Cybersecurity Content Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide

There’s usually a lot of information going around in the cybersecurity space.

And as a cybersecurity business, your target customers are always looking for that information.

Whether it’s the latest cybersecurity news, updates on data breaches, or maybe just tips on how to stay safe online, your potential customers are always searching for content that will help them stay informed about the latest in cybersecurity.

This is where content marketing comes in

I don’t imagine I have to bore you with its definition, but just in case you’re not too familiar with the term, content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and sharing online material (such as blog posts, videos, and infographics) that doesn’t explicitly promote your brand but is intended to generate interest in your cybersecurity solutions, products, or services.

The goal of content marketing for cybersecurity companies is to build trust and credibility with potential customers by providing informative and educational content that helps them understand the risks, solutions, and other concepts in the cybersecurity space.

And, if done well, this can position your brand as a thought leader in the cybersecurity space, leading to increased brand awareness, traffic, and even sales for your business.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s take a look at some tips on how to get started with content marketing for your cybersecurity brand.

How to get started with cybersecurity content marketing

These are a few key steps that you can take to get started on your content marketing journey:

Step 1: Pinpoint your exact cybersecurity target audience

Cybersecurity is one pretty big space with different sub-markets, all with their own unique needs.

For instance, a company providing cybersecurity services to enterprises would have a different audience than a company offering consumer-level cybersecurity products and services.

So, one of the first things you need to do is identify the exact audience you’re targeting and understand what their needs are.

Suppose you’re selling cybersecurity services to large businesses or high-level technical buyers, for example. In that case, you’ll likely be covering topics like enterprise cybersecurity management, cybersecurity compliance, internal security policies, and other related topics related to enterprise security.

Case in point; these are some topics security company Fortinet covers — given their enterprise target market:

Conversely, if you’re targeting the consumer market, you’ll need to focus more on topics like online privacy, phishing scams, password security, and other topics related to the safety of individuals online.

So, before doing anything else, it’s important to know who you’re targeting in the cybersecurity space and what topics are most relevant to them.

Step 2: Identify your content marketing goals

In most cases, your content marketing goals are twofold:

1. Give value (education, entertainment, etc.) to your target audience.
2. Receive value (website traffic, leads, sales, etc.) from your target audience,

But those are pretty broad and can be broken down into more measurable, specific goals.

The specific goal you want to achieve with your cyber security content marketing efforts will depend on your business goals.

For instance, if your priority as a business is to generate leads, then your content marketing goals should be to drive leads. Period. Overcomplicating this step can lead to confusion and lack of focus, so it’s important to keep it simple.

This goal will direct your content marketing efforts; it’ll determine which topics are the most relevant, what type of content you should focus on, where to distribute your content, and so on.

For instance, if your goal is to drive inbound leads, the topics you’ll be addressing should be the ones that’ll motivate your target audience to take the desired action, such as downloading a data-sheet or signing up for a product trial.

Step 3: Choose your content platforms

From blogs to social media to podcasting, there are many content platforms for you to choose from.

And each platform has its own set of pros and cons, but you should choose the ones that make sense for your cybersecurity business and the resources available to create content.

For example, if you’re a security analyst or cybersecurity consultant, you likely don’t have a large team to dedicate to relevant content creation and social media management, so a simple combination of a website blog and your LinkedIn profile might be enough.

But if you have a larger team and more resources available, you can consider using other platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or even hosting a podcast.

A good real-life example of this is the cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks. They have a website blog that attracts millions of visitors per month who are looking to learn a thing or two about cybersecurity.

They also have a YouTube channel, Twitter account, and LinkedIn page which all serve their content to their cybersecurity audience. But they’re only able to do all this because they have the resources available to them.

So, make sure you only choose the platforms you know you have resources for and can manage and maintain over time.

Once you’ve selected your platforms, it’s time to create your content marketing strategy.

Step 4: Set up a cybersecurity content marketing strategy

Once you’ve identified your content marketing goal(s) and content platform(s), your content marketing strategy is the process you’ll use to achieve those goals.

Ideally, you should have it drawn up or written in a Google Doc or Sheet — and it should contain:

• your primary goal(s)
• your understanding of who your target audience is
• content ideas (that’ll help you achieve your goals)
• content editing and publishing frequency
• types of content (e.g. blog posts, white papers, videos, ebooks, case studies, etc.)
• content platforms/distribution channels (e.g. Twitter, blogs, etc.)
• how you’ll measure the success of your content marketing efforts

Once you have all these in place, you have a content marketing strategy already.

One important detail to remember is to keep the strategy focused on your goal. While you’re building it out, it’s very easy to get sidetracked and start adding things that won’t help you achieve your goals.

So stick to your goal and avoid doing too many things at once.

Author’s note: if you need help setting up your cybersecurity content marketing strategy, feel free to contact me.

Step 5: Start creating “helpful cybersecurity content”

Remember when I mentioned your content marketing goal should be twofold? That’s right, it should be.

It should drive value both to your target audience and to the bottom line of your business. But first, it must be helpful for your audience. That’s the first part of the goal equation that must be met before anything else. Otherwise, the other part of the goal — driving bottom line benefit for your business — will never be achieved.

It’s only when your content helps your audience that it will draw them in and keep them engaged enough to encourage them to become customers or clients.

What’s “helpful content,” though? It is content that delivers on its promise. Period.

For example, if your headline says, “Tips to Protect Your Website From Getting Hacked,” then your content should tell readers exactly how to do that.

When you’re creating content that helps people solve problems or find answers to their questions, it’ll convert many of them to customers.

Step 6: Invest in promotion

Once you have finished creating your content, it is time to invest in promotion. Remember I mentioned identifying your distribution channels/content platforms as a part of your content marketing plan?

Here’s where it comes into play. Investing in promotion for your content helps you reach a wider audience and increases your chances of success. 

You can use various channels and mediums, such as paid media campaigns, email marketing, influencer marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and social media to help promote your content.

One of the strongest channels you can use — especially as a cybersecurity business — is SEO. And that’s because your audience is almost always searching for security-related topics online, so SEO is the strategy that will help you get seen by them when they’re searching.

Wrapping up: Analyze and refine your results

Finally, track your content marketing results.

Is your content helping achieve your goals? Do you need to refine your content strategy? Are there any areas of improvement, such as better targeting or more engaging content? Analyzing the success of your cybersecurity content marketing efforts will help you determine what works and what doesn’t.

If you need help anywhere along the way, I’m here to help. Feel free to contact me.

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