Most B2B cybersecurity ads are stale. The ones that pop creatively stand the best chance of breaking out and winning a CISO’s attention, but sometimes fresh ideas just aren’t knocking.
We dug through hundreds of LinkedIn cybersecurity ads to find six unique and interesting approaches to help you take your next ad refresh to a new level.
Palo Alto Networks’ ad stands out for cohesiveness between copy and design, strengthening the impact of the ad’s message. Pairing the idea of unknown threats with the impression of half-turned blinds evokes that eerie feeling of being watched by something unseen. This strengthens the ad’s promises of protection for “whatever whenever wherever.” Palo Alto Networks is positioning itself as an omniscient and omnipresent security solution, putting a certain 2006 babysitter receiving threatening phone calls customers at ease.
Brainstorm: What objects symbolize safety or privacy to your audience? How can you use those objects to create something visually interesting?
Crowdstrike leverages Gartner’s authority in this ad highlighting their place on Gartner’s Magic Quadrant. Gartner is a trusted source on cybersecurity and IT solutions for CrowdStrike’s audience, and using this report for advertising is a brilliant and low-effort win.
Brainstorm: Have you won any awards or accolades that you can put on an advertisement? What about client testimonials?
Darktrace succeeds here by getting specific. Not only are they directly calling out CISOs, but they’re tackling only one facet of security: email. This approach self-eliminates some audiences, but ensures that those who do interact with the ad are likely higher-intent. The headline text could be helped by offering some specifics about what the whitepaper offers, but the ad maintains strong branding and a strong call-to-action.
Brainstorm: What’s the most specific piece of content you can offer to your audience? How can you write ad copy that hits on just one pain point and offers one precise solution?
A10 Networks’ use of data visualization is a great idea. People are more apt to engage with graphs, statistics and data than a chunk of text. This chart invites A10’s audience to see how they stack up against their peers concerning TLS/SSL inspections, and the ad’s call-to-action implies that there is more to learn about how technology leaders consider decryption solutions.
However, this chart isn’t the easiest thing to swallow. This ad would be stronger with just a single metric or with a more simple visual from their data. As is, the ad requires too much of its viewer and, by failing to supply any conclusions about this data, leaves too much ambiguity about where this information puts its audience in relation to A10 Networks.
Brainstorm: What data can you share with your audience that will make them want to learn more about you?
Identity security company CyberArk’s ad pinpoints a problem experienced by their customers: losing so much time finding the right security solution and dealing with compliance that important projects get deprioritized. Rather than focusing on CyberArk’s product offerings, the ad leans on a secondary benefit that prospective buyers are eager for. A simple design and minimal colors make the ad visually appealing, and the offering of a personalized audit and compliance call is a strong call-to-action.
Brainstorm: What is the most significant benefit that your solution provides to your audience?
All cybersecurity ads pretty much look the same, so we love when a brand breaks out of the B2B monotony like Carbonite has. The visual analogy is straightforward and intriguing, demanding a pause and inviting a chuckle from its audience. With simple, unique ad creative, Carbonite establishes that its security solutions are so good that its customers can be completely unbothered about threats - even threats as sinister as prowling predators.
Brainstorm: What analogies does your brand or product lend itself to? How can you use that to surprise your audience?
Brainstorming creative for advertising can be some of the most enjoyable marketing work you’ll do in a day. Start with a strong batch of ideas like the ads above and some deep audience research, and you’re on your way to scroll-stopping advertising.
Dive in on Reddit Ads, Podcast Ads, and 3 CSO Buyer Personas
Cybersecurity solutions buyers are worn out by the constant barrage of stale content flooding their search results, inboxes and social media.
Only brands that are willing to pause the content machine long enough to develop true empathy for their audience will be able to make any progress towards the mecca of trust and authority.
97th Floor believes that Empathy, paired with Innovation and Profitability, produces Great Marketing—marketing that fosters relationships and ultimately sales. We unlock empathy for our client’s customers through an exhaustive process of in-depth persona research and customer journey mapping.
Our customer journey maps reveal the questions, actions and touchpoints of an audience at each stage of the funnel: awareness, consideration and decision. Using these maps as a launching pad for every marketing campaign makes delivering "the right message at the right time" a reality.
