Whether you run a traditional brick-and-mortar establishment or sell everything digitally doesn't matter. Your businessneeds an online presence and access to customer data to survive. Such a dependency breeds security concerns, but it also has the potential to attract customers.
This article explores cybersecurity not just as necessary for doing businessbut also as a strong talking point savvy marketers can use to improve engagement and grow their business. We've outlined four key advantages focusing on cybersecurity brings to your marketing strategy. Embrace them all & leave the competition behind.
Fostering Customer Trust
The media has been doggedly covering cybersecurity blunders for decades. A single blurb about such an incident might go unnoticed. Still, the public takes notice when data theft affecting hundreds of thousands keeps filling the headlines.
It’s natural to crave a sense of security, especially in the digital space many still see as an unknown. This provides an excellent opportunity to synergize your marketing and protection efforts. The marketing department can use strong cybersecurity measures to build a narrative that puts customers at ease.
For example, they can work with your webdev team to feature technologies you’re using to safeguard data or protect the site from attacks. Dedicating a small section to continued updates to its protective measures goes a long way toward building trust.
Visitors who feel they're browsing securely are also more likely to convert. Your products or services need to deliver what they promise. Yet, verifiable assurances along with fast & secure payment processing are also important. They help create repeat customers and drum up business via word-of-mouth.
Reduced Data Breach Risks
Data breaches are on everyone’s radar as one of the most damaging types of cyberattacks. IBM estimates the average data breachsets companies back more than $4bn. While staggering, this number doesn’t account for long-term trust and reputation loss such an event entails.
Robust cybersecurity doesn't necessarily make a visible contribution regarding data breach protection. It’s an example of a process no one notices because of its effectiveness. By preventing data breaches, your company’s cybersecurity team is protecting all of marketing’s past and present endeavors from becoming undone.
More Transparent Data Protection Policies
The increase in breach incidents has also sparked curiosity about how companies handle and store customer data. Even the most basic online storefront processes diverse personally identifiable information per transaction. On the other hand, social mediaplatforms can collect hundreds of data points for each user profile.
The best practice regarding customer data is to collect only as little as your business needs to operate. The second best is to advertise that as one of your strong suits! Being upfront about your data storage policies projects honesty and confidence. Plus, customers will be less hesitant to provide the information you do require.
Of course, this only works if your data protection measures are adequate. Using business cloud storage to keep encrypted backup copiesof the most important information you collect has become the industry standard.
It's true that you're leaving this data in the hands of a third party. However, who's going to take better care of it? A person at your company who might have countless other duties? Or a provider whose livelihood depends on maintaining the latest standards? You know the right answer.
Outperforming the Competition
Large companies have long since identified cybersecurity as a necessary business expense. Sadly, SMBs aren’t as quick on the uptake. Part of their inertness stems from a lack of dedicated security personnel and other challenges that appear more pressing. Additionally,many SMBs aren’t ready for a coordinated cyberattacksimply because they don't see themselves as noteworthy targets.
Cybercriminals would beg to differ and continue to profit from others’ lack of foresight. As unfortunate as SMB unpreparedness is, it’s another talking point for your marketing department to focus on.
We already mentioned the importance of adopting a security-first posture. Marketing can take it a step further and talk about what sets your cybersecurity standards apart from the competition’s. Better safeguards and transparent communication regarding customer safety may just be the reason why a prospect will turn to you rather than a rival, even if you offer comparable services.