Public sector paid advertising
Paid advertising in the public sector is not about leads or revenue. It is about getting the right message to the right person at the right moment and showing stakeholders exactly what that spending achieved. We run paid search and paid social campaigns built around genuine outcomes, reported transparently, procured compliantly through our GCA framework listings.
Public sector paid advertising is
not about chasing clicks.
Commercial paid advertising has one job: deliver return on ad spend. Public sector paid advertising operates in a completely different set of conditions, and agencies that do not understand that difference waste a significant amount of public money.
A tenant clicking through to a housing benefit calculator is not a lead. A parent engaging with a school admissions campaign is not a prospect to be retargeted. These are people trying to access services they are entitled to, often under time pressure, often on mobile. Every targeting and measurement decision we make is shaped by that.
Public sector campaigns also operate under constraints commercial advertisers never encounter. Cabinet Office approval requirements. Political sensitivity around timing and messaging. Procurement rules. Accessibility obligations on creative assets. Scrutiny from overview committees, the press and the public. We have built our approach around all of this, not as an afterthought but as the foundation.
Paid media built around
your audiences, your objectives, and your obligations.
Our public sector paid advertising work spans the full range of paid media disciplines.
Here is what that looks like in practice.
1.
Paid Search (PPC).
Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising campaigns built around how your communities actually search for your services. Tight keyword relevance, meaningful conversion tracking and plain-English reporting. Every pound justified.
2.
Paid Social.
Meta, LinkedIn, X and TikTok campaigns targeted at the specific audiences your campaign needs to reach. Particularly powerful for public health messaging, community engagement, recruitment advertising and local service awareness. Creative meets platform requirements and accessibility standards.
3.
Campaign Strategy and Planning.
Before any campaign goes live we define the objective, audience, channels, budget split, measurement framework and reporting cadence. For public sector work, this planning stage is not optional. A well-planned campaign is easier to defend and significantly more effective.
4.
Creative and Ad Copy.
Ad copy, static creative, video scripts and display creative that meets platform specs, reflects your tone of voice and is accessible to the widest possible audience. Clarity over cleverness, always.
5.
Audience Research and Targeting.
We research your campaign audiences before any budget is committed, identifying the channels and messaging most likely to reach each group, including harder-to-engage communities who default digital targeting tends to miss.
6.
Measurement, Reporting and Accountability.
Clear measurement from day one. GA4 setup, conversion tracking, campaign dashboards, monthly reports written for a leadership audience. When scrutiny comes, you will have the evidence you need.
We know what makes public sector paid advertising complicated.
Running paid advertising in the public sector comes with constraints commercial campaigns do not face. We have built our approach around them.
Justifying every pound of spending
Scrutiny committees, FOI requests, local press. The pressure to demonstrate that every penny was justified is constant. We build measurement and reporting frameworks that make justification straightforward, not something you scramble for after the fact.
Reaching audiences that are hard to reach
The people who most need public sector services are often the hardest to reach through conventional digital channels. Lower digital confidence, language barriers, distrust of institutional messaging. We build campaigns that account for the full demographic range, not just the easiest audiences to target.
Political and editorial sensitivity
Pre-election periods, purdah, messaging sign-off processes, the line between communicating a service and promoting a political position. We understand where those boundaries are and flag sensitivities early rather than mid-campaign.
Justifying every pound of spending
Scrutiny committees, FOI requests, local press. The pressure to demonstrate that every penny was justified is constant. We build measurement and reporting frameworks that make justification straightforward, not something you scramble for after the fact.
Reaching audiences that are hard to reach
The people who most need public sector services are often the hardest to reach through conventional digital channels. Lower digital confidence, language barriers, distrust of institutional messaging. We build campaigns that account for the full demographic range, not just the easiest audiences to target.
Objective first. Always.
We start with what you are trying to achieve, who you need to reach and what success looks like. Platform and format decisions come after.
1. Brief and Discovery
Before we touch a platform or a budget, we want to understand what you are actually trying to achieve. Who you need to reach, what success looks like, what has worked or not worked before, and any political or organisational sensitivities that might affect timing or tone. This stage shapes everything that follows, so we do not rush past it to get to the parts that feel more like advertising.
2. Strategy and Channel Planning
We recommend the right channels, formats and budget split for your specific objective. A council bin collection campaign needs a very different approach to an NHS winter health drive or a housing association recruitment push. We build the strategy around the brief, not a default template.
3. Build and Launch
This is where the strategy becomes something people actually see. We produce ad copy, creative and video that meets each platform’s specifications, reflects your tone of voice and is accessible to the widest possible audience. Everything is checked against your sign off process and any sensitivities we flagged earlier before it goes live, so launch day does not bring any surprises.
4. Optimisation and Reporting
A campaign does not run on autopilot once it launches. We monitor performance against the objectives agreed at the start, adjust targeting and spend where it will make the most difference, and keep an eye on anything that needs a second look, such as a message landing differently than expected. Reporting is built for a leadership audience from day one, so when scrutiny comes, whether that is a committee, a funding body or the local press, you already have the evidence to hand.
Public sector paid advertising
across
every part of the sector.
- Local councils and district authorities
- Combined authorities and regional government
- Central government departments and agencies
- NHS trusts, integrated care boards and health authorities
- Emergency services and blue light organisations
- Universities, colleges and education bodies
- Housing associations and registered providers
- Non-departmental public bodies
- Publicly funded charities and third sector organisations
We are GCA appointed and
ready to engage.
We are listed on GCA frameworks RM6124 and RM6237. Paid advertising services can be procured through either, removing the need for a full competitive tender in many cases. Central government and ALBs should factor in Cabinet Office approval for AMC spend of £100,000 or over.
What our clients say
Businesses we've helped grow. In their own words.
Over the years we’ve worked with organisations of all shapes and sizes, from small independents to large teams with complex sign-off processes, across a lot of different sectors. Here’s what some of them say about working with us.
The next step
It’s time to be more clever with your marketing.
Ready for an honest look at where you’re at, what’s possible, and what it’d take to get there? The first conversation costs nothing, no obligation. If we’re the right fit, we’ll both know quickly.
On our discovery call we’ll cover:
- The campaign or service you need people to take up, and how uptake is currently measured.
- Where the website or brand is failing people who need to use the service.
- Accessibility obligations and where the current estate stands against them.
- Which framework route fits, and whether the timeline works against your budget cycle.
Fill in the form and we’ll be in touch to find a time that works.