Cyber security is one the fastest expanding markets in technology, having grown 30 times over in the last 13 years, and with global spending expected to exceed $133 billion in 2022. This continual growth presents a powerful opportunity for cyber security vendors to carve out a market share for themselves and meet the demands of organisations that are eager not to end up as the next data breach headline.
That said, this high growth opportunity comes with heavy competition, and security vendors must work hard to prove that they are a better investment than their rivals. A strong PR and marketing strategy is essential to standing out from the crowd in this teeming market.
The imminent threat posed by cyber criminals presents the security sector with a unique sense of urgency that is hard to find in fields like storage or app development. With major data breaches and malware discoveries occurring on an almost daily basis, there is no shortage of news angles to use for impetus.
However, along with this unique advantage, security also presents a number of challenges.
Testing technical terminology
Even compared to other B2B tech fields such as telecoms, cyber security is a complex sector full of very specific technical terms, and even relatively low-level discussions can quickly turn into acronym soup.
While a cheat sheet of security terms might help a PR team tell their EDR from their DNS, this will only succeed at a surface level. Demonstrating true insight and value to the key business and IT security decision makers requires the backing of a much deeper and comprehensive level of knowledge about both the specific topic at hand and wider trends.
Conversely, it is imperative to be able to explain highly technical issues in easily understood, business-centric language. While CISOs and IT directors will usually be taking the lead in choosing security vendors, it is also important to catch the attention of CEOs, directors, and other non-technical decision makers.
The clock is ticking
The security sector is also notoriously fast moving. While the criminal element means there is an almost endless supply of new angles to work with, a major new security event could occur at any time. With such fierce competition for limited editorial space, every minute counts and vendors cannot afford to wait for their PR team to get to grips with the latest incident. Agency teams who have the experience to spot an important development and the role a vendor can play in the story will have a crucial edge, reaching out to key journalists while others are still researching technical terms and setting up internal briefings.
Further, these events can often have a powerful impact on the shape of the security market. Huge incidents such as the WannaCry outbreak or DNC email hack will dominate the agenda for months, potentially necessitating an entirely different PR and marketing strategy in order to stay relevant.
Despite the importance of specialist security expertise, research by éclat found that 61 percent of PR and marketing decision makers working in security believed their agencies had inadequate industry knowledge. Those vendors are at risk of missing out on the spotlight as more agile competitors beat them to the punch on the most important events and trends.
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