ceremonial Event Planning and Management

Scottish Government – Scotland – Budget: £700,000

GB-Middlesborough: ERDF – Grow Trees Valley Annual Conference and Event Planning

Teeside University – North East – £500,000

Whatever route you choose, Creative Tenders have options available for businesses of all sizes and contracts of all scales. We can offer your enterprise an immense leg-up in competing and thriving on contracts within the event planning sector.

Art and Culture Tenders: Where to find them, and how to win them!

Posted on by John Hudson

6 tips to help you win art and culture tenders

In this blog, we’ll share our top tips for finding and winning art and culture tenders.

So, you’re looking for art and culture tender opportunities? This blog will show you how to easily find art and culture tender opportunities. Our expert Bid Writers have 6 quick tips to help you create a winning bid! If you want to know more, keep reading…

Where can you find art and culture tender opportunities?

When looking for art and culture tender opportunities, most businesses will go straight to a search engine. They might use Google, which will find hundreds of websites with opportunities available. However, it will take hours to dig through each website looking for suitable contracts.

Additionally, you may find that the opportunities just aren’t suitable. They may omit key details, leaving you to read the lengthy tender documents just to find out you’re not eligible! Or, the deadline date is very soon, and you won’t complete the bid in time. This process is not only tedious but can be very frustrating. Luckily, there are better solutions available…

Creative Tenders simplifies the process of finding tenders. Using this portal, you’ll be able to easily find art and culture tender opportunities. The portal displays key information for each tender, such as:

  • Tender location
  • Deadline date and time
  • Budget.

This information will help you decide whether the opportunity is right for you!

To make the search even easier, you can use filters to narrow down your tender search. Doing so means you can select a budget, location, and other keywords to help find the right opportunity for you. The portal is updated every day by our Opportunity Trackers. They search for opportunities manually, without using CPV codes to find tenders either. This vastly reduces the possibility of missing opportunities we don’t reply on these often incorrect codes. Government sites use CPV codes, and as such, can be much less accurate.

Winning art and culture tender opportunities

 Now that you’ve found art and culture tendering opportunities, the next step is winning work! To help you achieve this, our expert Bid Writers at our sister company, Hudson Succeed have six tips for you:

  1. Don’t go over the word count! By ignoring this instruction, you will lose marks.
  2. Try not to use too much technical jargon as this may confuse the buyer.
  3. Ensure your bid response is clear, concise, and easy to read. This will help the buyer understand your ideas and will keep them engaged.
  4. Make sure you proofread and edit your bid before submission. Any mistakes left in your response will make you look unprofessional.
  5. Consider using bid management tactics to stay organised, helping reduce stress and making the whole process easier.
  6. Hire a Bid Writer to manage the entire process for you. Be assured that they have the experience and the knowledge of what makes a winning bid!

Still have questions about art and culture tender opportunities? Why not contact us? Our team are always happy to answer any questions you may have!

Upgrade to Discover Elite and never miss an opportunity

If you want to take your tender search one step further, look no further than Discover Elite. By signing up to Discover Elite, a dedicated Account Manager will search for live bids for you! You’ll have weekly phone calls to discuss opportunities, which is especially helpful for those with busy schedules. By upgrading to Discover Elite, you’ll make sure you never miss another tendering opportunity.

Discover Elite offers:

  • An annual subscription for up to two of our Discover portals.
  • Up to five or seven bid breakdowns per month, depending on the package you choose. This will help you decide which bid is right for you.
  • Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notice monitoring.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and accessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Some of the tenders have previously sources on our portals include:

Programme Development – North-West – £ 48,000

Council seeking qualified and experienced individuals/consortiums/organisations to help develop their Art and Culture Programme.

Support Services – West Midlands – Budget: undisclosed

The Council requires a supplier for the provision of focus groups.

PR – North-West – £80,000

To provide renowned museum with PR services in the lead up to the opening a new museum.

Too busy to write a bid response?

If you lack the resources or time to dedicate to writing a winning bid, you could always outsource it! Hudson Succeed, our sister company, has an 87% success rate and over 60 collective years of bidding experience. You have the choice of four bid writing packages, ensuring you can always find a service that suits you. Whether you’re new to tendering, or just need someone to check your response, Succeed can help. Their packages include:

  • Tender Writing – if you’ve found the right tender for you but don’t know where to begin, we can help. Just send the specification to us and our Bid Team will take it from there. They’ll let you know what you need via a breakdown, and even submit on your behalf. This gives you more time to focus on your business.
  • Tender Ready – this programme is designed for those who have no tendering experience. Over the four-week programme, Succeed will work with you to ensure you have everything in place for a successful tender.
  • Tender Improvement – this programme is for those who are currently tendering but are struggling to see success. Bid Writers will assess your previous work and supporting documents, giving feedback and guidance on how to improve.
  • Tender Mentor – have you written a tender and need someone to proofread it? Tender Mentor is for you! A Bid Writer will review your work, making sure your grammar and spelling are correct, and it meets the specification.

For more information about any of these packages, please get in touch.

We also source opportunities for sectors including:

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see how we can help your business grow.

Why not check out some of our other blogs? 

Photography Tenders – The Complete Guide

Posted on by John Hudson

How to find photography tenders for your business…and win

Do you know what to expect when bidding for photography tenders? To help you find the best photography tenders for your business, we’ve put together a handy guide. Keep reading to find out more!

What are photography tenders?

For those of you that don’t know, photography tenders are contracts that require some form of photography service. This includes:

  • The production of photographs
  • Digital photography
  • Specialised photography
  • Event photography
  • Industrial photography
  • Aerial photography.

Photography tender opportunities

From stock imagery provision to graduation photography services, there are a range of public and private photography tenders. If you are a creative business looking to find photography tenders, you should consider bidding for public sector contracts. The benefits of these contracts include:

  • Guaranteed pay
  • The government wants to award SMEs
  • Gain experience.

What is required in a photography tender?

Although each photography tender varies in content, they typically use similar structures. This includes questions on:

  • Social value: How will your work on the contract help the local community socially, economically, and environmentally?
  • Methodology and project management: How will you undertake work, meeting the requirements and specification?
  • Experience: What previous companies have you provided photography services for? This includes providing names, biographies and experience of the lead photographer/director and all managerial crew.
  • Commercial: How much will your services cost?
  • Insurance: Do you have the correct levels of insurance, including Employers Liability, Public Liability and Professional Indemnity?
  • Technology: What technology do you use for photographing and editing, and how are your photos high-resolution?

