Why Your Cyber Marketing Sucks | George Kamide, Head of Community and Content, CISO Society

Cybersecurity buyers have changed, while a lot of cybersecurity marketing…stayed in 2016. 😬
In this Random Access Memories Special, George Kamide and Jake Bernardes get into why so much cyber marketing still relies on the same tactics, assumptions, and messaging that worked years ago, even as the people buying security have become more informed, more connected, and much more skeptical.
George’s diagnosis is simple: there is a fear of original thought. Too many companies default to FUD, cold outreach, giant event spends, and category language that sounds nothing like the way customers actually describe the problem they are trying to solve. Meanwhile, buyers are comparing vendors, sharing experiences, and forming opinions in communities and conversations where the vendor is not even present.
For founders and marketers, George’s advice is less about doing more and more about paying closer attention. Become a fanatical anthropologist of your customers. Learn how they talk about your product when you are not in the room. Understand where they actually discover new technology, why they chose you, and what they tell their peers after the sale.
Because the best product does not automatically win, more badge scans do not automatically create demand, and louder marketing does not fix messaging that never understood the buyer in the first place.
In this special
Why cyber marketing has a fear of original thought
How buyer behavior changed while vendor tactics stayed largely the same
Why FUD and cold outreach increasingly miss the mark
What early-stage companies should learn from their first customers
Why customer language matters more than category jargon
The real value of major event spend and badge scans
Why reputation, service, and the people behind the product shape buying decisions