Welcome back to Digital Rage. I'm Jeff the producer here at Byer company. We are on part two of our
Cybersecurity Marketing Series. This specific episode we talked about how to engage buyers through 12 to 18 months
cybersecurity sales cycles. Long sales cycle lead to a lot of trust and engagement and this is how we do it. Check it out.
Okay, welcome back to the deep dive. Yeah, great to be here. So you know the drill, you bring us the source material, we dive in, pull out the really key stuff.
And basically hand you the essentials, the actionable insights. Exactly. Saves you waiting through everything. Think of it as
your shortcut to getting up to speed. Cutting through the noise, that's the idea. And today, wow, we're tackling something
pretty significant in B2B marketing. Oh, yeah. The really long sale cycle you see in cybersecurity. We've got some source material that digs right into this.
Ah, yes, that's a big one. The core problem really is how do you keep leads engaged? Engaged and like moving forward when the whole process can just drag on for ages.
It really can. So how long are we actually talking? The source material puts a number on it that, well, it's pretty eye watering.
I was saying 12 months. 12 to 18 months. Yeah, sometimes even longer. Wow. Yeah. That's not your average sale. That's a marathon.
It really is. It needs serious relationship building, serious nurturing.
And the source explains why, right? Especially in cyber. It's things like really complex tech evaluations.
Right. And budget approvals that span multiple cycles.
Getting buy-in from different committees, you know, security, legal, finance. Plus the stakes are just incredibly high.
A bad cyber security decision. That's potentially catastrophic. Yeah. Expensive. No kidding. So you can't just barrel through it with aggressive sales tactics.
Nope. The source is clear on that. You can't rush the sale. But, and this is key. You absolutely can lead that buyer's journey even over 18 months.
Right. You guide them. And that's what we're going to unpack today, right? The strategies the source suggests for doing just that.
Exactly. How does stay relevant, stay valuable over that really long haul?
Okay. Let's do it. So the main problem this long cycle creates, it seems obvious, but maybe it's worth stating, attention fades.
Totally. People lose focus. Or, you know, stakeholders change jobs, priority shift inside the company.
So the balancing act is how do you maintain momentum? How do you stay top of mind without just being annoying?
Yeah. Nobody wants to be that vendor. It's so easy to just like fade away if you don't get this right.
Disappearing you're forgotten. All that initial work. Poof. Gone. Wasted effort.
So strategy number one from the source to fight that fade.
It's account-based marketing. ABM. Yes. Yeah. ABM. The source defines this as not just marketing to an account,
but really treating those high-value prospects as like individual markets. Okay. Markets in
themselves. That's a shift from just sort of general campaigns. Big shift. It's about deep resonance,
not just volume. So how does that specific approach treating them like a market help with the long cycle
problem? Well, think about it. Over 18 months, you're not dealing with one decision maker. You might
have what? A dozen people involved at different stages. Technical folks, legal procurement managers,
execs. Yeah. Right. So ABM isn't just like one personalized email. It's about understanding and
connecting with all those different layers within the account. Ah, okay. So it makes your engagement
more resilient if say one key contact leaves. Exactly. Because you've built relationships and
understanding across the board. It combats that stakeholder churn you inevitably see over a year and a
half. I see. So it's deeper than just personalization. What kind of tactics does the source mention
for pulling this off? Well, personalized content is huge tailored to their specific industry's
pain points. Maybe they're known threat profile or even their existing tech stack showing you've
really done your homework. Precisely. It shows you get them. And beyond content. Yeah. What else is in the
ABM toolkit here? Things like one-to-one email campaigns, sequences designed for specific people.
Okay. Really targeted LinkedIn ads, like only showing up for certain job titles within that target
company. Laser focused. Yeah. And for the really big fish. Maybe even dedicated landing pages or
microsites just for them. Wow. Okay. That sounds intense. Reads are intensive. Yeah. Definitely
can be. Does the source kind of address how you manage that? You can't do that for everyone,
surely. Yeah. Especially smaller marketing teams. That's a fair point. The implication is you focus
this deep ABM effort on a select group. Your highest value, highest probability accounts. Gotcha.
Prioritize where you invest that heavy lifting. Make sense for long cycles. You have to. It's about
maximizing impact over that extended timeframe. Okay. So ABM helps you focus on the right accounts
and understand the players. Then what? How do you actually talk to all those different people inside
the account? Well, that flows right into the second strategy of the SOAR highlights. Which is?
Segmenting your content by role and by buying stage. Right. Because not everyone cares about the same
stuff. Not even close. Their concerns, their priorities, totally different depending on their job.
Yeah. The source gives examples, right? Like the CISO is probably focused on risk reduction,
preventing breaches. Absolutely. That's keeping them up a night. But talk to the CFO. And they want
the numbers. Does this make financial sense? What's the ROI? The TCO over like a three or five-year contract?
Exactly. They need the business case. And then you've got maybe a compliance officer?
Yeah, they need to know, does this meet GDPR? He may fax. Whatever regulations apply to us. Check the
box. So that one size fits all white paper about futures. It's going to land flat with at least two of
those people. Totally flat. You need different content streams. Content that speaks their language
addresses their specific concerns. And it's not just their role, but also where they are in the buying
process, right? The source mentions stages. Crucial point. Awareness, evaluation, justification.
So someone just realizing they might have a problem needs different info than someone
actively comparing vendors. Completely different. And different again from someone trying to get
budget approval internally. You need content for that whole journey from, hmm, maybe we need something
to, okay, how do I convince my boss? Oh, no. Okay. So we're tailoring the account approach with ABM.
We're tailoring the content by role and stage. How do we actually deliver this consistently over,
you know, 12 or 18 months without vanishing, but also without becoming that annoying pest we talked about.