6 tips to win photography tenders from expert Bid Writers

Have you found photography tender opportunities and are now ready to tender for work? Here are a few top tips from the expert Bid Writers at Hudson Succeed:

  1. Keep your portfolio, testimonials, and case studies relevantPhotography tenders often ask about experience. Be prepared to provide case studies and a professional portfolio of your previous work. Make sure these are relevant to the bid.
  2. Make sure your answers are clear, concise, and relevant
    A winning bid for photography will be well structured using clear and concise language. This includes formatting and sticking to the word count.
  1. Make sure your staff have up to date CVs with a section of experience, work done previously, any awards etc.
    When tendering for work, you may have to include company CV’s. Providing uniform CV’s shows attention to detail and looks professional.
  1. Don’t use technical jargon
    The people reviewing your work may not have any experience in the field. Keeping it simple allows for easy readability.
  2. Always proofread and edit before final submission
    This is a must with photography tenders as you must have attention to detail. Get a colleague to proofread it before submission and use grammar checking tools such as Grammarly and Word’s spell check.
  3. Showcase your added value
    What are your unique selling points? How do you stand out in comparison to other companies?

Where can I find photography tenders?

Finding photography tenders for your business can take hours out of your busy day. Using a search engine provides countless websites, often filled with irrelevant opportunities. Luckily for you, we have a time saving solution to take the headache out of tendering. That’s where Creative Tenders can help.  Creative Tenders is an easy-to-navigate, centralised portal that hosts all live creative tendering opportunities from across the creative industry.

Our portals are updated daily by our Opportunity Trackers. They manually search for opportunities to upload to the portal. They don’t use CPV codes to find contracts either. This means that there’s no risk of missing opportunities that are listed incorrectly with the wrong code.

A subscription to Creative Tenders offers your business:

  • Access to all exclusive, private, and public sector opportunities within the creative industry.
  • An Account Manager who is available to answer any questions around photography tenders.
  • A daily email bulletin which notifies you when there are new, sector specific opportunities available.
  • Discount support from our bid writers at Hudson Succeed.

Past Photography Tenders

We source new tendering opportunities daily from hundreds of sources across the UK. Some of our past tenders sourced on the portal that included photography services are:

Photography and Videography
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council – South East – Budget: Undisclosed

Conferring Photography and Framing Service

National University of Ireland, Galway- Budget: £1,800,000

Photography Services for Celtic Routes
Wexford County Council- Budget: Undisclosed

Sustainable Scale up Cluster: Photography & Videography ITT & Specification
BIC Innovation– Budget: Undisclosed

Provision of Photography (Lot 1) and Videography (Lot 2) to Maynooth University
Maynooth University- Budget: Undisclosed

We have worked with a range of clients from both private and public sectors. This includes photography tenders through the UK government’s Digital Marketplace and the British Council.

Do you need assistance with photography tenders?

We understand that writing content for these can be difficult. Therefore, we offer a dedicated solution to support growth in the creative and digital sector. Hudson has supported businesses in the creative industry and photography for almost two decades. We help businesses focus on their creative skills, while we take care of writing winning responses. Why not outsource to our bid writing experts at our sister company, Hudson Succeed. They offer four levels of bid writing support and boast an 87% success rate. The services they provide include:

  1. A Tender Writing service
    This is an ad-hoc bid writing service. Simply send the tender specification to our team and they will write the tender responses with your technical input. They’ll even submit it on your behalf.
  2. A Tender Ready programme
    This four-week programme is perfect for those who have never tendered before. Within this, we sort everything you will need to tender successfully.
  1. Tender ImprovementAre you already tendering but aren’t seeing success? The Tender Improvement package is for you. Our Bid Writers assess previous submissions, providing feedback and guidance. This helps improve your future tenders.
  2. Tender Mentor
    After writing a tender, you may need someone to proofread it. A Bid Writer can check its contents against the specification and provide a spelling and grammar check.

As well as photography tenders, we source other creative opportunities for sectors such as:

 Want to save even more time?

By upgrading to Discover Elite, you can optimise your tendering opportunities. This allows you to upgrade your tender tracking process and save time.

With this service, you can expect:

  • A dedicated Account Manager
  • Up to 5 tender breakdowns per month
  • Weekly phone calls with your expert
  • No more pre-bid admin
  • An annual subscription to up to two portals
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices.

The Become a Pre-bid Master Package Also Includes:

  • All of the above
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month
  • A Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of five years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

How Creative Tenders can help in your photography tender journey

We have helped many clients to win photography and creative contracts, with great success. This includes Capital Content. Capital Content are a digital agency, specialising in video content, photography, and social media management. They used Creative Tenders to source new leads for their business. In just a few months, they secured a £15,000 contract.

We have reached the end of our blog on photography tenders. Here is a recap of everything we have covered:

What are photography tenders?

Here are some examples of services needed as part of a photography tender:

  • The production of photographs
  • Digital photography
  • Specialised photography
  • Event photography
  • Industrial photography
  • Aerial photography.

To find photography tenders, you can use the Creative Tender’s portal. By upgrading to Discover Elite, an Account Manager will find tenders on your behalf.

6 tips to win photography tenders from expert Bid Writers:

  1. Keep your Portfolio, testimonials, and case studies relevant
  2. Make sure your answers are clear, concise, and relevant
  3. Make sure your staff have up to date CVs with a section for experience, work done previously, any awards etc.
  4. Don’t use too much technical jargon
  5. Always proofread and edit before final submission
  6. Showcase your added value.

Be part of something fantastic and join Creative Tenders today!

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to start finding photography tenders in the UK.

Contact us for more information.

Check out some of our other blogs:

Signage Tenders: The Secrets to Success!

Posted on by Charlotte Jarvis

Here’s how you can find and win signage tenders

How to find signage tenders

When you search for signage tenders, you’ll likely start off by using a search engine such as Google. This is understandable, and you’ll find a lot of results! However, the challenge will be narrowing it down to signage tenders that are suitable for you. For example, you may be looking for tenders in a certain location or within a particular budget.

