Do you spend your life defining, building, protecting or communicating a brand? Then you should read this…

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a client-side generalist, digital agency guru, copywriting comms person, web design expert or one of the many other specialists in our sprawling industry… 

There is something in this article for you.

I want to tell you about an opportunity – and, simultaneously, a chance to avoid a lot of pain. You’ve probably heard plenty about this subject already, but might not have joined the dots to see how relevant – and important – it is to you in your professional life within marketing and communications. 

In fact, if you’re anything like I was, you’ve actively ignored it. Switched off when you heard it mentioned. Successfully side-stepped and avoided even thinking about it. 

But this can’t go on, so hear me out: I promise you, this is your problem (and opportunity) as much as it is anyone’s… 

Because it’s all about trust. And brand reputation. And business values. 

Yet, marketing people don’t tend to touch it. 

Wait, what? 

Yep. 

Even though there’s this whole industry driven by the need to preserve brand reputation, build trust and express positive business values, marketers steer WELL CLEAR. 

Honestly, I’ve waited until now to even utter the words, in the hope you might be intrigued enough not to stop reading the second you realise what I’m talking about… 

Yeah. It’s cyber security. 

Now, let’s get the negative bit out of the way, because it’s not what I want to talk about and I don’t think it’s what drives you either. But it’s important you’re aware of it, if nothing else. Then we’ll talk upside. 

1) We’re in it for the same reasons 

Let’s be real: why does anyone actually give a sh!t about cyber security? What is it that’s damaged most by a breach or attack?

Funnily enough, most of the time it’s not being driven by some sense of moral duty. Or even the immediate financial consequences.

No. It’s the potentially catastrophic impact it could have on reputation: it takes years to build a brand. Seconds for it to come crashing to the ground because of a cyber attack. 

So if you spend every waking moment of your professional life defining, building, protecting or communicating a brand… It might be worth enquiring as to what’s in place to prevent it from all being a wasted effort. 

2) We hold a lot of keys 

A lot of us hold keys to sensitive rooms, many of which are public facing. Logins to social media accounts and websites need to be protected; any breach could do a lot of damage. 

Imagine your website being taken over by some far-right extremists, with copy and images changed to reflect their beliefs. Or your Twitter account being hacked and filled with pornographic videos… 

Not good. 

It doesn’t look great for your brand, or for you personally. So, since you hold some pretty important keys that could do a lot of damage in the wrong hands, you have to be aware of cyber security. Not only that, but you must also take the appropriate steps to prevent attackers gaining access to public-facing or sensitive information. 

3) We’ll have to clean up the mess 

Say your business is hit with an attack. Data is sold to the highest bidder on the dark web. Customers can’t access their accounts, or suddenly have access to other people’s sensitive information… 

Who’s going to be responsible for sorting out the communications? Explaining to customers, stakeholders and the press what’s happened… You can bet your bottom dollar we marketing folk will be involved! 

So it’s worth thinking it through in advance and making sure you and your team are prepared. Even just getting together and talking it through will help you, though it is generally recommended to have an incident response plan in place. After all, the worst time to think about all of this for the first time is AFTER a breach has occurred… 

And you’ll be a hero internally if you’re prepared in advance 🙂 

 

Okay, so that’s the scary bit out of the way! Cool. 

Now let’s talk about the opportunities… 

1) Build trust 

Getting people to trust your brand isn’t that easy in this day and age. The internet makes sure no mistake, slip up or oversight goes unnoticed – or forgotten. And there are so many factors that impact how much your customers trust you that it’s really bloody hard to win – and keep – their favour.

It’s not enough to whack a line in the values section of your ‘about us’ page, claiming you care deeply about your customers and their needs. They need proof. Evidence. And it needs to look like more than lip service… 

And, though it is a somewhat sideways approach to tackling this problem, showing people that you take cyber security seriously is a fantastic way of proving you don’t just talk the talk. It means you really care and that you put your customers’ welfare first. 

2) Competitive advantage 

To win contracts with government departments, the MoD or large organisations, having some basic cyber security measures in place is imperative. Cyber Essentials, a government-approved certification that demonstrates basic cyber hygiene, tends to be a requirement. 

More widely, accreditations that show you take cyber security seriously will open doors, and serve as a tool you can use to differentiate yourself from the competition. They are a great way to spice up your marketing, with an authentic demonstration of your commitment to customers (whether B2B or B2C). 

3) Career development 

Getting involved (or taking the lead!) with your company’s cyber security will certainly demonstrate initiative – and help you do your job better.

And thinking of the future, it could add a nice edge to your CV: whether you’ve helped manage post-breach communications, successfully exploited accreditations to drive more leads, or adopted GDPR-friendly practices with the processing and storage of data, cyber security experience can be a valuable string to your bow. 

And on an optimistic side note – some of the key skills the cyber security industry lacks most are those we marketers have honed to an art: psychology, communication and persuasion, to name just three… So who knows. You may even find yourself falling in love with this fascinating, constantly-evolving industry. Just like I did. 

Convinced? 

Hopefully at least one of the above reasons for caring about cyber security will have resounded with you. I think marketers will play a significant role in helping businesses be more secure in the future – which means there’s an opportunity now for the savvy among us to get ahead of the game. 

If you fancy chatting to a couple of marketers cross cyber nerds, hit us up. Let’s get a coffee 🙂