Elizabeth Foughty
Introduction:
In this digital era, where data breaches and security incidents are common, marketing your IT security as a B2B startup becomes a vital aspect of establishing trust with customers. By proactively showcasing your commitment to robust cybersecurity practices, you can differentiate your startup from competitors, build credibility, and attract valuable business opportunities. You also create credible content your sales team can easily share when asked (and they will be asked!). Despite these obvious advantages, it has been a common theme in my career to see organizations not capitalizing on their IT security practices in the form of marketing. It’s not exciting, so it’s not seen as critical marketing material. And yet, this should be considered table stakes to play. Everything that is exciting (generative AI, computer vision, large scale machine learning etc) has a crucial foundation of needing to be secure and trustworthy. Occasionally some folks raise concerns that sharing IT security practices will make you vulnerable. I can assure you that this view is outdated. Sharing your practices will have the opposite effect; would-be bad actors will see that you take this topic seriously and will be hard to crack.
Building Trust and Credibility:
In a world where data breaches dominate headlines, consumers and businesses alike are becoming more cautious about cyber security. By actively marketing your IT security measures, you demonstrate your dedication to protecting sensitive data and assure your customers that their information is safe in your hands. This builds trust and credibility– crucial for gaining a competitive edge and establishing long-lasting relationships with clients.
Enhancing Your Competitive Advantage:
Marketing your IT security measures allows you to showcase the investments you have made to ensure the protection of your customers’ data and the integrity of your systems. By highlighting your commitment to cybersecurity, you differentiate your startup as a trustworthy and reliable partner. It also highlights a strong technical credibility. This can be a persuasive factor for potential customers and partners when making their decisions, especially when you are looking for enterprise customers.
Addressing Industry Compliance:
Many industries have stringent regulatory requirements and compliance standards regarding data protection. Marketing your IT security practices demonstrates your awareness of and adherence to these regulations. By showcasing your compliance efforts, you not only gain the trust of customers but also streamline partnerships with organizations that prioritize data security and compliance.
Educating Your Audience:
Marketing your IT security measures also allows you to educate your target audience about the importance of cybersecurity. By sharing valuable insights and best practices, you position your startup as an industry thought leader and set a standard that others must reach. This educational approach not only helps raise awareness about cybersecurity but creates a differentiator, especially in high compliance environments where the expertise can be highly specific.
How:
Having excellent cybersecurity practices to begin with is a crucial element of marketing them. This should be a priority for your organization regardless of how and when you choose to market these practices. This may include SOC 2 or ISO 27001 compliance or adherence to the standards of these protocols even if your organization is not quite ready for the approvals. Then, create an easily findable security center on your website outlining the practices you follow. There may be industry-specific elements to include as well –make sure that is called out specifically. For instance, if you handle PII (personally identifiable information), or work with a cloud provider (many cloud providers have robust security pages you can link to). At one organization I worked for that involved building systems, we created a detailed FAQ specific to integration with HVAC systems and tailored to folks that cared about those systems. It was a major concern as no one wants to be the buyer that brought in a system that allowed an outside person to mess around with a building’s HVAC system!
Conclusion:
Marketing your IT security as a startup is no longer an option but a necessity. By emphasizing your commitment to robust cybersecurity measures, you can build trust, differentiate yourself from competitors, and attract valuable business opportunities. Investing in marketing efforts that highlight your IT security practices positions your startup as a trustworthy partner and educates and empowers your audience. In this ever-evolving threat landscape, marketing your IT security becomes a crucial component of your overall business strategy.
Elizabeth Foughty 