The sites you search will have tenders listed in a variety of ways, and all will be different. It will take hours to go through these to find a tender right for you. They won’t feature the key details on some results either. This means you’ll have to scour through lengthy tender documents. Once you get through these, it might not be a suitable contract, so you’ve wasted all this time!

The good news is that there are helpful solutions available to you.

Creative Tenders

At Creative Tenders, we are one of Hudson Discover’s 11 sector-specific portals. These portals are specifically designed to make the tendering process easier. This is done by listing tenders based on selective filters. You can see tenders based on location, deadline dates, budget, and keywords.

Our Opportunity Trackers add new signage tenders to the portal daily. So, they are always up to date. Plus, we don’t use CPV codes, which can result in missed opportunities. It is what sets us apart from other tender portals.

You can also receive tender notifications when tenders are uploaded that may be of interest to you. It couldn’t be easier! Or could it?

Discover Elite

If you want to streamline the process even further, you can sign up to Discover Elite. With this service, a dedicated Account Manager will find live bids on your behalf. They’ll speak with you weekly to discuss opportunities that may interest you. This is especially helpful for those with little time to spare due to busy schedules.

Examples of signage tenders found on our portal

Creative Enterprise West (Hounslow’s Creative Enterprise Zone) – Wayfinding

London Borough of Hounslow – London – Budget: £50,000

National Signage Framework

Forestry Commission – South West – Budget: £1,200,000

Signs

ESPO – East Midlands – Budget: £25,000,000

GB-Braintree: Wayfinding Signage at Horizon120 Business Park

Braintree District Council – Eastern – Budget: £100,000

Production and Installation of Signage (To Promote the Level of Investment Underway By Hull City Council)

Hull City Council – Yorkshire and Humber – Budget: £35,000

How to win signage tenders

To win signage tenders, there’s a few tips you should know. We sat down with our Senior Bid Writers to see what their top tips are for winning signage tenders!

1.     Don’t use technical jargon

The buyer is likely to be unfamiliar with your industry. So, to avoid confusing them, make sure you don’t use any technical words that they won’t understand.

2.     Be clear and concise

Similar to our previous point, you don’t want to confuse the buyer. Keep your bid proposal as clear and concise as possible. Focus on answering the questions and don’t ramble about anything irrelevant.

3.     Express what makes you different

You should always showcase your unique selling point (USP) in your bid. This gives the buyer an idea of what you can bring to the contract that other suppliers can’t. It is also a great way to help you stand out.

4.     Showcase your experience

The buyer wants to see that you have evidence of completing signage tenders. You should include three to five case studies that detail similar projects that you did well.

5.     Proofread and edit before submission

Before you submit any bid proposal, not just ones for signage tenders, you must proofread them! If you don’t, you are almost certain to have left mistakes and errors that the buyers are likely to notice. This will give them the impression that you do not thoroughly check your work. If you don’t do this, they won’t trust you to handle their contract well.

6.     Use bid management to stay organised

You should use bid management to stay on track when working on a bid proposal. It can be easy to become overwhelmed with the workload. By breaking it down, you separate it into manageable chunks.

7.     Don’t submit the bid last minute

One of the worst things you can do is submit proposals for signage tenders at the last minute. This is often a recipe for disaster. You may come across technical issues or find that there is further information to submit. If you are already close to the deadline, it will get extremely stressful. If you submit your proposal even a minute late, you won’t be considered.

Who can help you win signage tenders?

Worried you don’t have enough time to dedicate to writing a bid? Help is available! Professional Bid Writers are at hand to support you with your bid proposal. They can take all the stress off of your hands and handle the entire process on your behalf. This is ideal for organisations or individuals that do not have the spare time.

Summary

Here’s a summary of everything we covered in our blog on signage tenders!

To find signage tenders, you should use tender portals such as Creative Tenders. You can upgrade to Discover Elite to have an Account Manager do it for you!

To win signage tenders:

1.     Don’t use technical jargon

2.     Be clear and concise

3.     Express what makes you different

4.     Showcase your experience

5.     Proofread and edit before submission

6.     Use bid management to stay organised

7.     Don’t submit the bid last minute.

Need help writing your next tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next tenders.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a tender and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Get in touch to find out more information.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a tendering opportunity even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portalsof your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

We also source opportunities for sectors including:

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see how we can help your business grow.

Contact us for more information.

 

Media Tenders- The Ultimate Guide

Posted on by John Hudson

Media Tenders: Everything you need to know before you start

Media tenders come in many forms and are a growing market. With the increased need for innovative marketing strategies, we’re seeing a vast range of media contracts going out to tender.

In this blog, we will guide you through not only how to find these tenders, but also how to win them.

How to find Media tenders

When looking for any tender in the media sector, your first instinct may be to use Google or a similar search engine. By searching ‘media tenders’ for example, you will be bombarded with a large number of websites hosting these tenders.

To find a suitable tender, you would need to scour these websites. This can take hours or even days and the whole process could become very tedious. Fortunately, there is a solution available. By using our Creative Tenders portal, you can search with ease to find live tenders in the media industry.

By using the search function on our Creative Tenders portal, you can filter all results. You can narrow down your search by budget, location and keywords so the results match exactly what you’re looking for. This helps ensure that you only see tenders that are relevant to you.

The budget for media tenders can range heavily so businesses of all sizes can benefit from using our portal.

The portal saves you time and money, whilst searching for the latest media tender opportunities that are right for you. We source new media tenders every day using our high-skilled Procurement Team. The team categorise sector-specific tenders all in one place using industry-driven keywords. This allows you to effectively find tenders that are relevant to you and the services you offer.

Understanding the scope of media tenders

Media tenders cover a large range of opportunities that are published by different sectors. Whether you are searching for a marketing tender or a media relations tender, we have something for you. We understand it can be difficult finding the most suitable tender for you and your business. So, we are here to help you through the process.

Our portal is manually updated daily with new opportunities. You can be confident you are finding the most up to date and accurate results.