The following are real persona customer journey maps created for our clients in and adjacent to the cybersecurity industry. They have been anonymized, but all other information is as-delivered to our clients.
For marketers, and the unassuming user, Reddit can be a scary place. All those opinions and strong words and complex memes. Yet - all that community, word of mouth recommendation, and oh the audience self-segmentation!
Reddit is a goldmine for cybersecurity marketing, but most cyber companies haven’t unlocked its secrets.
Well, we’ve had enough. Using Sparktoro, we’ve analyzed audiences visiting seven major cybersecurity websites and audiences using “CISO” or “CIO” in their bio to find the subreddits your audience is hanging out in.
Discover the subreddits below and then keep reading for a real-world application of cybersecurity marketing on Reddit. (We’re actually kind of giddy about this one.)
*Affinity score: a score from 0-100 that estimates an audience’s likelihood of visiting a certain subreddit. The average affinity score is an average for audiences visiting seven different cybersecurity solution websites.
| Subreddit | Description | Members | Average Affinity Score | Affinity Score for audiences with “CISO” in their bio | Affinity Score for audiences with “CIO” in their bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
/r/sysadmin | A reddit dedicated to the profession of Computer System Administration. | 878K | 21.4 | 17 | 22 |
/r/cybersecurity | This subreddit is for technical professionals to discuss cybersecurity news, research, threats, etc. | 744K | 14.5 | 36 | 10 |
/r/netsec | /r/netsec is a community-curated aggregator of technical information security content. Our mission is to extract signal from the noise — to provide value to security practitioners, students, researchers, and hackers everywhere. | 495K | 8.1 | 11 | - |
/r/hacking | A subreddit dedicated to hacking and hackers. Constructive collaboration and learning about exploits, industry standards, grey and white hat hacking, new hardware and software hacking technology, sharing ideas and suggestions for small business and personal security. | 2.7M | 7.9 | 13 | - |
/r/homelab | Welcome to your friendly /r/homelab, where techies and sysadmin from everywhere are welcome to share their labs, projects, builds, etc. | 656K | 7.6 | - | - |
/r/devops | Everything DevOps | 318K | 7.5 | - | 12 |
/r/webdev | A community dedicated to all things web development: both front-end and back-end. | 2.2M | 6.6 | - | - |
Being able to find your audience online is one thing. Being able to speak to them in their language is another beast. Fortunately, 97th Floor has gotten pretty good at this.
About Chronosphere
Chronosphere is a SaaS-based, cloud-native monitoring solution for enterprise businesses. Chronosphere’s platform gives companies the ability to remediate issues faster with real-time insight while getting data growth under control.
Problem
When Chronosphere approached 97th Floor, their primary focus was on target accounts and increasing brand awareness. They were experiencing high website traffic but were not generating enough leads. Their goal was to drive more traffic to their site, increase the number of demo requests, and reduce the cost per demo.
Strategy
We knew from Choronosphere’s personas that we could reach their target audience of engineers on Reddit and Quora. Combining Chronosphere’s existing personas with 97th Floor’s additional insights helped us nail down the right tone and unconventional messaging that would resonate with our ad-skeptic audience.
After launching the Reddit ads, we continually tested messaging, tracked conversions, and made adjustments or new tests to improve results.
Results
Our strategic approach and meticulous testing paid off significantly, with our Chronosphere ads achieving a remarkable 50% higher click-through rate (CTR) than Reddit's advertising benchmarks. In pursuit of even greater engagement, our teams embarked on an innovative strategy of amplifying organic posts within a "megathread" comment. This effort propelled the campaign's CTR to an unprecedented 0.6%, marking a staggering 200% improvement over Reddit's ad benchmarks.
There's plenty more where that came from.
We know your audience. We know their interests and aversions, and we know how to talk to them so that they convert - on Reddit and everywhere else they hang out. Let us take the lead here. We’ve got you. Book a strategy call with us today.
Podcast advertising is a promising strategy for any marketing campaign, with 51% of podcast listeners agreeing that hearing a podcast ad made them more likely to make a purchase from that brand.
Cybersecurity marketers are in no drought for opportunities here, with dozens of long-running and far-loved shows capturing the ears of your audience.
We used Sparktoro and additional tools to find the top-listened podcasts from decision makers in cybersecurity; put a bug in their ear about you, yeah?
