Blog - Cybersecurity Community Month: Week One Focus

As you’ve seen in some of the posts and podcasts @Cody Rivers and I have done with our “trifecta” of podcasts and hosts (@simplysolvingcyber @cyberranch @bareknucklesandbrasstacks), we are trying to reshape Cybersecurity Awareness Month as it pertains to how vendors and companies engage with their customers (whether it be targeted buyers or employees that work for their company).

If you haven’t caught the episode yet with @AllanAllford, @GeorgeKamide, and @GeorgeAl-Koura, you can listen to it here or on your favorite podcast app.

We are one week through October, and I’ve unfortunately seen the tidal wave of amplified vendor marketing hit my inbox (I can only imagine the influx if I were still on the corporate side of cyber). There is still time for change!

Here are my first of 4 weekly reflections on the month. This one focuses on both corporate practitioners running cyber awareness programs (a true passion focus for me, ripe with significant transformation needs) and vendors trying to do their thing.

It’s not too late to implement change, but at the least, consider these tips for next year (or, better yet, throughout the year)!

Week 1 Reflection Tips:

Corporate Cyber Awareness Practitioners

• Assume your audience is not organically interested in cybersecurity.
• Assume they are busy and don’t regularly read company newsletters consistently.
• Assume they all listen and collaborate on different channels your company may provide (Email??, Teams/Slack, Video, Audio, written-content-learners, show-and-tell-visual learners)
• Be intentional with your goals. Don’t try to boil the ocean. Ps – there is more than ethical phishing, click rates, and teaching them what NOT to do.
• Be unconventional and engaging. Would they enjoy or benefit from your content in their free time? Would you even watch/read it on a Saturday?
• Get creative help if you are not creative and experienced in workforce engagement and/or organizational change management.

Cybersecurity Vendors

George Kamide is who I turn to for solid advice on this front, as he has been a great thought leader in the marketing space for me personally – so check out his content on this topic too!

October awareness month does not mean I’m more likely to take your product demo. I’ve had three emails this week from 3 companies with the key message of “we are helping you celebrate cyber awareness month with a free demo”

If you want to give back to the community:

• Buy them a coffee without a pitch. That actually might catch them off guard enough to think you believe they aren’t a transaction
• Give them a resource that benefits their ability to unwind, decompress, or recharge their batteries
• Share some ideas with them on how to better prioritize their time and focus (that doesn’t involve a SaaS subscription)

Next week: More on #CyberCommunityMonth and giving back to the cyber community or the actual community you live in. We will also be sharing what we at Reveal Risk are looking to do to wrap up our October!