Breaking Through in Cybersecurity Marketing

In this episode, Wesley Belleman, Consulting Engineer at Colossal LLC,  joins Maria and Gianna to discuss marketing in the federal government.   Wesley began his career in the military in acquisitions, specifically as a cybersecurity operations officer. Here, he was in charge of multi-million dollar programs, acquiring cybersecurity for the space force, and more. From there, he went into Palo Alto Networks and finally Colossal LLC, a value-added reseller providing services specific to the products they sell. Because he has advertised and marketed products internally as a customer in his previous roles, Wesley has a solid understanding of the challenges marketers face. Since the Department of Defense is the country’s largest employer, there is a ton of internal business that goes on within it overall. Wesley touches on Kraken, a newly released product that the Space Force is currently leveraging for public defense.  He worked with a team of engineers and contractors to design, build and deploy the product. It required marketing to get people within the space force on board with implementing the product. Wesley also highlights the various AFCEA events coming up nationwide.   When building Kraken, Wesley also had to build consensus internally to get the product off the ground. He began this process by getting certified on the product and fully understanding it inside out.  On that, he leveraged the strength of his colleagues on his team to fulfill different operational roles. The final step was to get to know the customers and what exactly they are looking for. It is crucial to leave your opinions and ideals at the door and understand what the customer wants from a cybersecurity product. He also recommends all founders use the resources and team members they already have. Although it is still growing, Kraken officially launched in 2019. Finally, our guest and hosts engage in a fun guessing game to reveal what career Wesley would pursue outside of the cybersecurity marketing field.     Links: Visit Wesley on LinkedIn. Follow Gianna on LinkedIn. Catch up with Maria on LinkedIn. Join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society on our website, and keep up with us on Twitter.

This week, Beth Barach, the Director of Product Marketing at Onapsis, joins the hosts to discuss the intersection of product marketing with product launches, Cabs, and eCabs. With over 20 years of experience in tech, Beth began her career working with channel and technology partner programs, which ultimately led to her pivot into product marketing. Beth also shares that to execute a successful product launch, it's important to create a plan and synchronize the different teams and departments involved, such as sales, marketing, customer success, and product. getting into the idea of using product launch as an opportunity to educate customers and partners on the value and benefits of the product. Lastly, Beth stressed the importance of using marketing channels to create a buzz and engage the target audience. The conversation also touches on the importance of getting executive buy-in for a product launch. Beth gave an example of someone on the team who is often overlooked but should be included, the support team. While Maria highlighted that product marketers should aim to think beyond their usual suspects when planning a launch. Finally, Beth provided a story about a manager who was great at recognizing the importance of executive support. Timecoded guide: 0:02:44 Product Launch at a Billion Dollar Company: People, Process, and Performance 0:04:43 Conversation on Securing Executive Buy-In for Product Launches 0:07:42 Presenting to the Executive Team: A Successful Product Launch Story 0:09:43 Conversation on Applying the RACI Model to Product Launches 0:11:51 Discussion on Detailed Content Planning for Product Launch 0:13:39 Conversation on Adapting to Delays and Roadblocks in Product Launches 0:16:05 Conversation on Empathy, Cabs, and Testimonials in the Cybersecurity Industry 0:18:04 Exploring the Benefits of Customer Advisory Boards for Product Marketers 0:25:21 Conversation Summary: Potential Career Paths for Product Marketer Beth 0:27:38 Interview with Beth Barach: Exploring the Intersection of Coaching and Entrepreneurship Links: Check out Beth on LinkedIn Follow Gianna on LinkedIn. Catch up with Maria on LinkedIn. Join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society on our website, and keep up with us on Twitter.

