We watched one Godfather ride into the distance last night, and given the popularity of last week’s “state of federal blogging” post we decided to hail another Godfather. Mark Amtower literally wrote the book on Business-to-Government (B2G) marketing and has been dubbed by Entrepreneur magazine as the go-to B2G marketing guru. While getting ready for Mark’s radio show on Federal News Radio, I took the time to ask Mark what he thought about social media and the current state of B2G marketing. Here are his answers (also, check out his new blog: “Not that I have an opinion.”)

BB: You’ve seen the face of federal marketing change quite a bit over the past 30 years. What’s your perspective on the latest trend, new media?

MA: While still trying to get my arms around it, I have experimented with podcasting (2005/very early 2006) and migrated to land radio (my shows are archived at my sites and the radio station), and I just started blogging this week. From the blogs I have seen, only a few really strike me as worth spending any time with. However, as the demographics for marketers - and business/govt consumers shifts, these new media outlets will rapidly come into seriously play. You cannot afford to ignore these media.

BB: What’s your most memorable moment as a marketer?

MA: The first time I was profiled in a major publication stands out (not that it happens often!). Marketing Computers (an AdWeek publication, unfortunately no longer with us!), one of the first publications with an edge, profiled me in March of 1994 - four pages of photos/interview – and they sent down a team for a Capitol Hill photo shoot! The photo shoot occurred the day after my first child, Elora, was born - which is a big reason it sticks out.

More recently, I was asked to speak at the 22nd annual Outlook (fed budget) conference (this year). Before going on stage to speak, I remembered attending my first Outlook 20 or so years back, looking around the room and thinking - wow, these are the people I read about if GCN and FCW and I am in the room with them. Then I was on the stage, speaking, always a rush. Then I was receiving pretty good applause.

Pretty cool to be up there looking out, not being the wide-eyed novice looking at the luminaries!

BB: Why is the federal marketplace slow to adopt blogs and other new media initiatives?

MA: The federal market has rarely been a cutting edge in marketing tactics. But, he who strikes first with a good-to-great blog could be king. Same w/ podcast or other audio.

That’s why I started my radio show 16 months ago. I wanted the first and best show on the business of government. The average age of government employees is also on the high side – so you deliver messages the way people look for them, and these people are not habitual bloggers or IPod’ers.

BB: What’s going to be the tipping point?

MA: When there are more people under 35 than over 35 in the B2G market – on both sides of the fence. Those of us who are older and who have not embraced the new stuff will be left in the cyber-dust. This will not be that far into the future – I think maybe 3-4 years, max.

BB: How has FCW Insider impacted the marketplace?

MA: Very little as we are a market of slow adopters. The migration of Bob Brewin to Gov Exec (from FCW) will have no discernable impact, either, especially because he’s cyber. The Insider has some edge, but not enough to really be different than the web site. Dorobek does a good blog, though, one of the very few I have actually left comments on.

BB: You recently started an open Government Marketing Forum. How will this help the marketplace?

MA: A live Forum where people can meet, greet, network, put faces to names. There is really nothing like this in the government market for sales and marketing folks. Throw in a little education, keep it bi-monthly (frequent enough, but not a burn out frequency), and we should have 75-100 people for each.

I think it’s important for marketing and sales folks to see who else is out there, to know them. Too often I run across people who think they are stars, and they aren’t. They have no perspective. The stars in this market are the agencies, and the programs, and the contracts – not the people.

BB: If you could only pass on three tips to federal marketers, what would they be?

MA: First, stay current - read the publications and look at the web sites. To be good, you have to maintain a working knowledge of the market. Knowing more than your competitor gives you the edge. Never – NEVER – think you know it all. No one does.

Second, network and develop a solid network of people who also study the market. Make sure you have all manner of experts in your circle: Business development, sales, marketing, legal, bid and proposal, program management, research – everything. All of these things interlock, and we all need people we can do favors for in the hopes that those favors will be returned. If you have the right kind of network, it pays massive dividends. Find someone to model, get them to be your mentor.
Third – develop a point of view. This is what really makes someone stand out and stand apart in this market – an educated opinion. Whether with a blog, or in traditional print media, or on the radio, at a conference or meeting, or just over lunch, be worth listening to. If you are not staying current, or just reiterate what others say, no one cares and your network of market pros disintegrates into dust, or fills with ditto-heads. You don’t have to have an edge to have an opinion, but you have to be educated in the nuances to have an opinion worth listening to.