Examples of media tenders we have sourced in the past include:

Marketing and Branding

Tesso Bridges – North West – Budget £7,000

Digital Media Planning and Campaign Management

National institute for health and care – North West – Budget £86,000

Digital & Social Media Agency Services (China) 

University of Dundee – Scotland – Budget: £500k

Communications and Advertising Framework

Southern Water Services Ltd – South East – Budget £12.8 million

5 tips for winning media tenders

  1. Research the buyer

Ensuring you understand the buyer and what they want from you is key to writing a high-quality response. For a media tender, understanding how the buyer markets themselves and how you can enhance this will be vital. Understanding the specific requirements of the tender will ensure you can include as much relevant detail as possible.

  1. Research the target audience

Look at who the scope of the tender will be aimed at. For example, for a marketing contract, who will be the target audience of the marketing required. For example, the content you will be required to produce will be vastly different if your target audience is young adults as opposed to elderly people.

Being able to demonstrate how you will be able to tailor your content to reach the target audience is key to winning a media tender.

  1. Experience

Depending on the contract, a media tender may require specific experience or qualifications. Make sure you check the requirements for the tender. It will be very difficult to succeed if you do not meet the mandatory criteria. For example, you may need specific media planning experience or marketing qualifications.

These requirements could heavily impact your final score. It is essential that you identify the requirements prior to writing your responses to avoid wasting time and resources.

  1. Read and reference the specification

The specification will detail exactly what is required from you for the duration of the contract. It may include specific software you need to use or certain processes you need to follow. By reading and referencing this, it demonstrates to the buyer you have what is needed to effectively deliver the scope. Referencing specific parts of the specification tells the buyer that you understand the requirements of the contract and have experience.

  1. Added value

What makes you stand out from your competitors? This is a key question to consider when explaining how you will add value to the contract. Social value is now a compulsory element on all public sector contracts, with a 10% weighting. Explaining what you do to help with environmental, social and economic issues is crucial to success in the public sector. If you are new to public sector tenders, we would recommend planning your responses to these questions in advance. Knowing which initiatives you can describe in detail will speed up the process when it comes to answering these questions.

Answer these two questions before you start bidding on media tenders

  1. Can you deliver the services in the specified geographical location?

The location of the service delivery is a key element to look at when sourcing potential tenders. If the location is outside the area your business covers, you will need to consider the viability of the opportunity. Will you to be able to effectively carry out the work required?

On the other hand, since the pandemic, the way many businesses operate has changed, with an increase in remote working. Looking at the tender you are going for

Using the search options and filters on our Creative Tenders portal will allow you to effectively narrow down all locations. This ensures you only view tenders that are within the locations you specify. It is important to read the tender documents to determine if the tender will have to be delivered at a set location, virtually or even a mix of both. This will allow you to decide whether or not you can carry out the duties required.

This filter means you will be able to efficiently identify tenders that are suitable for you.

  1. Does your business meet the financial threshold criteria?

Threshold considerations can range depending on the buyer and the contract. Considerations could include:

  • Looking at if your business is large enough to carry out the contract
  • Considering if you have the capital available/stated in the economic standpoint.

Bidding for a media tender that would not be financially viable for your business would be a waste of time and resources. Media tenders come in a range of sizes and budgets. This means that these opportunities are not exclusive to large, international organisations.

Your economic financial standing considers the following:

  • Your annual turnover
  • Financial ratios
  • Insurance(s).

Buyers consider this to make sure that you’re able to carry out the work.

Looking at this information prior to completing your responses could save you valuable time. If you notice you do not meet the minimum requirements – don’t bid for the work. It sounds simple but we have seen many businesses fall at the first hurdle by not checking the specification requirements.

Summary

As we come to the end of this blog on media tenders, we thought you might need a little summary.

  • Where to find media tenders: Use our Creative Tenders portal to search through new media tenders. Book a free live demo to see the portal in action.
  • How to find the perfect media tender: Take advantage of the filters on the search function of our Creative Tenders portal. These let you filter by location, budget and any keywords you want to include. This helps narrow down the scope of results you see as media tenders cover a wide range of opportunities.

Tips for securing media tenders:

  1. Research the buyer: Understand exactly what the buyer is looking for.
  2. Research the target audience: Look at who the scope of the media tender is aimed at and ensure you tailor your responses appropriately as the target market for the tender will influence how you write your responses.
  3. Experience and qualifications: Certain media tenders may require specific qualifications or experience. It is key to ensure you have what is required prior to completing your responses. You don’t want to get to the end, only to find out you are ineligible because of this!
  4. Read and reference the specification: This demonstrates to the buyer that you can carry out the duties of the contract to all stated requirements.
  5. Added Value: How are you planning to add value to this contract? Answering this question is key to standing out from the competition.

Two elements to consider when looking for a media tender

Location: You want to ensure the location is within a practical distance from where you operate. With the growing focus on remote work, you may be able to deliver the contract virtually..

Economic: Is it financially viable for you to pursue your chosen tender? This is a question you will need to answer prior to completing your responses.

Do you need assistance with writing media tender responses?

You don’t always have the time or resources to write a winning response in-house. Outsourcing to bid writing experts can help. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, offers four levels of bid writing support. They boast an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of bid writing experience. The services on offer include:

Contact us to find out how we can help your business grow.

We also source opportunities for sectors including:

The Keys to Finding & Winning Publishing Tenders

Posted on by John Hudson

Here’s how to find and win publishing tenders

Looking for publishing tenders? You’re in luck! At Creative Tenders, we know all about publishing tenders. So, if you have questions, we will be happy to answer them. In this blog, we will cover what publishing tenders are, where to find them, and how to win! Keep reading, you don’t want to miss out…

What are publishing tenders?

For those that are unsure, publishing tenders are contracts that require some form of printing and publication services. A company or organisation may require the following to be printed/published:

  • Magazines
  • Books
  • Articles
  • Newspapers
  • Leaflets
  • Brochures
  • Posters
  • Invitations
  • Academic works
  • Electoral supplies.

Do you offer any of these services? Do you want to bid for contracts to expand your business? There are plenty of opportunities out there, which is why it’s so beneficial to tender for work. Looking for contracts allows your business access to opportunities you wouldn’t know about otherwise. Keep reading if you want to know where to find the perfect publishing tenders for your business…

Finding publishing tenders with Hudson Discover’s Creative Tenders

Most of us will turn to a search engine such as Google when we need to find something. It is the wizard that has all the answers to our questions. But when you search for ‘publishing tenders’, you’ll find yourself swamped with countless sites to visit. Each site will feature information differently. Most will not make it easy for you either.

