Win public sector clients for your agency.
Agencies win public sector clients by watching tender notices for their services, getting known to the buyers who award smaller contracts, and building the references larger frameworks ask for. Tender Radar covers 90+ procurement portals and scores each new notice against your agency's services, so you only review the ones that fit.
890
open marketing, PR, design, events, web and research notices right now
€17,000
median agency contract in Portugal's full contract register
85%
of those contracts were awarded directly or by invitation, not by public tender
Open notices are counted live from the portals Tender Radar collects, and a tender can appear on more than one portal. Portuguese figures cover 8,492 contracts from January 2024 to April 2026, and may not reflect other countries. Figures checked 2026-11-01.
How do agencies win public sector clients?
Treat the public sector as a new business channel with its own rules. Larger contracts go through published tenders, where you win by meeting set criteria and scoring well against them. Many smaller ones never reach a public tender, because the buyer awards them directly or invites a few agencies, so it also matters that buyers know you exist.
Step 1
Track every code your work can fall under
Buyers file agency work under several CPV codes: 79340000 for advertising and marketing, 79416000 for PR, 79822500 for graphic design, 79952000 for events, 72413000 for website design, 92111000 for video and 79310000 for market research.
Step 2
Watch national portals as well as TED
EU rules only require service contracts of €140,000 or more from central government, or €216,000 or more from regional and local bodies, to go on TED. On 2026-11-01, 557 of the 905 open agency notices we held came from other portals.
Step 3
Get known to buyers for smaller work
In Portugal's register, 85% of agency contracts were awarded directly or by invitation, with a median of €17,000 across all contracts. Only 8% went through a public tender, though those carried 36% of the money. Introduce your agency to the buyers you want, and ask how they handle smaller purchases. Delivering that work also gives you references for bigger tenders.
Step 4
Check the pass or fail criteria first
Read the turnover, insurance and reference requirements before you write anything. For contracts above the EU thresholds, Directive 2014/24/EU generally stops buyers demanding a minimum yearly turnover of more than twice the contract value, and lets you self-declare first with the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD).
Step 5
Partner up for bigger frameworks
For contracts above the EU thresholds, companies can bid as a group and rely on another company's capacity to meet the selection criteria, as long as that company commits its resources. If you rely on a partner's experience, the partner has to do that part of the work. That lets a creative agency bid alongside a media buyer or a research firm.
Step 6
Get known before the tender is published
Look for prior information notices and market consultations, which let buyers talk to suppliers before a tender opens. Note when current contracts end, because many are tendered again.
The Opportunity
Why public procurement matters for marketing & creative
Public bodies buy marketing all the time, for health campaigns, tourism, recruitment, public information and EU-funded programmes. Buyers with open notices on 2026-11-01 ranged from the European Commission to local councils and universities. In Portugal's full contract register, 4,363 different suppliers won agency work. The 10 most frequent winners took 13% of contracts, and the 10 largest by value took 33% of the money.
Challenges We Solve
What makes marketing & creative procurement hard
The work is spread across many portals
On 2026-11-01 we held 905 open agency notices across 23 portals, from 684 different buyers. Checking them by hand isn't realistic, and many are in the local language. Tender Radar brings them into one feed.
Buyers don't describe the work your way
A campaign may be filed under advertising, communications, events or consultancy, and a website project under IT. Keyword searches miss some of these. Tender Radar scores each notice on what the buyer actually wants, using your agency's profile rather than a fixed keyword list.
Winning isn't like a private pitch
Bids are scored against published criteria, usually a mix of price and quality, and relationships can't decide the result. A strong portfolio helps, but you also have to meet each requirement in the format requested. Check the award criteria before you decide to bid.
Tender Types
Opportunities we track for marketing & creative
AI Matching
How AI matching works for marketing & creative
Paste your website and our AI builds a profile of your services, sectors and markets. Each new notice is then scored against it, so a PR agency and a video production company see different results from the same portals. You get a ranked list and can review the documents before you decide to bid.
Relevant CPV Codes
FAQ
Common questions
How do marketing agencies find public sector clients?
Through published tender notices. In the EU, larger contracts appear on TED and smaller ones on national and regional portals. In the UK, new opportunities go on Find a Tender, including those below the thresholds. Search by CPV code, such as 79340000 for advertising and marketing, or use a service like Tender Radar, which covers 90+ procurement portals and scores notices against your agency.
Is bidding on public tenders worth it for a small agency?
It can be, if you're selective. In Portugal's full contract register, agency contracts that went through a public tender had a median value of €60,980 and listed a median of 3 bidders. But bids take time, decisions can be slow and price usually counts, and many smaller contracts never reach a public tender. It suits agencies that can reuse bid material and want steady work alongside referrals, rather than those needing new clients within weeks.
How big are public sector marketing contracts?
They vary widely. In Portugal's register, the median agency contract from January 2024 to April 2026 was €17,000, and about 4% reached €140,000. Most of the smaller ones were awarded directly or by invitation. Notices published more widely skew much larger because they often cover frameworks over several years, so check whether a stated value is a total or a ceiling.
Which CPV codes should a marketing agency track?
Start with 79340000 (advertising and marketing), 79416000 (public relations), 79822500 (graphic design), 79952000 (events), 72413000 (website design), 92111000 (video production) and 79310000 (market research). Buyers don't always choose the code you'd expect, so check related codes too.
Do I need public sector experience to win a tender?
Not always. Requirements vary. Some buyers accept references from comparable private work, and others ask specifically for public sector experience. Smaller contracts are a good way to build it, and for contracts above the EU thresholds you can partner with an agency that has those references, as long as it does that part of the work.
Can my agency bid for tenders in another EU country?
Generally yes. Contracts above the EU thresholds are open to companies from across the EU, and many smaller ones are too. In practice, check the language of the bid and of the work, and whether you can deliver locally.
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