In this episode, Daniella Alpher, VP of Marketing at RevealSecurity joins Maria and Gianna to discuss Israeli vs American cyber marketing.   To begin, Daniella shares that she began her career in film and television as a producer for ABC News. In the early 2000s, tech began threatening the television industry. This inspired her to get a degree in business administration and enter the tech sector, specifically focusing on marketing. Next, Daniella highlights the differences she has noticed working as a marketer in Israel vs. America. 10% of attacks at a national level are directed at Israel, 40% of investments in cybersecurity go to Israeli companies and 16% of  cybersecurity vendors are Israeli. Compared to the size and population of Israel tech (specifically cybersecurity) is a huge income-driving sector for the country.  In the last 20-30 years, Israel also built a large strength in product and development of cybersecurity products. In more recent years, it has naturally become a hub for cybersecurity marketing.   For most Israeli startups, the sales portion is often based in the U.S. Marketing, however, is often a mix between the two companies. In Daniela’s experience, American marketing tends to have a more long-term philosophy, while Israelis often have a much shorter-term strategy for survival. Israeli marketers are still learning the importance of branding over performance. Most Israeli marketers are focused on selling in the U.S., but it is rare for a U.S.-based company to consider marketing in other countries. Stereotypically, Daniela shares, Israelis tend to come off rude, aggressive, and emotional to American analysts, whereas Americans are the opposite. Then, there are those smaller, technical differences like the use of WhatsApp vs. Slack for digital communication and group messages.   Before wrapping up, Daniela engages alongside our hosts in a fun guessing game to reveal what career she would pursue outside of the cybersecurity marketing field.   Links:   Follow Daniella on Linkedin. Keep up with Hacker Valley on our website, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. Follow Gianna on LinkedIn. Catch up with Maria on LinkedIn. Join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society on our website, and keep up with us on Twitter.

This week, Brandon Hoe joins hosts Gianna and Maria to discuss controversial topics related to cybersecurity marketing. Brandon is the VP of Marketing at Oxeye and has held CMO and head of marketing positions at multiple cybersecurity companies, including SCYTHE, HackEDU, and StrongKey. Brandon and the hosts also discuss in depth the idea that demand generation as a marketing discipline is the key to success. How while the funnel is still alive, the timelines associated with each step have changed, and the idea that companies often think that bringing on a demand gen wizard will solve all their problems. They concluded that the marketing environment is much more challenging for everyone involved, especially in the cybersecurity world.   Timecoded Guide:   [06:29] Cybersecurity Regulations and Market Trends [12:17] Advice for Marketers Considering Joining an Israeli Startup at the Seed Stage [16:30] Balancing Strategy and Volume of Activity in Early-Stage Leadership Positions [17:59] Demand Generation and Critical Hires [27:35] Pizza Toppings and Alternative Careers [33:28] Starting a YouTube Channel and Noodle Shop Business [34:52] Exploring the Journey of Launching a Product Company ----------- LINKS: Follow Brandon on LinkedIn Check out and follow Oxeye on LinkedIn Keep up with Hacker Valley on our website, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. Follow Gianna on LinkedIn. Catch up with Maria on LinkedIn. Join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society on our website, and keep up with us on Twitter.

In this episode, Luke Tucker, VP of Marketing at Lightspin, joins Maria and Gianna to discuss building cyber community.   To begin, Luke unpacks his cautious optimism for the current market and shares why startups need to celebrate even the smallest wins. Prior to his current position, Luke held leadership roles in marketing at HackerOne as well as an executive role in the community side. As his very first VP marketing role, he is focused on making the lives of end users and cloud engineers better. Lightspin understands that the most efficient way to secure a cloud is to think like an attacker, then build like a graph. This is how they make their mission, to best support cloud engineers along every stage of their journey, possible.   Community is a popular topic within cybersecurity lately. Luke explains Hackerone’s flywheel model. It is the outliers on the fringes of communities that need to be focused on at all times. Having moderation, best practices, and onboarding experiences early on will help to instill company culture. Luke defines community as people who consistently show up to collaborate together on a common cause. It took a physical location to really collaborate on the platform. Luke recounts what it was like seeing the security team face-to-face with the hacker community. It all began with allowing collaboration as bounty sharing and reward sharing within the platform itself. Thankfully due to some of the early adopters, Hackerone was able to build some momentum As the business began to scale, it became necessary to stay up to date with the CFO. The next step was asking users what they wanted to see next on the platform. The majority of users were there to further their careers, so they were given Hacker 101 and CTF. Luke shares that the majority of these hackers just want to have a safe space to share their discoveries with other people. Another key component of community, and where a mission really accelerates, is to give your community members the stage.   Before wrapping up, Luke encourages listeners to join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society.  Finally, he engages in a fun guessing game and reveals what career he would pursue outside of the cybersecurity field.   Links:   Follow Luke on LinkedIn. Keep up with Hacker Valley on our website, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. Follow Gianna on LinkedIn. Catch up with Maria on LinkedIn.

