Top Cybersecurity Campaign Examples: Proven Strategies for Success
In the cybersecurity industry, a successful cybersecurity marketing campaign can be challenging, to say the least. Building trust and credibility with potential clients in a highly competitive industry is no mean feat. However, there are many case studies we can use to inform our cybersecurity marketing strategies. Read on to learn about five of the most successful cybersecurity marketing campaigns and what other cybersecurity providers and marketers can learn from them.
Cisco: “ThreatWise TV” Campaign
Cisco’s Cybersecurity Marketing Strategy:
Cisco is no stranger to a big-budget, ambitious marketing campaign. The cybersecurity company has supercharged its brand awareness in the last few years with slick TV ads, including The Hacker and Secure Freeze.
However, it’s Cisco’s B2B marketing efforts that deserve our attention. In 2019, Cisco launched ThreatWise TV, a series of educational episodes that kept its audience up to date on current cybersecurity threats, best practices, and the company’s service offerings.
The series featured interviews with industry experts, product demos, and discussions on pressing cybersecurity topics. In 2023, Cisco even released a special documentary episode exploring how Cisco Talos, the company’s threat intelligence arm, helped protect Ukrainian critical infrastructureWhat is Critical Infrastructure? Critical infrastructure refers to the fundamental systems, assets, and facilities that are essential for the functioning of a society and its economy. These are the foundational....
Why was their Cybersecurity Marketing Campaign Successful?
This campaign is one of the best examples of the value of content that focuses on educating audiences, not selling to them. Tailored to Cisco’s target audience – IT professionals, security officers, and decision-makers – ThreatWise TV offered informative, engaging content with consistent messaging that ultimately directed audiences towards a Cisco service offering.
Multichannel promotion efforts also helped secure the success of the ThreatWise TV campaign. Cisco promoted the episodes across multiple digital marketing platforms – including its website, social media, email marketingWhat is Email Marketing? Email marketing may seem like an obvious route of notifying your audience of new releases, products, and services, however, it also serves a subtler function. It..., and cybersecurity forums – and used employee advocacy marketing methods to amplify the content’s reach further.
Consistent branding and high production quality confirmed the campaign’s success. High-quality visuals, sound, and editing enhanced its credibility and made it more enjoyable to watch, improving viewership metrics. The episodes remain on Cisco’s website and YouTube for on-demand viewing.
Key Takeaways
Providing valuable, educational content that addresses the needs of your audience can establish your brand as a trusted source of information and drive engagement across multiple channels.
F5 Networks: “Hug a Hacker” Campaign
F5 Network’s Cybersecurity Marketing Strategy:
The Hug a Hacker campaign, launched by F5 Networks, aimed to reframe the term “hacker” by highlighting the positive role of ethical hackers in cybersecurity. The campaign aimed to spread the message about the heightened threat of cyberattacks, position F5 as an authoritative source of threat intelligence and a leader in security solutions provision, generate leads and improve security awareness. It resulted in $500,000 in sales and generated $1.6 million in the sales pipeline.
The campaign featured a video advert entitled “Who’s watching who?” that drove home the importance of cybersecurity to a broad audience and redefined what they thought of as a “hacker.”
F5 promoted the campaign through email, native advertising, banners, social media, re-targeting, and social selling. Content marketing efforts included calls to action that directed users to a bespoke landing page that housed four key gated content assets.
Why was their Cybersecurity Marketing Campaign Successful?
The most notable success of the Hug a Hacker campaign is that it appealed to both a broad audience and information security professionals. The content was light-hearted enough to engage the layman while reframing hackers as a force for good appealed to a more technical audience.
The Hug a Hacker campaign was also successful because it focused on nurturing leads. Far from being merely a brand awareness campaign, it took audiences on a journey suited to their interests, needs, and pain points. Potential customers would progressively unlock content assets as they progressed through the sales funnel and pointed them toward the most relevant cybersecurity solution.
Key Takeaways
Engaging, accessible content that appeals to laypeople and cybersecurity professionals will establish your brand as an industry stalwart and household name. Focusing on the nurture stage of a marketing campaign will ensure high-quality lead generation.
Palo Alto Networks: Unit 42 Threat Intelligence Campaign
Palo Alto Network’s Cybersecurity Marketing Strategy:
In Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 Threat Intelligence campaign, the focus centers around its Unit 42 research team. Unit 42 regularly produces industry-leading threat intelligence research and public threat reports, sharing data-driven insights, research papers, threat analysis, and infographics to highlight the company’s expertise in understanding and combating cyber threats.
Some recent reports include:
- Spoofed GlobalProtect Used to Deliver Unique WikiLoader Variant
- The Emerging Dynamics of Deepfake Scam Campaigns on the Web
- Unit 42 Threat Report
Why was their Cybersecurity Marketing Campaign Successful?
Palo Alto Networks capitalized on its existing threat research team to enhance the broader company’s authority and credibility. Because Unit 42 was producing threat research anyway, all Palo Alto Networks had to do was consolidate the information in a more digestible, whitepaper-style format and publish it, making this campaign cost-effective.
The Unit 42 campaign also significantly impacted the company’s SEO and lead generation efforts. Many cybersecurity writers and influencers link back to Unit 42’s reports and, hence, Palo Alto Networks’ website, and the company uses Unit 42 research to create SEO-optimized thought leadership content and attract organic traffic. Similarly, the company requires users to fill out forms to access Unit 42 reports, helping to generate high-quality leads and improve conversion rates.