You’ll likely have to read lengthy tender documents to get to the key details of each tender. This could be the deadline date, location, budget, or perhaps an element that dictates whether or not you are eligible. Imagine reading over 50 pages to find out you aren’t eligible for a tender, or the deadline is too soon. That is a lot of time wasted!

There are easier ways of finding publishing tenders…

What is Creative Tenders?

As one of Hudson Discover’s 11 sector-specific portals, Creative Tenders makes it easy to find opportunities.

These portals were designed to make it simple to find tenders suitable to your preferences. For example, you can use filters to search for tenders based on location, keywords, dates, and budget. You may be familiar with tender portals, so what makes ours different?

Well, each of our portals are updated daily by Opportunity Trackers that don’t use CPV codes. These codes are used to identify contract opportunities, but they can often have errors. This means that we will never miss a tender due to the wrong code.

Every day, we will send you a tender notification of all the new opportunities you may be interested in.

Want to save even more time looking for publishing tenders? Try Discover Elite

What if you could streamline the process even further?

The good news is – you can!

Sign up to Discover Elite via your chosen portal where a dedicated Account Manager finds live bids on your behalf. They’ll speak with you weekly to discuss opportunities that may interest you. This is especially helpful for those with little time to spare due to busy schedules.

Upgrading to Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a tendering opportunity even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portalsof your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Examples of publishing tenders found on our portal

Publications Production with End-to-End Print Services

Swansea University – Wales – Budget: £1,000,000

 

Contract for Publishing Guidebooks

National Museum of the Royal Navy Hartlepool – South East – Budget: £85,000

 

The Provision of a Publications Dispatch Service

Department of Social Protection – Republic of Ireland – Budget: £200,000

 

The Provision of NIHR Journals Library: Production Services

University of Southampton – South East – Budget: £7,000,000

 

South Devon College ITT for the Design of Publications

South Devon College – South West – Budget: £60,500

4 tips to win publishing tenders from expert Bid Writers

  1. Make sure your answers are clear, concise, and relevant
  2. Don’t use technical jargon as this can confuse the buyer
  3. Ensure you proofread your proposal before submission, so it is of the highest standard
  4. Use writing and language skills to keep the buyer engaged with your bid.

Summary

We have reached the end of our blog on publishing tenders. Here is a recap of everything we covered:

What are publishing tenders?

Here are some examples of products needed as part of a publishing tender.

  • Magazines
  • Books
  • Articles
  • Newspapers
  • Leaflets
  • Brochures
  • Patient identification bands
  • Posters
  • Vouchers
  • Product packaging
  • Invitations
  • Academic works
  • Electoral supplies.

To find publishing tenders, you can use the Creative Tender’s portal. By upgrading to Discover Elite, an Account Manager will find tenders on your behalf.

4 tips to win publishing tenders from expert Bid Writers

  1. Make sure your answers are clear, concise, and relevant
  2. Don’t use technical jargon
  3. Ensure you proofread your proposal before submission
  4. Use writing and language skills to keep the buyer engaged with your bid.

Need help writing your next tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next tenders.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a tender and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

We also source opportunities for sectors including:

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see how we can help your business grow.

Contact us for more information.

Check out some of our other blogs:

Festival Tenders – The Ultimate Guide

Posted on by wpengine

Learn all you need to know about festival tenders

Festival tenders represent a milestone in our recovery from the pandemic. With the summer coming up, and restrictions lifted there are viable opportunities for festival tenders. This is where we come in. In this blog, we’ll walk you through where to find these tenders, and how to win them. By the end, you’ll be ready to respond to festival tenders.

Where can I source festival tenders?

When most businesses begin their search for festival tenders, they’ll likely use a search engine. For example, they’ll use Google to find countless websites that may have opportunities available.

They will then have to scour each of these websites individually for contracts that are suitable. Remember, Google will also pull up anything that mentions the words ‘festival tenders’.

This can take hours and a lot of the time the opportunities may not be relevant. Or the deadline date may be very close and so you won’t have time to complete the bid. This tedious practice can quickly become frustrating. Thankfully, there are solutions available…

Via our Creative Tenders portal, you can easily find live festival tenders. You can use filters to narrow down your search for festival tenders. This way, you can select a budget, location, and keywords to locate the right contract for you.

Our portals are updated daily by our Opportunity Trackers. They manually search for opportunities to upload to the portal. They don’t use CPV codes to find contracts either. This means that there’s no risk of missing opportunities that are listed incorrectly with the wrong code.

Examples of festival tenders we have previously sourced on our portal include:

Provision of a Professional Conference Organiser for the Delivery of One Young World, Belfast 2023
Belfast City Council – Northern Ireland – Budget: £250,000

Grimsby Creates: Festival Director – ‘Grimsby Festival of the Sea 2021’

North East Lincolnshire Council – East Midlands – Budget: £10,000

Specialist Curator for The Good Business Festival

Liverpool City Council – North West – Budget: £20,000

Halal Food Festival

City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council – Yorkshire and Humber – Budget: £24,999

The Provision of Infrastructure & Services for a Summer Festival Event

Tamworth Borough Council – West Midlands – Budget: £140,000

Kew Summer Festival 2023 – 2025

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW – London – Budget: £1,500,000

3 tips for securing festival contracts

1.    Researching the event!

Festival tenders can run rather tight with sharp margins, so ensuring that you’re running a tight ship is highly important. How many people are expected at the festival?

Calling the local licensing office can put you in good stead for figuring out the average attendance. What if you’re providing a service, such as catering? For example, the event has 5,000 attendants… how many hot food units are there? Let’s say it has 10…that provides your potential share to be around 500 people.

If you don’t know how much competition you’ll have on the day, how can you make an informed tender response?

2.    Zeroing in on the target audience

Your buyer will have a specific target audience in mind, and in your tender response, you need to recognise this. Your product/service needs to fit the buyer’s needs.

Let’s say you’re selling food/drink. Can you quantify how many breaks the crowd might have between acts? The closer your equation is to reality, the better your grasp on the potential profit will be. You can then utilise your potential profit to create a good pricing strategy.

