So said cybersecurity pro, Art Wittmann. His words have never been more important.
The events of the past 18 months have created considerable uncertainty and caused sudden and widespread disruption to businesses’ security operations. IT security teams had to quickly shift priorities and budgets and institute measures to maintain business continuity and protect their organisation and workforce against cyber-attacks. And this is far from over.
With remote or hybrid work here to stay for many – and new threats emerging every day – companies need to start identifying what their updated risk profile looks like and invest in the right tools and protocols to address individual needs and new vulnerabilities. But for this to happen, these companies need to be aware of the innovative security solutions that are out there.
So this week, we’ve officially launched our cybersecurity stream to help vendors in this space to use marketing & PR more effectively to sell their products and services.
Earlier this year, we surveyed senior decision makers that have been involved in a major security technology purchase in the last six to 12 months, to understand the current state of security purchasing and what makes prospective security buyers tick.
The research revealed four out of five businesses are currently searching for new security suppliers. And this is despite 78% of companies already having made an unplanned purchase as a result of the pandemic. It’s clear there is an enormous opportunity for cybersecurity vendors to expand their customer base, however, the market is only getting tougher and more competitive. On CyberDB, 1,500 cybersecurity vendors in the UK and 3,500 in the US are listed.
By having a dedicated division for cybersecurity, combined with our expertise and knowledge, we can now help more innovative cybersecurity companies such as our new client Titania, a network vulnerability management specialist and Netacea, a bot detection and mitigation specialist, stand out in a noisy and crowded marketplace.
But for those just starting out, or whose customer base covers a broad range of potential buyers, just knowing where to start can be the most difficult step. To help you get started, here’s our suggested channel and content strategies for building brand awareness:
Top channel strategy:
- Target both large-scale, broad-focus security events as well as those with specific horizontal or vertical focuses that align with the vendor’s products and services. According to our research, industry events are the most impactful channel for driving awareness of your products and services amongst medium and large businesses.
- Identify and establish relationship-building activity with journalists and/or editors of key business and trade publications. Demonstrate awareness of editorial priorities (i.e. industry-shifting news, strong opinions, exclusive stories, etc.) in your communications with them.
- Further build upon relationships with key media representatives through private roundtable events with both company spokespeople and influential third-parties.
Top content strategy:
- Provide analysts access to C-level (or equivalent) executives or senior technicians with in-depth product knowledge in a set of regularly cadenced 1:1s. The research revealed reports written by industry analysts have the greatest power to spread brand awareness amongst security technology buyers – by quite a margin. This was the consensus amongst 58% of respondents, putting a significant gap between it and the next highest scoring choice, webinars (42%).
- Secure buy-in from well-known third-parties (such as existing customers or partners) to lend authenticity to the content of webinars or case studies content through association.
- Promote owned content via social media channels. Use a marketing automation platform to track click-through and identify which audiences are being engaged and more precisely target potential customers.
If you have any questions or would like to know more about how we can also help you generate sales leads, increase your profile or build capital value for exit, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
