4 Tips For Marketing with CISOs

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XM - 4 Tips For Marketing with CISOs
CISO - 4 Tips For Marketing with CISOs
When it comes to CISOs, not all digital content is equal  4 tips for Engaging CISOs from ISMG and the Cyntia Institute   Cybersecurity is an ever-evolving field, and staying ahead of the curve is critical for today’s CISOs. In such a fast-paced industry, digital content is an excellent way for marketers to engage with and influence CISOs. In this blog, we’ll analyze data from ISMG and the Cyntia Institute research to help digital marketers create engaging content that speaks to CISOs. 
  1. Get your facts straight 
There is nothing more convincing than cold hard numbers. CISOs are highly interested in accessing impartial research, which means that surveys and research reports are the most effective media types for engaging CISOs. Research reports help showcase the need for your product and tend to generate more engagement than any other form of delivering information. 
  1. Make it accessible 
In such a fast-paced industry, your content must be easy to ingest. While white papers are commonly used in B2B marketing, data shows that CISOs engage with white papers the least, because there is too much emphasis on the stakeholders’ points of view. Similarly, live webinars might get overlooked due to time constraints, even if they are on a topic that is relevant to the CISO. Instead, consider creating on-demand webinars and following up with listicles, how-tos, step-by-step guides, or checklists. It is easier to follow along when the information is organized creatively and simply.  
  1. Talk to the team 
CISOs don’t always engage directly with content; they may pass on the information to one of their team members. This research shows that engaging with multiple contacts from the same organization is critical. For example, a mid-size, mid-Western bank in the US had 20 people from the organization engaging with content related to ransomware. This engagement included sub-C-level employees. A month and a half after the engagement began, there was a registration for a webinar by the C-level executives. This example demonstrates a bottom-up approach and emphasizes that CISOs aren’t the only people you should be targeting with your content. 
  1. Be interesting 
It seems obvious, but perhaps the most important factor to catching anyone’s attention is talking about things they care about. The Cynthia Institute found that the top three cyber topics that create the most engagement with CISOs are cybercrime, ransomware, and incident response (figure 1). Other topics like zero trust and attack surface management are also considered of high interest in the industry. Using buzzwords is not good enough and will have a negative effect. Provide interesting new information, insights, and solutions to help the CISOs get their jobe done.  Figure 1: Measuring topics as they appear on various content formats  1 2 - 4 Tips For Marketing with CISOs   KnowBe4 put it all together  KnowBe4 is a cybersecurity training company that focuses on anti-phishing solutions, and their content marketing strategies have made them a leader in the industry. Their top-performing asset is an on-demand webinar called “The Ransomware Hostage Rescue Checklist: Your Step-by-Step Guide.” (figure 2)  Let’s analyze the brilliance of this asset: it is an accessible, on-demand webinar with a step-by-step guide about one of the hottest cyber topics. It appeals to the whole team and provides interesting information and solutions. Check, check, check, and check!   Figure 2: KnowB4’s asset “On-Demand l The Ransomware Hostage Rescue Checklist: A Step-by-step Guidewebinar generated the most engagement in Q3   2 5 - 4 Tips For Marketing with CISOs SICOs are bombarded with ads and marketing content daily, which means that for content to resonate with them and their target audience, it must be research-based and easy to digest on topics that interest them. Check out our webinar discussing the comprehensive study conducted by ISMG and Cynthia Institute to get a deeper view of what CISOs want and what you can do to get their attention. >>   

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