The target audience will have different spending patterns, so the sooner you recognise this, the better. Ultimately, a competitive price will pique the buyer’s attention in your festival tenders.

3.    Qualifications, accreditations & experience

Depending on the contract, festival tenders require a fair number of qualifications. If you don’t scope out the requirements, it can be incredibly difficult to succeed.

With that in mind, check out the requirements. What if they need specific lighting operation qualifications? Do they need a minimum number of years of experience in filming live events?

Some of these requirements can weigh heavily in the buyer’s evaluation criteria. The sooner you know and are confident in meeting the requirements, the higher your chance of success.

Summary

So here we are, at the end of this blog on winning festival tenders…What if you need a summary? Creative Tenders has your back.

Where can I source festival tenders? – How to find festival tenders in your geographical remit on Creative Tenders.

3 tips for securing your festival tenders

  1. Researching the event – Checking in the local registry to research the average attendance. Spending time structuring your bid around this. If you’re providing a service, looking into the potential competition.
  2. Zeroing in on the target audience – Understanding the demographic’s spending patterns. Ensuring that your bid suits the buyer. Ensuring you closely fit the buyer’s needs.
  3. Qualifications, accreditations & experience – What do the buyers require? Is there a minimum limit for experience? The sooner you’re confident in meeting them, the better.

Need help writing your next tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next tenders.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a tender and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Get in touch to find out more information.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a tendering opportunity even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

We also source opportunities for sectors including:

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see how we can help your business grow.

Marketing Tender Opportunities: How to Find Them and 6 Secrets for Winning!

Posted on by John Hudson

Here’s how you can find marketing tender opportunities and 6 tips from Bid Writers to help you win!

Are you looking for marketing tender opportunities? Here at Creative Tenders, we have a whole host of contracts available on our portal. In this blog, we will share with you how to instantly find marketing tender opportunities. Plus, we will have 6 tips from expert Bid Writers on how to win! Keep reading to learn more about how we can help you and your business…

Where can you find marketing tender opportunities?

When most businesses begin their search for marketing tender opportunities, they’ll likely use a search engine. For example, they’ll use Google to find countless websites that may have opportunities available. They will then have to scour each of these websites individually for contracts that are suitable.

This can take hours and a lot of the time the opportunities will not be suitable. They also may not display key details. So, you’ll have to read lengthy tender documents to decipher whether you’re eligible for that contract. Or the deadline date may be very close and so you won’t have time to complete the bid. This tedious practice can quickly become frustrating. Thankfully, there are solutions available…

Hudson Discover’s 11 sector-specific portals were built to streamline the process of finding tenders. Via the Creative Tenders portal, you can easily find marketing tender opportunities. Our portals display key information on each tender such as location, deadline date, and budget. This way, you can clearly see whether a tender is right for you.

You can use filters to narrow down your search for marketing tender opportunities. This way, you can select a budget, location, and keywords to locate the right contract for you. Our portals are updated daily by our Opportunity trackers. They manually search for opportunities to upload to the portal. They don’t use CPV codes to find contracts either. This means that there’s no risk of missing opportunities that are listed incorrectly with the wrong code. Government sites will use CPV codes and so they can be less accurate.

Discover Elite

If you want to streamline the process even further, you can sign up to Discover Elite. With this service, a dedicated Account Manager will find live bids on your behalf. They’ll speak with you weekly to discuss opportunities that may interest you. This is especially helpful for those with little time to spare due to busy schedules. Upgrading to Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a tendering opportunity even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portalsof your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Examples of the tenders we house on our portal:

Editorial Services – North West – £55k

Organisation seeking a supplier to provide editorial services, including copywriting and proofreading.

Campaign Services – South East – £100k

Council seeking a suitably experienced and qualified supplier to produce a marketing campaign.

Media Monitoring – London – Budget: Undisclosed

Tender submissions required for the provision of media monitoring services.

Crisis Media Marketing – Scotland – £50K – 19-04-2022

Company is seeking a provider of crisis media management and associated support.

Marketing Services – Republic of Ireland – Budget: Undisclosed

Contract for the provision of marketing services to promote brand awareness and increase website traffic.

Here’s how to win marketing tender opportunities

Have you found marketing tender opportunities and are now ready to tender for work? Here are a few top tips from the expert Bid Writers at Hudson Succeed:

  1. Stick to the word count – If you can’t follow instructions, you leave a bad impression.
  2. Don’t use technical jargon – You don’t want to confuse the buyer when they read your proposal.
  3. Make sure your bid responses are clear and concise – Making it easier to read will keep the buyer engaged. They will also be able to clearly understand your ideas.
  4. Proofread and edit your bid before submission – Mistakes in your bid will make you look unprofessional.
  5. Use bid management tactics to stay organised – This will drastically decrease stress and make the process easier.
  6. Turn to a Bid Writer to handle the entire process for you – They have the experience and know what it takes to win!

Summary

Here’s a summary of everything we covered in our blog on marketing tender opportunities.

Creative Tenders is one of Hudson Discover’s 11 sector-specific portals that hosts tender opportunities. These portals streamline the process of locating a tender suitable for your business. This is done by the use of selecting filters such as location, budget, and keywords. They’re updated daily and our team don’t use CPV codes, so there’s no risk of missing opportunities.

  1. Stick to the word count
  2. Don’t use technical jargon
  3. Make sure your bid responses are clear and concise
  4. Proofread and edit your bid before submission
  5. Use bid managementtactics to stay organised
  6. Turn to a Bid Writerto handle the entire process for you.

If you still have questions about marketing tender opportunities, why not contact us? Our team are always happy to help!

Need help writing your next tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next tender.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a tender and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Get in touch to find out more information.

We also source opportunities for sectors including:

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see how we can help your business grow.

Contact us for more information.

Check out some of our other blogs:

4 Golden Tips for Securing Graphic Design Contracts

Posted on by John Hudson

Everything you need to know when it comes to winning graphic design contracts

Winning graphic design contracts through tendering is a great way for freelancers and agencies to grow their businesses. Tenders offer creative businesses amazing opportunities for expansion. Luckily for you, you’ve found us, and we’ve got some great experience with tendering for graphic design contracts. This blog will walk you through the sources for finding these tenders, and how to win them.

