With the increasing number of cyber-attacks happening globally, cybersecurity has become a hot topic. By the end of 2022, cybercrime is expected to cost USD 6 trillion globally, and this figure is expected to go as high as USD 10.5 trillion by 2025.
The business world has become increasingly dependent on digital technology, particularly in the last few years. Yet many customers don’t understand the finer details of cybersecurity, thinking it is as simple as installing anti-virus software or a firewall. Today, these simple defences aren’t enough to cope with the sophisticated and heightened number of attacks that threaten businesses.
Managed security service providers (MSSP) can provide valuable and timely cybersecurity services to help their business clients achieve security and resilience in today’s environment. Yet it is easy to get lost in the crowd when it comes to marketing cybersecurity solutions. To stand out from the pack, try these 5 tips for digital marketing cybersecurity services:
1. Understand your audience
It’s crucial to understand your audience to successfully market your security services and solutions. Creating personas can help you understand your target audience better, to tailor your marketing more effectively.
Personas are fictional characters that represent your ideal client. They not only provide you with actionable insights to help you select the best marketing strategies, but they also provide you with the right messaging to deliver to your audience.
Ideally, you would build at least two or three personas to represent the various roles that you want to target, including the CEO and CFO, as well as the office administration person. Each of these people will have distinct pain points and they need to be addressed in different ways.
2. Educate your audience
Unless they are security experts, very few people know more about cybersecurity than what they see in the media. Therefore, education is critical when marketing your services. When business owners read about cyber-attacks in the news, they may think it is something that would never happen to them, or feel overwhelmed or fatigued by the idea of learning something technical and new.
Many businesses can be complacent about the potential cyber threats that could affect their organisation. Part of your marketing strategy should include educating and informing your target audience about the risks to them.
Quality content marketing can address these issues, with regular informative and interesting blogs, downloadable content, video tutorials, and webinars. Breaking down technical topics such as threat intelligence or covering the different types of security solutions helps break down barriers to understanding and establishes your business as the authority on the topics covered. This content provides your audience with the foundation to start deciding what to do and if your MSP can help them.
3. Build trust and showcase expertise
There is a lot at stake for businesses in deciding what cybersecurity solutions and services they need. The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) estimates the cost of cybercrimes for Australian businesses and individuals was $33 billion in 2021, and non-compliance with security regulations can result in severe fines and legal action. Alongside these concerns, there is also the risk of damage to a business’ reputation after a data breach, which can be as hard to come back from as any financial impact.
Businesses are seeking a dependable and trustworthy solution to their problem, and want to be assured their sensitive data and personal information is in the best hands. To build confidence and demonstrate your expertise, you must create simple-to-understand content that demonstrates how effective your products and services have been in protecting customers from cybercrimes in the past. Case studies and testimonials from happy customers posted on social media accounts such as LinkedIn help to build this trust and showcase your expertise.
4. Create a sense of urgency
Unfortunately, a lot of organisations don’t see protection as a crucial element of their business, and your marketing goal is to persuade them otherwise. There are a variety of reasons why organisations might not prioritise information security. It might be down to a lack of knowledge, because they don’t fully comprehend the danger of cybersecurity threats, or because they aren’t sure of what they need or should be paying for.
This is the perfect opportunity to develop messaging or email marketing campaigns that create a sense of urgency and help your audience understand the importance of cybersecurity and how vital it is to protect their business data and employees. It is important to avoid scaring people – instead offer clear information to educate them about the risks of not acting on cybersecurity that leads to how your MSP is best positioned to support their business through this process.
5. Take away the fear
Finally, it’s crucial you avoid using fear as a marketing technique. While the negative outcomes of poor cybersecurity practices can seem like a good way to push home the need to do something about it immediately, people are less likely to make good decisions when they feel afraid, stressed or worried.
Appealing to human emotion works when it comes to marketing, but your messaging should make your audience feel comfortable and relieved throughout their journey with you.
Fear-based messaging grabs the attention of readers, but rather than them focusing on your service offerings and solutions, they’re focused on managing their fears. This is the time to emphasise the positive aspects of your marketing campaign. Rather than hide negative statistics, use them to build a picture to allay your audiences’ fears and help them to feel they’ve come to the right place for the perfect solution.
Content marketing tailored for cybersecurity services
When marketing your cybersecurity services and solutions, it is vital to stand out from the crowd. LeftLeads is a digital marketing agency specialising in managed services providers who offer cybersecurity solutions and services. We can help you effectively market your MSP and get in front of the right audience.