Note that this audience is extremely sales and advertising averse. They don’t appreciate self-promotion. While you can of course pay to sponsor the show and get a host-read ad in front of your audience, be extra thoughtful about your messaging and position as you do so.
Darknet Diaries has amassed a cult-like following for its deep-dive episodes exposing true, first-hand stories about “hackers, breaches, shadow government activity, hacktivism, [and] cybercrime.” Host Jack Rhysider, whose own background is in security operations, makes staggering stories accessible and captivating for both technical and non-technical audiences. The show brags over 90 millions downloads and received praise in The Guardian, Vulture and The New York Times.
Format: Guest Interviews
Update Frequency: Every first Tuesday of the month
On Air Since September 2017
Opportunities: If you happen to know someone or know someone who knows someone with an insane cybercrime story to tell, the connection may be worth making just to get your company’s name floating in Jack’s network. Otherwise, you can contact the team by emailing jack@darknetdiaries.com to inquire about sponsorship. See the complete list of active sponsors here. It includes a number of personal and professional security solutions and IT solutions.
Hosted by former NPR investigations correspondent Dina Temple-Raston, Click Here brings listeners audio stories from the “shadowy characters behind ransomware attacks, disinformation campaigns, and hacks and … the people trying to stop them.” Show topics range from “peek inside a North Korean malware lab” to “how hackers settle their disputes – think People’s Court without all the robes.”
Format: Guest Interviews mixed with investigative reporting and narration from the show host
Update Frequency: Every Tuesday and Friday
On Air Since August 2017
Opportunities: Click Here belongs to an ecosystem of cyber-related news produced by The Record from Recorded Future News. The publication sends a daily newsletter to its audience of “hundreds of thousands” via a mobile app.If you have a news tip, and perhaps an expert to lend, about cybersecurity startups, cybersecurity attacks, or policy surrounding privacy, disinformation or cybersecurity policy, you can pitch your story by reaching out to therecord@recordedfuture.com. The show also has in-show advertisements, maybe one per episode or so.
“2.5 Admins is a podcast featuring two sysadmins called Allan Jude and Jim Salter, and a producer/editor who can just about configure a Samba share called Joe Ressington.” The show covers tech news and answers listener-submitted admin-related questions.The show’s audience is well-educated high-earning IT professionals.
Format: Conversational
Update Frequency: Weekly
On Air Since April 2020
Opportunities: The show welcomes interested sponsors to get in touch at show@2.5admins.com.
Late Night Linux is a family of seven podcasts, including 2.5 Admins, all about "Linux, open source software, and systems administration.” Late Night Linux was the group’s first show, and covers all things free and open source software.
Note that the show contains explicit content.
Format: Conversational, doesn’t appear to host guests
Update Frequency: Weekly
On Air Since December 2016
Opportunities: To advertise on any of the Late Night Linux shows, contact joe@latenightlinux.com.
Hosted by Kurt Seifried and Josh Bressers, Open Source Security Podcast delivers weekly conversations on all things IoT, application security, operational security, cloud, devops, and security news.
Format: Two hosts
Update Frequency: Weekly
On Air Since September 2016
Opportunities: You can email the hosts from their website. Both Kurt and Josh are active on infosec.exchange, part of a decentralized social network powered by Mastodon. Sounds like a good place for some audience research, at the very least.
Hosted by cybersecurity veterans Graham Cluley and Carole Theriault, Smashing Security offers a “helpful and hilarious take on the week’s tech SNAFUs.” Winner of the "Best Cybersecurity Podcast" in 2018, 2019, and 2023, and the "Most Entertaining" in 2022 and 2023, Smashing Security has had over nine million downloads.
Note that the show contains explicit content.
Format: Two hosts, occasional guest interviews
Update Frequency: Weekly on Wednesdays
On Air Since December 2016
Opportunities: Smashing Security has generous options for sponsors, including opportunities “for sponsors to appear in 15-minute featured interviews included within the podcast.” To learn more about sponsorship, email studio@smashingsecurity.com. Smashing Security also conveniently features all past episode guests on a nice list. Pursue it and let ideas flow: who in your organization would fit here? Guest list.