Where can I find opportunities to win graphic design contracts?

Manually searching for graphic design contracts can be exhaustive.

Luckily for you, we have a solution.

Enter…Creative Tenders.

Creative Tenders is an easy-to-navigate, centralised portal hosting live tendering opportunities from across the UK, including graphic design tenders. It’s dedicated specifically to the UK’s creative sector, making tender tracking quicker and more efficient.

Below are 5 examples of tenders for graphic design contracts that we have previously sourced on our portal:

Branding & Marketing Support

QA Flooring Solutions Ltd – North West – Budget: £6,000

Graphic Design Specialist Aden Country Park
Aberdeenshire Council – Scotland – Budget: £32,800

Love & Nature Exhibition Design Team

Horniman Museum & Gardens – London – Budget: £192,000

Branding and graphic design

Dudley College of Technology – West Midlands – Budget: Undisclosed

DOF – SEUPB – Graphic Design & Print Management Services
CPD – Supplies & Services Division- Northern Ireland- Budget: Undisclosed

A subscription to Creative Tenders can offer your business:

 Access to all exclusive, public and private sector graphic design tenders in the UK.

  • An on-hand Account Manager to answer any questions you may have about tenders for design work. They can help you understand the procurement process and answer any questions you have about the tendering process in general.
  • A daily email bulletin is sent straight to your inbox when new, sector-specific opportunities are uploaded.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
  • 20-minutes of free bid management consultancy each month.

4 tips for winning your next graphic design contract

1.    Keep your portfolio, testimonials & case studies relevant!

Make sure that you’re responding to the buyer with relevant case studies. The commissioning authority will know how much you’ve invested into the bid. Simply put, an irrelevant past contract example can be a red flag. They need to see a real snapshot into the customer’s experience, so the more relevant, the better.

2.    Showcase your added value

What sets you apart from other graphic design firms? Isolate that aspect and present it in your ITT/PQQ. It will impress the buyer and make them wonder why the competition doesn’t offer this product/service/feature.

3.    Review your bid!

This is a must if you want to win a graphic design contract. Without attention to detail, you’re unlikely to be successful. Reviewing your own tender documents with a critical eye, not unlike the buyer is highly important. Consider whether you would award the contract, viewing the document objectively. Ask colleagues to do the same.

4.    Boilerplate responses

Boilerplate responses are fantastic for reducing writing times for a graphic design tender, freeing up your time. However, they can easily throw the bidder off if the response isn’t relevant. As stated above, the buyer simply knows if you’ve rushed the bid. So, make sure that your responses flow naturally even when using boilerplate responses, by avoiding irrelevant terms and jargon.

In summary

So, we’ve hit the finish line on this blog on winning graphic design contracts! What if you’re in need of a recap? Don’t worry we’ve got you covered;

Where can I source graphic design tenders? – Join hundreds of creative professionals using Creative Tenders to save time and track opportunities. 

4 tips for winning your next graphic design tender

  1. Relevant case studies – Keep your portfolio and case studies in line with the bid.
  2. Showcase your added value – What separates you from the competition? Use this element to great effect in your bid, highlighting your uniqueness to the buyer.
  3. Review your work – Would you award yourself the contract? Maintain a critical eye over the document. Get colleagues to do the same.
  4. Boilerplate responses – Ensure your bid responses are relevant if you’re using boilerplate responses to save time.

Need help writing your next tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next graphic design contract.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a tender and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Get in touch to find out more information.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a tendering opportunity even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid decisions.
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Contact us for more information.

We also source opportunities for sectors including:

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see how we can help your business grow.

Contact us for more information.

Check out some of our other blogs:

 

Acing Your Website Design Tenders – What You Need to Know

Posted on by John Hudson

Learn what it takes to win website design tenders

Website design tenders represent a core cog in the wheel of creative procurement. In our modern life, a website’s design is highly important to digital footfall, so there’s no shortage of demand. So, what does this mean for you? Well, it means serious financial potential. There’s a wealth of profitable website design opportunities through tendering. In this blog, we’ll walk you through where to find tenders, and tips to skyrocket your tendering success.

Where can I source website design tenders?

Running your own business takes up a lot of your time. The last thing you want to be doing is trawling hundreds of websites, searching for website design tenders. Luckily for you, we have a solution.

Enter…Creative Tenders.

Creative Tenders is an easy-to-navigate, centralised portal hosting live creative tender opportunities from across the UK.

Below are 5 past examples of website design tenders sourced on our portal:

Website Designer/Developer Aden Country Park
Aberdeenshire Council – Scotland – Budget: £7,500

Website Design
The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust & Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: £90,000

PQQ Website Replacement

Dublin Bus / Bus Atha Cliath – Republic of Ireland – Budget: £500,000

Development of a Standardised Website Within the South West Region GP Practice Estate
NHS South Central West SCU – South West Budget: Undisclosed

Invest South Tyneside Web Design/Development
South Tyneside Council – North East- Budget: Undisclosed

A subscription to Creative Tenders can offer your business:

Access to all exclusive, public and private sector website tenders in the UK.

  • An on-hand Account Manager is available to answer any questions you may have about tenders for website design work. They can help you understand the procurement process and answer any questions you have about the tendering process in general.
  • A daily email bulletin is sent straight to your inbox when new, sector-specific opportunities are uploaded.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
  • 20-minutes of free consultancy with one of our Bid Consultants each month.

3 tips to help you succeed with website design tenders

1.  Read all the questions!

We’ve seen too many suppliers rush through an Invitation To Tender (ITT) without fully digesting the material…and it costs. Simply put the buyer knows how much you’ve invested into a bid, and irrelevant answers can be a red flag. So, when you’re working on documents, make sure that you’re reading through the documents properly. Your response will be more relevant, and you’ll convey professionalism. Like most tenders, website design tenders deserve a close eye.

2.  Organise your crack tender team!

This should be a no-brainer, but a team’s organisation can spell life or death in bid management. A disorganised team can fall behind on deadlines, and in the worst-case scenario, even submit a bid after the deadline. So, make sure that you’ve got internal deadlines to keep everyone sharp. This also aids team morale, as everyone is aware of how their input is helping the project progress. This advice also applies if you’re a one-man team, as applying internal deadlines can achieve increased efficiency.