Again, employee advocacyEmployee advocacy is a marketing technique whereby an organization's staff act as spokespeople for the brand. Employee advocacy is a marketing technique in which an organization empowers and encourages employees... is a huge part of the Unit 42 campaign. Palo Alto Networks staff regularly and consistently share Unit 42 reports, amplifying reach and engagement and helping to generate leads.
We can also attribute the Unit 42 campaign’s success to its niche targeting. It focuses on specific threats and industries (e.g., healthcare, finance), meaning content was tailored to those sectors’ unique needs and challenges, increasing relevance and engagement and guiding potential customers toward a purchase decision.
Key Takeaways
Leveraging proprietary data and research can help establish your company as a thought leader and create content that drives traffic, generates leads, and communicates your value proposition to decision-makers like CISOs and other key stakeholders.
CrowdStrike: “Adversary Universe” Campaign
CrowdStrike’s Cybersecurity Marketing Strategy:
CrowdStrike’s Adversary Universe campaign aims to educate audiences about cyber threats, cyberattacks, and cybercrime in general. It consists of an interactive map that allows users to explore different cyber threats from around the world and learn about the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by various threat actors, as well as a podcast series that dives deeper into these topics.
Why was their Cybersecurity Marketing Campaign Successful?
CrowdStrike’s use of interactive content is critical to the Adversary Universe’s success. The interactive map makes learning about cybersecurity threats engaging and memorable, increasing user time on the page, reducing bounce rateWhat is Bounce Rate? Bounce rate is a fundamental metric in web analytics that provides insights into how effectively a website engages visitors. It measures the percentage of visitors who..., and enhancing recall. The adversary information pages leverage slick graphics and engaging copy to improve user experience, set CrowdStrike apart from its competitors, and establish the company as an industry thought leader.
The Adversary Universe podcast series complements the interactive map, offering audiences a more detailed look into threat groups, trends, and techniques in an audio format. Offering content across multiple mediums increases the campaign’s reach and makes the messaging accessible to a broader audience.
Aside from increasing brand awareness, the campaign has helped CrowdStrike personalize content recommendations, follow-up communications, and outreach for lead generation. Users are prompted to enter personal information before viewing the details when they click on a threat group.
Key Takeaways
Interactive content can significantly enhance user engagement and brand differentiation, making complex topics more accessible and memorable.
McAfee: “Hackable?” Podcast Series
McAfee’s Cybersecurity Marketing Strategy:
McAfee’s Hackable? The podcast aims to make cybersecurity accessible to a broader audience by exploring real-world hacking scenarios, vulnerabilities, and security threats. Each episode delves into a particular hacking method or cyber threat – such as phishingWhat is Phishing? Phishing is a type of cyberattack in which attackers send fraudulent communications, or direct people to counterfeit websites in order to trick those individuals into revealing sensitive... or ransomwareWhat is Ransomware? Ransomware is a type of cyberattack in which the attacker infects a computer with malicious software that encrypts the victim's data. The computer usually becomes locked, presenting... – often based on real-life cases or popular misconceptions about what hackers can do. The show tests whether these scenarios are “hackable” by setting up experiments to see how a specific attack could occur and educating listeners on protecting themselves from common cybersecurity risks.
The series succeeded tremendously, boasting a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts, tens of thousands of listeners, and countless positive social mentions.
Why was their Cybersecurity Marketing Campaign Successful?
In contrast to some of the other companies mentioned in this article, McAfee is a more consumer-focused organization that provides services such as antivirus, VPN, and identity and privacy protection. As such, the campaign’s success lies in its accessibility—it does an excellent job of making cybersecurity enjoyable to the layman through episodes exploring, for example, how realistic hacks featured in movies and TV shows are and promoting them on its social media channels.
The campaign also helped build a community of listeners McAfee knew were interested in cybersecurity. This, in turn, allowed the company to engage with them through other channels, such as newsletters and webinars, and approach them with personalized marketing or product offerings.
Key Takeaways
Leveraging popular and emerging content formats, like podcasts, can help you reach new audiences, build a community around your brand, and direct them to your cybersecurity products.
What Makes a Cybersecurity Campaign Successful?
The common factor in all these case studies is that they all include the following key factors: understanding the target audience’s needs, offering valuable and engaging content, and leveraging multiple channels to maximize reach and impact.
Whether through educational videos, emotional storytelling, interactive content, podcasts, or targeted ads, these success stories balance creativity with a strategic focus on solving the audience’s most pressing challenges.
For cybersecurity companies, the lesson is clear: marketing initiatives stand out by being informative, engaging, and authentic. It’s crucial to understand your potential customers, provide real value, clearly communicate your value proposition, and use the right mix of channels and formats to reach and resonate with them. By doing so, you can build trust, establish authority, and drive the growth of your business in the competitive cybersecurity market. Oh, and don’t be scared of getting creative.
As a dedicated cybersecurity marketing agencyWhat is a Cybersecurity Marketing Agency? A cybersecurity marketing agency specializes in creating and executing marketing strategies for cybersecurity products and services. These agencies deeply understand the cybersecurity landscape, including..., Bora knows how to create a successful campaign. To get a better idea of what we do and how we do it, why not check out our case studies? If you want to find out more about what we can do for you, schedule a discovery call today.
