3 Massive Problems That Hinder Cybersecurity Marketers & Salespeople | What's the Problem?

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“Name a problem in the security world.”

That was one loaded question Mike Krass, owner of MKG Marketing and host of “What’s the Problem?” Podcast, asked me.

That request got me thinking and sifting through the 101 problems I had listed when prepping for our call. (Remind me to share that with you another time.)

Three main issues stand out to me as a marketer and professional in the cybersecurity industry.

We’ll dig into that today (or you can just listen to the problems I unravel in Mike’s episode).

Why is it important for you to understand these problems?

Today, things are becoming increasingly complex.

Marketers, sellers, and vendors are just adding to the chaos.

And with so much havoc going on to capture the attention of buyers, particularly in such saturated markets, like cybersecurity, many marketing and sales professionals have forgotten why they are actually here - to arm those who are on the frontlines battling cyber threats to protect the world and help them do their job just a little bit better.

As marketers and salespeople:

• We’ve given in to listening to what other vendors say about other vendors.
• We’ve become accustomed to spending our marketing dollars listening to analysts instead of picking up the phone and having a conversation with a customer.
• We’ve succumbed to “muted mic” syndrome only to let ourselves believe “the smart people in the room” have a seat at the table.
• We’re lost in the comfort zone of talking to other marketers.
• We’ve become accustomed to endless random acts of marketing that have no meaning or use to busy buyers.
• We’ve lost touch with our soft skills.
• Our morals and ethics have left the building.

By sharing the following three main issues with you, my goal is to encourage you to not only change your perception about how things should be done but also the reality of how vendors deliver experiences to cybersecurity buyers.

It’s about time we challenge the following problems and do things a little bit more morally and ethically these days, don’t you think?

1. Marketers are pressured by the bottom line/profit-at-all-costs mindset vs. mission before money mindset.

Marketers and sales teams alike are pressured by the need to produce quickly to appease investor profits. This need to demonstrate financial strength results in shady and something unethical business practices that compromise buyer experiences and in some cases product quality in favor of short-term gains for the organization.

So, there’s this profit-at-all-costs mindset that overwhelms marketers and sellers - and other departments too. vs. the alternative which should be a mission-before-money mindset.

The fear of harming short-term earnings or negatively affecting investors’ perspectives of the brand arises and causes a lot of anxiety.

I’ve been there and many times feel that pressure.

Take time to get to know your audience. Identify their motivations and goals.

Then, apply those insights to strategy, do things more authentically and double down on the longer terms plays, which down the line will provide exponential growth vs. linear incremental growth.

2. Marketers are comfortable with the status quo and routines.

When marketers succumb to the profit-at-all-costs mindset, they fall into the comfort of the status quo: routines.

They often follow day-to-day habits that soon don’t even feel like habits. After a while, they’re “just the way we do things.”

They focus on trivial tasks at the expense of their audience’s experience. (I’ve been guilty of that - here’s a sneak peek into part of my list of trivial tasks that wasted my time in my career.)

So, marketers and salespeople don’t make time or are hesitant to approach the customer or the audience and show a genuine curiosity to get to know them. Which pisses off buyers. And specifically in the cybersecurity space - it is a big issue.

Failure to get close to the practitioner or business-decision maker in security, in any industry really, causes blind spots in the organization.

The biggest blind spot is a lack of insight.

This causes professionals and companies to lose touch with what brings value to the organization and the audience.

If anything getting access to buyer insights could be your differentiator.

3. Marketers think they don’t have a say in the technical discussion.

There is a stigma in the cybersecurity space - marketers should sit down and “let the smart people talk”.

Second, there is a stigma that the infosec community is not accessible because they are so busy.

Here is my experience - yes this is true. They are busy. But, the infosec community will make time for you if you build trust with them and have no hidden agenda.

By default, marketers have “muted the mic” and let technical “subject matter experts” lead the discussion.

Perhaps it’s this unconscious excuse or reason for suffering from imposter syndrome. We are dealing with some smart people. And so, sometimes I question, “do I have the right or knowledge to speak up, be a part of the conversation?”

Hell yes.

And so do you.

It certainly is easier to do marketing based on assumptions. But not scalable.

By not talking to your audience, we are all doing a disservice not only to ourselves but to the very community and buyers we are trying to help.

Unmute your mic.

Talk to your buyers.

Do this once a week for 3 months and see what happens.

🔥 Listen to the original episode on What’s the Problem? and hang out with Mike Krass as he learns from cybersecurity experts on what problem they're facing right now.

Interested in sponsoring an episode like this with your target buyer?

→ Reserve your sponsorship here. ($2,575)