3.  Stick to the formatting requirements

Buyers can be rather strict when it comes to formatting. If you blatantly ignore instructions, it will reflect poorly on you and your business. Make sure before you submit that the font and font size is what is stated in the guidance document.

Moreover, you should stick to the word/character counts. If a buyer is wanting a longer response, they will include an additional text box.

So, it’s best if you’re writing your response in Word, for example, to check your character count with spaces. You don’t want to be writing a detailed 1000-word response to then have to cut it down.

 

In summary

So, we’ve reached the finish line on this blog for website design tenders. We’re sure that you’re focused on winning the next tender. How about a recap?

Where can I find Website design tenders? – A thorough look into the only sensible option when it comes to sourcing creative tenders.

3 tips to help you succeed with website design tenders

  1. Read all the questions! – Ensure that you digest the information when it comes to the tender documents.
  2. Organise your crack team! Make sure that you’re working on your deadlines, setting internal deadlines and progress meetings.
  3. Stick to the formatting questions – Follow the buyer’s instructions for formatting such as word count, font etc.

What if you’re still unsure about writing the tender? Our sister company Hudson Succeed is here to help.

Need help writing your next tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next website design tender.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a tender and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Get in touch to find out more information.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a tendering opportunity even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid decisions.
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Contact us for more information.

We also source opportunities for sectors including:

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see how we can help your business grow.

Contact us for more information.

Check out some of our other blogs:

ADVERTISE AND MANAGE PRIVATE SECTOR CREATIVE TENDERS

Posted on by John Hudson

ADVERTISE AND MANAGE PRIVATE SECTOR CREATIVE TENDERS

Private Sector Tenders are considered as such when a self-funded company advertises for a contractor to complete works for them by way of a contractual agreement.

Did you know that you can advertise a private opportunity such as this via our Creative Tenders portal? Whats more, you can manage, respond and receive submissions 100% free of charge regardless of whether you are an existing customer of one of our portals.

Too busy to manage the Creative project?

Let us take over! We will advertise and manage the tender opportunity on your behalf. This service includes uploading the opportunity, answering clarification questions and managing the submissions, all you need to do is choose a supplier!

Sound good? Here’s the best part. You can advertise your private sector tenders on any of our ten sector specific portals under Hudson Procurement Group!

For example, if you are a Marketing agency and you require a new piece of hardware, we would advise you to advertise this opportunity via our Technology Tenders portal. We already have Hardware-sector customers who are actively searching for opportunities on our site, put your opportunity in front of them and instantly access engaged suppliers.

One of our main goals across all of our group’s ten platforms is to encourage inter-trading to simplify the tender process from beginning to end.

This is where our Tender Connect platform comes in for phase two of our overarching business plan. This platform is built with the sole purpose of inter-trading and creating a go-to environment where both buyers and suppliers will benefit.

If you’re unsure about the stages of tendering mentioned in this blog, worry not! Our newest project, Tender VLE is here to help you understand the process. See our Clarification Questions and Breaking Down the Question videos.

We’re here to help you discover, succeed, procure and invest!

TENDER VLE IS NOW LIVE! – ONLINE BID WRITING COURSE

Posted on by John Hudson

TENDER VLE IS NOW LIVE! – ONLINE BID WRITING COURSE

B2B tendering has just been made simple as Tender VLE goes LIVE! The Tender VLE team are very excited to announce that our brand-new platform is now up and running. As we embark on this new tendering venture we would like to remind you of a few reasons behind the creation of Tender VLE.

During the team’s 40-years combined experience we have recognised the ongoing support required for both SME’s and blue-chip companies in relation to the tender process across the UK. We have noticed that many companies do not understand how to tender correctly or lack knowledge in similar areas.

Our goal is to simplify the B2B tendering process by ensuring that buyers and suppliers are on the same level of understanding – thus the birth of Tender VLE!

Company Growth Director, Jill Hudson says ‘We want to make procurement and tendering accessible to all size businesses, so we’ve launched Tender VLE to offer FREE high-quality video master classes at a level that suits you. Don’t be afraid of tendering, embrace the endless growth potential it brings to your business’.

As it stands, Tender VLE has launched containing 16 detailed videos, led by Senior Tender Consultant, Daniel Hall.

Here are the topics that Daniel has covered so far;

Breaking Down the Question – Find out how to tackle a question head-on and break it down into manageable sections. Daniel advises that you start your b2b tendering journey here!

 

PQQ Basics – Covering what a PQQ is, used for, how to complete it and why knowledge of the process is important.

 

Case Studies – How to structure your case studies and why the buyer asks to see this evidence.

 

TUPE – What it is and how it can affect suppliers.

 

Proposals and Instructions – The different approaches to tender documentation and how to comply with the requirements.

 

Clarification Questions – What does a clarification deadline mean, how you should ask these questions and a few things to bear in mind before submitting your question.

 

Time Management – Tips from our experts as to how you can effectively manage your time whilst writing a proposal.

 

Insurance when Tendering – What suppliers should be aware of when it comes to their insurance and which types of insurance you may be required to have before being invited to tender.

 

Terminology – A breakdown of the most commonly used procurement terminology and their definitions.

 

Economic and Financial Standing – How your financial suitability is established and how your turnover should affect your b2b tendering decisions.

 

Common Mistakes Made – As it says on the tin, this video looks into the most common mistakes that we have seen potential suppliers make during the tendering process and how to avoid them.

 

Framework Agreements – What a framework agreement looks like, who should enter into a framework agreement and what you can expect.

 

ITT Basics – What an ITT stands for, what does the ITT stage consist of and what to expect from this document.

 

Self-Cleaning – Defining self-cleaning, potential grounds for exclusion and how to get back in the running following non-collusion.

 

ESPD – An overview of ESPD, how it affects you and the impact of BREXIT.

 

The Tender Journey – What to expect during the tender process, the various stages and how to tackle each of them.

 

If there are any specific topics that you would like to see our Tender Consultants cover, please let us know via our LinkedIn forum HERE

Visit our brand-new Tender VLE platform by CLICKING HERE

 Or contact our bid writing consultants at Hudson Succeed for any further assistance. 

 We are here to help you UNDERSTAND!