However, the competition is pretty daunting, and your success rate for winning a digital tender bid is based on your company’s reputation and your ability to write a great tender response cover letter and tender document.
In this blog post, we will provide insights into what a tender response is. Furthermore, we will give instructions on how to write a tender response along with providing a sample tender response cover letter and tender response document that you can edit and use for your business’s needs.
Let’s dive into the details.
What Are Digital Marketing Tenders?
A digital marketing tender is an auction by business organizations for the management of their digital needs. Digital marketing agencies take part in this auction and submit tenders for the provision of services like SEO, web development, SMM, and digital marketing.
In the case of digital tenders, the business organization is the employer, while the digital agency bidders are the contractors.
Thus, tendering is an event organized by businesses that need digital services. Different digital marketing agencies, which provide digital services, take part in a tender to bid, and the best bidder wins the job.
Bidding involves a tender response process that includes writing a tender response cover letter to the employer's business. The tenderer goes through these letters and responses to judge the best fit according to their needs and proposed budget.
What Are the Types of Digital Marketing Tenders?
Here is a list of the types of digital marketing tenders along with a brief description of each:
1. Open Tenders
Open tendering allows any business that is providing digital services to submit a tender. Thus, this type of tendering offers an equal opportunity to all qualifying businesses to submit a tender.
2. Selective Tenders
Selective tendering allows only selected digital marketing agencies to submit a tender. The tenderer invites the selected agencies to submit a tender response letter. In addition to this, this tendering process provides opportunities to only well-reputed and established digital agencies.
3. Negotiated Tenders
In the case of negotiated tenders, the tenderer negotiates with only a single but well-reputed and skilled digital contractor. In usual cases, this tender is suitable when a contract is already in process, and the business wants to extend their partnership with a contractor due to their valuable services.
4. Single-Stage and Two-Stage Tenders
Single-stage tendering and two-stage tendering are rather similar processes, but we can say that two-stage tendering is an extension of single-stage tendering.
In single-stage tendering, the tenderer hires a digital contractor at the same time as an event auction happens. In addition to that, only the invited contractors can take part in the auction.
On the other hand, two-stage tendering involves a selection process of two stages. In the first phase, employers temporarily hire the invited digital contractors, and then they negotiate with them in the second phase.
All of these tenders types can include the below-mentioned services:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- PPC
- Copywriting
- Social media marketing
- Content writing
- Affiliate writing
- Media monitoring
- PR
- Web development
- Digital advertising
How Does the Tender Process Work?
By now you will probably have a general idea of how a tender response works, but we have elaborated further for you to completely understand how the process works.
Consider a scenario where an enterprise wants to optimize its website to catch organic traffic from Google.
For this need, they want to hire a search engine optimization specialist who knows the intricacies of optimization and can do the job efficiently and productively.
You’re probably thinking that they could simply create a job and receive applications from the candidates. It can take a whole lot of time for an enterprise owner to scan thousands of job applications and resumes. You must be aware that this is a regular recruitment process.
Tendering makes the process a lot easier in such situations. The tenderer can create a digital tender and open auctions on the job. The tender type can vary based on the time frame and other selection criteria.
When different digital marketing agencies find such tenders, they will bid and send a tender response letter. The tenderer can go through those agencies’ portfolios and, ultimately, the perfect fit wins the tender. And this is how a tender response process works.
Where to Look for Digital Marketing Tenders
Now, you’re probably wondering where to find such tenders to grow your digital marketing agency? Well, there are reputable websites that allow businesses to open tenders and auctions.
1. Bid Finder
Bid Finder Tool is an online tender hunt platform that allows you to search for digital marketing tenders in just a few seconds. This amazing tool covers tenders from major global regions like the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, and many more.
2. Open Tender
Open Tender is an online public tender platform to hunt for tenders. This platform mostly lists tenders from the European region, but there are some exceptions. You can go and check the details with a simple Google search.
3. Tender News
Tender News is a digital marketing tender hunt platform. This tool allows you to find tenders from almost anywhere around the globe.
4. Ansarada UK limited—Digital Marketplace
Ansarada is a European online governmental tender platform with some great benefits for online tender hunting. Head towards the main website to know more details.
Our Recommendation
One of the greatest sources to hunt tenders is our Bid Finder. With this tool, you can find digital marketing tenders in only a few minutes.
With Bid Finder, you can enjoy new digital marketing tender notices every week. You can also enable email alerts, meaning you never miss a tender opportunity.
There are upcoming features in this tool that you can benefit from, including customizable tender proposal templates and checklists to guide you through the whole tender response process. Sounds amazing, right? Why not sign up to Bid Finder to win your best tender right now?
How to Create a Winning Tender Response
Winning a tender response boosts your business figures and reputation. But, to win a tender, you must write a winning tender response to the employer. Here we will provide you with some guidelines on writing a winning tender response.
1. Prepare a Cover Page
In your tender response, prepare an appealing cover page for your digital marketing agency. Keep in mind that the first impression matters most. Your cover page is your first impression, so make it count! You can include a brief introduction to your services, outlining the tender's objectives and goals that support both you and the tenderer.