This week, Cami Ragano, VP of Marketing at SightGain, joins Maria and Gianna to share her expertise as a marketing leader managing SDRs so that SDRs over-achieve their goals!  In fact, Cami’s SDR program has helped SightGain achieve significant increases in:    Demos Booked: ⬆ Demos Complete: ⬆ Pipeline Growth: ⬆    From Washington DC to Australia to London, Cami has led digital demand generation and brand campaigns that touch nearly every corner of the globe. With a focus on start-up cybersecurity SaaS enterprise software, she has built a career around innovative digital marketing campaigns and customer-focused events that drive revenue. Prior to joining SightGain, Cami was a marketing and business development leader at Cybrary, Endgame, Invincea (acquired by Sophos), and Risk Analytics—where she developed go-to-market strategies that disrupted and dominated the cybersecurity industry. Cami graduated from Radford University with a B.S. in Communications specializing in Public Relations and a minor in Marketing. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her wife and three golden doodles in Richmond, VA hiking, exploring, and brewery hopping.   Connect with Cami on LinkedIn. Visit the SightGain website or the company LinkedIn page.  Follow Gianna on LinkedIn. Catch up with Maria on LinkedIn. Join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society on our website, and keep up with us on Twitter.

This week, Hushly CMO James Kessinger joins hosts Gianna and Maria to talk about the "bowtie" funnel and marketing's new(er) role in creating upsell and cross-sell opportunities. They discuss ABM, the unique buyer in cybersecurity, and tying experiences across the digital journey. James also gives them a peek under the hood into how Hushly uses their integrated experience cloud to market to marketers like us, and shares the data that Hushly has aggregated from their platform on ABM for cybersecurity buying. About James: James Kessinger has been the CMO at Hushly over the past 5 years.  He’s expanded his responsibilities and taken on the title of COO with overarching responsibilities for Marketing, Customer Success, Sales, Partnerships, and Revenue Operations. James has built a 20+ year career working at global enterprise technology companies in hardware, software, security, virtualization, SaaS and Cloud. He has held leadership and executive roles across marketing functions such as brand, demand generation, corporate marketing, digital marketing, segment marketing, product marketing, services marketing, along with field and partner marketing where he has led both large marketing organizations and smaller teams.   Connect with James on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesbkessinger/ Reach out at james [at] hushly.com  Grab the Hushly cybersecurity marketing report, and learn more about how Hushly helps marketers improve demand generation and ABM results: https://www.hushly.com/solution-cybersecurity-marketing/ Learn about the Cybersecurity Marketing Society Party for Marketers at RSAC2023 here: https://cybersecuritymarketingsociety.com/event/party-rsa-2023/ Follow Gianna on LinkedIn. Catch up with Maria on LinkedIn. Join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society on our website, and keep up with us on Twitter.

