[00:00:00] Laura Johns: Hi there and welcome to the Know Grow Scale podcast. I’m Laura Johns, and today we are talking about a challenge that so many. MSPs or cybersecurity companies run into that is marketing. So let’s get into it. Cybersecurity specifically is a very tough sell. It’s complex, it’s technical. Let’s be honest.
[00:00:25] Nobody wakes up really excited to spend money on it. But here’s the thing, even the best security solutions will not sell themselves if you’re marketing. Is not guiding potential clients through the buying process, then you’re making things harder than they need to be. So today. We’re gonna break down the journey of someone who is looking to purchase cybersecurity solutions and talk about what actually moves people from awareness to action and readiness to buy, and how you can build a marketing funnel that works with that process instead of works against it.
[00:00:59] [00:01:00] So let’s go. Let’s first talk about cybersecurity buying decisions. The buyer will get in their mind for just a few minutes, so these decisions do not happen overnight. There are multiple stakeholders as we know, technical evaluations that have to happen, and there is trust building to be done by you at every step.
[00:01:19] Think about the last major security purchase that you made, that your company made. It probably looked a little bit something like this One, someone realizes that there’s a security gap maybe after a breach hits in the news or something like that. Two they start doing research, so Google reading articles, watching webinars, gaining information and educating themselves.
[00:01:43] And then typically the IT team gets involved to check technical requirements needs within the company. Finance, of course, gets involved, looks at budgets, legal checks, what’s going out that we are already spending, where’s the overlap? And then after months and months of [00:02:00] discussion, a decision is finally made.
[00:02:01] So if your marketing does not match this process, then you’re gonna lose prospects before they ever get to a sales conversation. What we’re finding today is 74 to 80% of the buying process and decision. Is being done online, educating themselves before they get ready. So next, let’s talk about how to sell peace of mind and not just the word cybersecurity at this stage.
[00:02:27] When people are, you know, do starting to do research, they’re not looking for a sales pitch. They’re trying to understand their risk. Figure out what solutions exist. And the best thing you can do in this journey for them is to position yourself as a helpful resource. So a few ways to do that. Break down complex security issues in plain language.
[00:02:48] Do not over. Engineer the language, share real world security stories, whether they’re yours or not. Of course, if you can get a customer to talk about it, that’s even better. Offer [00:03:00] self-assessment tools on your website to help them identify what their risks are and really focus on SEO or search engine optimization.
[00:03:07] Think about what their searching for. Like how to protect patient data or financial services compliance requirements and, and start to build content around that. This is not yet about selling. When you are really just trying to give them resources for awareness as they start doing research, it is starting to build trust.
[00:03:26] Then as I call it, the funnel. So that’s top of funnel, just awareness building. Then as they start to really. Realize they have a need, have a problem that needs to be solved where they move more toward middle of funnel. This is where things get a little bit more complicated. You have two very different groups evaluating your solution.
[00:03:44] One is technical teams, and two is these, these top business decision makers. So the IT team of course, wants details. How does your solution work? What is your approach to threats? What does implementation look like? And then business leaders really care about ROI compliance, [00:04:00] real world success stories. And then also how much is this going to cost them?
[00:04:04] So one mistake I meet, I see all the time is rushing this stage. If you don’t take the time in your business to educate both groups properly, then you’re gonna lose these deals before they even make it to the final decision. So then as they are getting ready to buy, we talk. We call this bottom of funnel.
[00:04:21] You want to make sure you are taking out any risks, any, you know, questions in their mind. So by, by the time someone is close to buying, their biggest concern is not price, it is risk. So what if implementation goes wrong? What if we still get breached? Here’s how you can address those concerns. One, offer a free pilot program to show value or some sort of freebie a free trial, something like that, which I know is a little bit hard to do sometimes, but figure something out where they can get something for free to test things out.
[00:04:50] Test drive the car to give them a very clear visual implementation plan. And then timelines that with support details, here’s what we’re gonna do here, month [00:05:00] two, here’s what we’re gonna do, so that they kind of, in their minds can break down, Hey, this purchase decision that we’re making has a very.
[00:05:07] Solid plan and then sh share your client success stories like I’ve talked about before, that highlights specifically smooth deployments before and after. Here’s what a mess we were before. Here’s how great things are now. A company that I know won a deal simply because they provided a 30, 60, 90 day game plan, and that really helped put the buyer at ease.
[00:05:27] Your competition is probably not doing that. They’re probably making. Vague promises, and you will get the contract 10 times out of 10 if you’re able to do this spell it out for them in a, a visual way. And then, you know, when you think about after the purchase is made really marketing your cybersecurity solutions for MSPs, that doesn’t stop.
[00:05:50] When the deal is signed, to be honest, if you want renewals, upsells, and referrals, you have to keep delivering value. So make sure you are providing regular industry [00:06:00] specific threat briefings. You are informing them, continue to inform them make security training easy for them to distribute. Check in regularly, not just when renewal time rolls around.
[00:06:09] We love these QBR for this reason. Your job isn’t just to sell a product, it is for a long-term relationship. And then we take time to measure. So standard marketing metrics do not tell the full story when it comes to this. Instead of just tracking leads. Focus on things like engagement depth. Are our prospects actually consuming our content?
[00:06:29] You can do this a number of different ways. Trigger links set up in your automation, seeing what people are looking at and reading. How many leads does it, you know, actually make it to this technical evaluation portion and where’s the drop off? You know, completion rates of demos or you know, the second more technical calls and then sales cycle length by lead source, which lead sources are the quickest to close.
[00:06:54] This is not just about generating leads, it’s about making sure the right opportunities move forward. So, if you’re [00:07:00] working on a marketing strategy for your M-M-S-S-P or cybersecurity business, here are a few questions to start with. Number one, what security problems do I solve better than anyone else?
[00:07:12] Number two, what industries do I understand well enough to speak their language? Number three, how can I demonstrate my expertise without overwhelming my prospects? Four. What proof points will build the most trust with my ideal clients? Five. How will I nurture these prospects along the sales cycle? And at the end of the day, you’re not just selling software or services.
[00:07:37] You’re selling trust, expertise, peace of mind, and if you’re building your marketing funnel around that, you will stand out against your competition if you need help putting this plan together and getting a cybersecurity marketing strategy. I. At the Business Growers, we help manage services providers MSPs, IT businesses, build their brands and grow revenue with strategic marketing.
[00:07:56] So let’s talk. Feel free to look us up at thebusinessgrowers.com. Thank you for tuning in to the Know Grow Scale podcast. And until next time, keep growing.