2. Table of Contents
If you are writing a detailed tender response, then it's always a good tactic to include a table of contents. This will make it easier for the tenderer to scroll through your tender response.
3. Executive Summary
An executive summary should be the reflection of your detailed tender response in a brief form. Most tenderers tend to read the summary first instead of reading long detailed chunks of text. So, this executive summary should be the second impression. Write it professionally so the tenderer is happy to read the document in full.
4. Company Overview
There is no doubt that a brief overview of your company builds trust in the tenderer. Therefore, make sure you include a brief overview with little hints of your success to make it appealing. Write from the tenderer’s perspective, and think about what their needs are, and what services they are looking for. The company whose services resonate the most with the tenderer’s requirements and bids will win the match.
4. Response to Tenderer Question
First of all, carefully read the tender description, and see if they have asked any questions or not. In your tender response, answer any questions thoughtfully and appealingly.
6. Execution Schedule
After providing the above information, propose a plan. List your strategy to meet the vendor’s needs. Write a precise yet brief execution schedule of your plan to carry out the work.
7. Previous Experience
When the vendor goes through the tender response, they check whether the contractor has the right experience, and, if they have any, what are the chances of success. Therefore, you should frame your prior experience in a way that turns out to be in the tenderer’s favor.
8. References
References are compulsory, and are a way to build authenticity and a tenderer’s trust in you. Provide any references you have to sound more professional.
9. Cost/Budget
It is a great tactic to provide a short overview of the business contacts plan. List the applicable costs and schedule.
10. Index/Appendices
List the index and appendices (if any) at the end of your tender response. This practice makes you appear more professional and the response sounds more confident.
Follow these practices step-by-step to write a winning tender response. Most of the time, employers will evaluate your tender response based on pre-set criteria, and this is not usually mentioned in the tender description.
In general, the vendor assigns each section of a tender response a weightage to calculate the minimum score. Therefore, you should ensure you do not miss any section and lose weightage points.
Best Practices: What Makes a Winning Tender Response?
The procedure of writing a winning tender response has already been discussed, but here are some practices that you can follow to strengthen your proposal.
1. Use a Proper Template
There are several tender response templates and formats with different sections and subsections and various word counts that you can fill in. Follow a reputable template format, so it’s easier for the review panel to review your proposal.
2. Properly Structure the Document
A good and professional tender response should be structured properly. Arrange the tender response contents in a neat, well-organized, and logical manner. You should also adopt a persuasive tone to convince the vendor.
3. Include All Relevant Details
It is necessary to list all the relevant details. Follow the above-mentioned guide to writing a winning tender response with relevant details.
4. Address the Evaluation Criteria and Convince You’re a Perfect Fit
A good tender response carries the facts in itself and convinces the vendor that you are a perfect fit. Thus, we recommend you talk with facts instead of opinions. List your most relevant experience and credentials to convince them that you’re the perfect fit.
5. Include Authentic References
As mentioned earlier, referees strengthen your work. Thus, ensure that you include referees that are well aware of your services, and truly trust you for your quality.
6. Revise, Edit, and Proofread the Tender
Eradicate any typos or grammatical errors by proofreading the tender response. In addition, you can ask someone to review your tender response as a vendor. This way, you can catch flaws and improve the clarity of your proposal.
7. Meet the Deadlines
There is no doubt that a tender response submitted after the deadline weakens your proposal. Therefore, you should always meet the deadlines, and submit a well-polished response to convince the vendor.
These are the best practices that lead to submitting a winning tender response. Follow these practices, and choose a persuasive writing tone to win the auction.
Customizable Tender Response Templates
Here you will find an example of both a tender response letter and a tender response document that you can edit and use according to your needs.
Tender Response Letter Example
[Contractor Name]
[Date]
Tender for [Tender Title and Contract No.]
[Address]
Respected [Sir/Madam],
[Introduction] I have pleasure in enclosing tender documents for the above tendering.
[Body] Please note that tenders must be returned in the enclosed envelope, which will be posted to you separately and addressed to Committee and Finance Manager at [Address] and be returned by [Date and Time].
[Closing statements] Please note that a full action plan and work schedule are included with this tender response letter. If you have any queries, please contact me at [Your Contact].
Yours sincerely,
[Name]
[Company Name]
[Address]
Example Tender Response Document
And here is an example tender response document outline that you can edit and use for your personal needs.
Conclusion
A digital marketing tender response is a document that digital marketing agencies and bidders send to tendering authorities to propose bids. Employers go through these received tender responses, and the digital agency with the best response document wins the competition.
Digital marketing tenders differ in their types just like normal tenders. The most common digital marketing tender types are open tenders, selective tenders, negotiated tenders, and single-stage & double-stage tenders.
However, the project scope includes services like SEO, SMM, digital advertising, copywriting, media monitoring, and other associated digital terms.
We have provided detailed guides on what is a tender response and how to write a tender response. If you are looking to draft a tender response on your own, then this guide will surely be of great help.