Welcome to Breaking Through in Cybersecurity Marketing, where we explore the hottest topics in cyber marketing, interview experts and help you become a better cybersecurity marketer! In this episode, Tom Kish, Director of Growth Marketing at CardinalOps, joins Maria and Gianna to discuss demand gen and more!   To begin, Tom unpacks the difference between the titles demand gen and growth, both of which he has held at various points in his career. Demand gen is a time-consuming role and requires balancing quick wins with long term strategies. Typically, a marketing team will come in to build some foundational elements before demand gen enters the scene to scale up. Since demand gen is so closely tied to pipeline, it is also easily and quickly measured. Tom shares the benefits of working for organizations who were operating with a tight budget and how he has carried that mindset with him to larger organizations. While the goal of demand gen is to create opportunities and revenue, the process of getting there is still part of demand gen, too. There is no one size fits all when it comes to demand gen. Marketers should be constantly adding new things to their toolbox and know when (and when to!) not apply them.   Next, Tom shares the strategies which he has found most successful in his demand gen roles. They all come back to finding the proper balance among the fundamentals goals of creating demand, identifying demand and capturing demand. A successful framework not only finds the proper balance of these things, but ensures that they all flow together seamlessly while covering all of their bases. Checking your social engagement is also really important. Tom’s team has designated people who manually identify the individuals who regularly interact with their posts. Building off this, he elaborates on the lack of innovation and creativity he often sees in marketing as a result of the rise of automation and data. His most successful marketing campaigns have been those that were totally creative and were not based on previous engagement.   Before wrapping up, Tom reveals his favorite thing about being a member of the Cybersecurity Marketing Society now that he has been a member for two years. Finally, he engages in a fun guessing game and reveals what career he would pursue outside of the cybersecurity field.   Links:   Follow Tom on LinkedIn. Keep up with Hacker Valley on our website, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. Follow Gianna on LinkedIn. Catch up with Maria on LinkedIn. Join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society on our website, and keep up with us on Twitter.

In this episode, Samara Williams, Senior Manager of Security Engineering at New Relic, joins Maria and Gianna to share her insights on building relationships and making strategic partnerships in the cybersecurity industry. She talks about the importance of trust and transparency in building successful partnerships, and how working with vendors and other industry players can help organizations make informed decisions and stay ahead of emerging threats. Samara also shares her perspective on the role of VARs and how they can serve as an extension of a security team, providing valuable feedback on tools and partnerships. She emphasizes the need for VARs to understand an organization's goals and pain points in order to provide the best possible solutions, and stresses the importance of transparency in the VAR-buyer relationship. This episode provides valuable insights and practical advice on building successful partnerships and collaborations in the cybersecurity industry. Whether you're a security practitioner, vendor, or partner, Samara's experiences and perspectives can help guide you towards more effective and mutually beneficial relationships   Follow Samara on LinkedIn Keep up with Hacker Valley on our website, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. Follow Gianna on LinkedIn. Catch up with Maria on LinkedIn. Join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society on our website, and keep up with us on Twitter.

In this episode, Gianna and Maria interview Michelle Radlowski, Sr. Director, AMS & EMEA Regional Marketing and ABM at DigiCert, Inc. (former Director of Regional Marketing at Zscaler). Michelle shares her experience of working in the IT tech space for over 15 years, starting in a small startup that got acquired twice and ultimately became part of Dell Software Group, before joining Zscaler as employee 240, and now the company has almost 6,000 employees globally. She explains that field marketing, which she started doing at Zscaler, is not just about planning events but driving campaign execution in-region, focusing on account engagement, and landing campaigns from corporate marketing. Michelle discusses the misconception about field marketing being solely administrative and event planning, and how her role has evolved to encompass much more.    Michelle talks about the importance of aligning with the sales team and building relationships with them to drive business value. She explains that it is essential to understand the sales team's objectives, pain points, accounts, and personas to align marketing plans with them. She also emphasizes the significance of tracking data to measure the success of field marketing programs. Michelle shares her journey of transitioning from being a marketer who focused on lead generation to a marketer who aligned with the sales team's goals of revenue and pipeline creation. Michelle also highlights the significance of partner ecosystems, and she talks about how Zscaler has a large partner ecosystem, including strategic alliance partners, service providers, and system integrators. She emphasizes the need for a strategic approach to partner marketing that involves sales leadership alignment, account mapping, messaging, and training. Michelle concludes that a better-together story with partners that focuses on bettering the customer experience is a powerful message. Follow Michelle on LinkedIn The Concert in the Clouds Michelle’s Non-profit Experience Keep up with Hacker Valley on our website, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. Follow Gianna on LinkedIn. Catch up with Maria on LinkedIn. Join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society on our website, and keep up with us on Twitter.