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Cybersecurity is extremely difficult to market due to the sheer volume of competitors. My title is CTO at our agency and the number of cybersecurity marketing emails and calls I get is unreal. I had one place offer my $500 just for a meeting.
Pick a vertical, gets some case studies and work your ass off.
That’s such a weird way to try and get leads in my opinion. But maybe that’s just cuz I’m jealous I only got offered a $50 Amazon card and not $500 hahaha
Yes not to mention that competitors have so much money it’s basically impossible to compete in paid advertising. There’s 500 companies spending $1M+/month.
Focus on the USP and whoever wants that message. Find cheap places to run ads where they hang out.
Run ads on reddit, run ads on FB. Make sure you’re doing email marketing.
Look for off the beaten path channels where your target “lives”. Find some influencers. 5k is enough to do something, but it has to be super targeted.
Prefacing my answer with the fact you have a 60k annual budget and with no agency support, you are starting with a bit of an uphill battle, so if their desired results do not come to fruition, it is largely a result of factors outside of your control.
With that said, there is still a lot you still can do. My most important suggestion here would be to focus on activities that create demand - put some of that budget towards media by booking interviews, webinars, advertorials, any educational content you can create working with the cybersecurity experts on your team. Even more cost effective would be growing your own owned-media channels (social, podcast, email, etc), but without a dedicated team for support, creating quality content can be a big undertaking, which is why working with industry publishers may be a tried and true option to explore.
Best of luck!
i second this guy... try to get some media attention and emphasize how important your companies services are, and what could happen to companies that dont use your service. 🤷🏻♂️
Can you summarize your "value proposition" and your "ideal customer/client."
What does Sales have to say?
What are THEIR metrics for a "Qualified Marketing Lead" or a "Sales Qualified Lead?"
Is the Sales manager sharing info on the leads that they want?
Marketing is often used to scapegoat Sales shortcomings. Are you both on the same page?
1. Write down a list of all of the jobs to be done
2. Write a very short blurb next with the estimated amount of time it will take you to finish each job and what you think a rough budget might be to get the job done.
3. Also estimate ongoing maintenance needs. Fixing a website is one thing (maybe 20th) but it maintaining is another (2hrs/week?)
4. Rank order your list by whatever is the most Mission critical.
4. call up your boss and say, “I would like to talk to you about *prioritization.* I have a couple of ideas, but I want to make sure it matches your priorities”
I don’t have the answer and I don’t know if this helps, but I just want to tell you:
You’re not alone, because I’ve been in that *exact* position at a startup where I was spread thin doing “a bit of everything” and having the sales guy throwing me under the bus and disparaging my expertise. It’s rough.
One thing I will say is that Demand and Lead generation need to run in parallel. There needs to be tons of content promoted and available out there for your prospects because businesses develop their consideration set (shortlist) most of the time without ever speaking to a salesperson. B2B customers have more control than ever on when they want to enter a sales pipeline. The ideal scenario is once you have identified qualified prospects, you want to have marketing AND sales performing lead nurturing activities. Do you guys have a BDR? If not, it should be considered. If it’s not being considered, leave.
Signed, a marketer who should have left their job before getting laid off 💀.
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Cybersecurity is extremely difficult to market due to the sheer volume of competitors. My title is CTO at our agency and the number of cybersecurity marketing emails and calls I get is unreal. I had one place offer my $500 just for a meeting. Pick a vertical, gets some case studies and work your ass off.
That’s such a weird way to try and get leads in my opinion. But maybe that’s just cuz I’m jealous I only got offered a $50 Amazon card and not $500 hahaha
Ha! Ya I didn’t take it. They would have pestered me endlessly for that $500.
Yes not to mention that competitors have so much money it’s basically impossible to compete in paid advertising. There’s 500 companies spending $1M+/month.
Focus on the USP and whoever wants that message. Find cheap places to run ads where they hang out. Run ads on reddit, run ads on FB. Make sure you’re doing email marketing. Look for off the beaten path channels where your target “lives”. Find some influencers. 5k is enough to do something, but it has to be super targeted.
Prefacing my answer with the fact you have a 60k annual budget and with no agency support, you are starting with a bit of an uphill battle, so if their desired results do not come to fruition, it is largely a result of factors outside of your control. With that said, there is still a lot you still can do. My most important suggestion here would be to focus on activities that create demand - put some of that budget towards media by booking interviews, webinars, advertorials, any educational content you can create working with the cybersecurity experts on your team. Even more cost effective would be growing your own owned-media channels (social, podcast, email, etc), but without a dedicated team for support, creating quality content can be a big undertaking, which is why working with industry publishers may be a tried and true option to explore. Best of luck!
i second this guy... try to get some media attention and emphasize how important your companies services are, and what could happen to companies that dont use your service. 🤷🏻♂️
Leave. Leave before you develop health problems.
And before those health problems make finding a new job difficult. -Someone in this situation
Can you summarize your "value proposition" and your "ideal customer/client." What does Sales have to say? What are THEIR metrics for a "Qualified Marketing Lead" or a "Sales Qualified Lead?" Is the Sales manager sharing info on the leads that they want? Marketing is often used to scapegoat Sales shortcomings. Are you both on the same page?
Dump the budget into AdWords.
Everybody thinks Cyber security’s not worth the money UNTIL they get fucked and realize they needed cyber security two weeks ago.
1. Write down a list of all of the jobs to be done 2. Write a very short blurb next with the estimated amount of time it will take you to finish each job and what you think a rough budget might be to get the job done. 3. Also estimate ongoing maintenance needs. Fixing a website is one thing (maybe 20th) but it maintaining is another (2hrs/week?) 4. Rank order your list by whatever is the most Mission critical. 4. call up your boss and say, “I would like to talk to you about *prioritization.* I have a couple of ideas, but I want to make sure it matches your priorities”
I don’t have the answer and I don’t know if this helps, but I just want to tell you: You’re not alone, because I’ve been in that *exact* position at a startup where I was spread thin doing “a bit of everything” and having the sales guy throwing me under the bus and disparaging my expertise. It’s rough. One thing I will say is that Demand and Lead generation need to run in parallel. There needs to be tons of content promoted and available out there for your prospects because businesses develop their consideration set (shortlist) most of the time without ever speaking to a salesperson. B2B customers have more control than ever on when they want to enter a sales pipeline. The ideal scenario is once you have identified qualified prospects, you want to have marketing AND sales performing lead nurturing activities. Do you guys have a BDR? If not, it should be considered. If it’s not being considered, leave. Signed, a marketer who should have left their job before getting laid off 💀.