Running for nearly twenty years, Security Now offers weekly conversations on security topics such as malware, ransomware, and hacks; digital identity, data privacy, and policies; hardware and IoT security concerns; software and plug-in security patches and updates; and many more. The show hosts are cybersecurity authority Steve Gibson and technology expert Leo Laporte, each bringing “their extensive and historical knowledge to explore digital security topics in depth.”
Format: Two hosts
Update Frequency: Weekly on Tuesdays
On Air Since August 2005
Opportunities: Security Now belongs to the TWiT faTmily of podcasts, a group that amasses a yearly audience of 25 million downloads. TWiT’s podcasts have built a relationship with listeners over several decades, which is great news for you; not only is 88% of TWiT’s audience tech or IT decision makers, but 88% of listeners have actually made a purchase based on a TWiT host-read ad. Get started by emailing advertise@twit.tv.
Risky Business Media was founded in 2007 by cybersecurity journalist Patrick Gray. A rotating group of hosts including Patrick and others publish multiple episodes each week for their audience of cybersecurity professionals.
Format: Host conversations
Update Frequency: Weekly
On Air Since February 2007
Opportunities: Risky Business’ audience is “top heavy,” meaning that a majority of their more than 25,000 weekly listeners are CISOs or information security decision-makers. View Risky Business’ media kit for more information about their audience, and contact sales@risky.biz for pricing. You can also reach out with editorial opportunities. Note that Risky Business Media also publishes two cybersecurity newsletters.
There are two ways to target your audience vis podcast advertising. The first is with baked-in or title-by-title targeting. Baked-in ads are added to the podcast audio file itself, making them permanent. This means that all listeners will hear the same ad when they listen to that episode of the show, regardless of their location, demographic or when they hit play. These ads can appear anytime in an episode and can be longer than thirty seconds.
Dynamic insertion or audience network podcast advertising inserts ads into ad spots (pre, mid, or post-roll) which can be targeted to the person listening. This allows podcasters to keep the advertising on their shows fresh, and it allows advertisers to select contextual targeting and third-party segments. The ad is then inserted in whatever shows that audience is listening to.
Host-read ads are created and voiced by a show’s host, and are usually read in the style of the show. Because of the host’s narration, these ads seem like a personal endorsement to audiences.
Host-read ads are a great choice for most cybersecurity podcast ads because the target audience aligns closely with specific podcast shows, like those listed above. We can select a show or a few shows and have host-read ads for cyber solutions during those shows.
PRO TIP: For host-read ads, it’s best practice to give the host bullet points instead of an actual script. This way you can make sure that what you want covered gets said, but the host has the opportunity to make it seem more authentic to them.
PRO TIP: Make the host your advocate. Build a relationship with them. Let them experience your product as best they can so that they can speak authentically to their trusting audience.
Pre-recorded ads are scripted by an advertiser and then recorded by a voice talent before being added to the podcast pre, mid, or post-roll. This type of podcast ad is best if your podcast advertisements won’t be on one specific show.
For example, using a title-by-title approach doesn’t sense if your targeting requires a geographic restriction.
Here, we can pick contextual targeting so the podcast episode has to be about that topic. Then, we can also layer on third-party segments, such as the user interests or experiences. Finally, layer on location targeting..
A voice talent will read the pre-recorded ad that can then be dynamically inserted whenever a podcast listener meets all of those requirements.
It all depends on your budget, goals and even the length of your spot. Compare each spot below.
Podcast ads aren’t clickable in most cases, so they are definitely a top-of-funnel awareness play. However, you can drive action from a podcast ad by having a great offer. Most podcast ads have a very enticing offer such as saving a certain percent on a product or a first month free.
PRO TIP: Longer campaigns outperform short ones. Run ads on at least 5 episodes of a podcast to improve recall by 39%. Make each spot different to prevent audience tune-out.
While counting episodes downloads will tell you impressions, use these four tactics to get better success metrics from your podcast advertising.
Story-telling is essential for podcast ads. You don’t have a visual component to draw people in, so you’ve got to hook them with words.
And remember, the offer is so important. Podcast advertising isn’t the most straightforward journey. It’s not like clicking on a LinkedIn ad. We’re asking the user to go to our website manually, so we better offer them a good reason why they should!
We help our cybersecurity clients hit aggressive CPA targets, fill the sales pipeline, and hit marketing-attributed revenue goals. And we're serving up insights even richer than the ones you just read... Check it out!