Right. And that's strategy number three, which is just fundamental. Keep showing up. But value.
Keep showing up. The source is pretty direct about this, isn't it? Like if you disappear.
You're forgotten. Simple as that, especially over a long period. At a site, at a mind.
Harsh, but true. So how do you show up consistently in a good way? A way that adds value, not just noise.
This is where you combine that segmented content with planned, consistent touch points.
Sometimes called a nurture flow or nurture sequence. A planned series of interactions over time.
Exactly. And the source suggests practical ways, like maybe a monthly newsletter,
but one that's genuinely useful. Not just product updates. No, packed with real thread intelligence,
maybe relevant industry trends, insights, stuff they can actually use. So you're positioning yourself
as a helpful expert, a partner, not just someone trying to sell them something today. That's the goal.
Also things like running, retargeting ads, but smart ones, reinforcing credibility,
or sharing specific insights, you know, they care about based on past engagement. And inviting them
to things like relevant webinars, maybe virtual roundtables where they can learn or connect with peers,
facing similar issues. It sounds like the aim is to become a trusted resource throughout their entire
long decision process. Precisely. So when they do finally reach that decision point,
months down the line, you're already there, established, trusted. Because you consistently provided
value that helped them, not just pitched them. Okay. Now, something that's definitely going to happen
in an 18 month cycle is you'll hear, we're not ready yet. Multiple times. Oh, that's absolutely.
Guaranteed. The source has a really important point about how to handle that, doesn't it? Yes,
this is critical. When you hear not ready yet, the follow up absolutely does not stop. Okay, don't stop,
but. But, and this is the key part, it has to evolve. Evolve. Okay. What does that mean in practice?
How does your follow up evolve when someone pushes pause for potentially months? And why do they say
they're not ready in this space? Well, not ready often means they're stuck somewhere earlier. Maybe
the budget isn't approved yet. Or they haven't got internal agreement. Right. Or some other big project
just jumped the queue. So your follow up needs to recognize that. It shifts gears shifts from
active selling. Yeah, shifts away from by now or see the demo. To continuing to educate,
build the relationship and maybe even help them overcome whatever's blocking them internally.
Okay. So instead of pushing for another sales meeting, maybe you send them a white paper,
specifically on building a business case for security investments, helping them make their
internal case or invite them to a discussion with peers who tackled similar budget hurdles.
Share research on industry best practices they might need for justification. Provide tools,
maybe to assess their own readiness. So you're still showing up, still providing value,
but the purpose has changed. It's shifted. Exactly. The call to action changes. It becomes
here's some insight or connect with others or here's a resource for your planning process.
Less buy from us and more. We're here to help you figure things out whenever you're ready.
That's it. It definitely requires a different mindset. And frankly, a good library of content that
goes beyond just your product specs. This all sounds good makes logical sense, but the proof is in
the pudding, right? Does this kind of long term value first nurturing actually work? Does it pay off?
Well, the source gives a really interesting real-world example. Oh, yeah.
F5 networks. They ran a campaign called hug a hacker. And memorable name. Right. And it's a great
case study because it really demonstrates committing to that long nurture cycle. Okay, tell us about it.
How long did this hug a hacker thing run over 24 weeks? So what's that six months? A big chunk of
that typical 12 18 month journey. Six months. They were in it for the medium to long halve
and what was their approach? They combined creative storytelling. That's the hug a hacker part
with very segmented nurture flows. So hitting all the points we just discussed, tailored messages,
deliver consistently over time based on understanding the account, the roles,
ADM principles, segmented content, consistent value. Exactly. They put it all together.
Okay. The big question. What happened? What were the results of this six-month,
carefully orchestrated effort? The source states they achieved a 19% conversion rate.
Okay. 19% from what to what? Let's clarify those terms just in case. Emqls.
SQL. Good point. That was 19% conversion from marketing qualified leads,
mqls to sales accepted leads or SLS. Right. So mqls are basically prospects who've shown some
interest, maybe downloaded something, attended a webinar, they look like they could be a fit.
Yeah, marketing flags them as potentially interested. And SLS are when the sales team looks
that mql says, yep, this one's legit. It's a real potential opportunity worth our time pursuing.
Exactly. Sales accepts the lead. Okay. So turning nearly one fifth of those initial marketing leads
into leads that sales actively wants to work on purely through a 24-week nurture campaign.
That sounds pretty impressive, especially in cybersecurity. It really is. 19% mql to sell is a
strong number for these kinds of complex long cycle sales. It shows that this approach.
The long-term strategic nurturing. Yeah, when you do it right, providing that evolving value tailored
to the right people the right time. It's not just keeping leads lukewarm. It's actively building
your pipeline over months. So the big takeaway from the source seems clear. You can't strong arm a
cybersecurity sale onto your timeline. Definitely not. You have to accept their timeline. But you can
significantly influence and guide their journey over that long period. By being smart about it,
strategic presence, consistent value. Using those strategies, ABM segmented content by role and
stage and that relentless focus on showing up with value. Right. It's about mastering the marathon,
not trying to sprint. And the source leaves us with a final thought, kind of a challenge to consider,
doesn't it? Building on that not ready yet idea. Yeah, to ask you to think really specifically,
what does it truly mean for your follow-up strategy to evolve? When that prospect says not now.
It's more than just setting a task in your CRM to ping them in three months, right? Right. It's
what specific different value could you offer them next month and the month after and the month after
that? Value that actually helps them move forward internally, even if they're not ready to talk
solutions yet. What insights, what resources, what connections would genuinely help them navigate
their internal landscape over the next six or 12 months? Considering what might be holding the back.
That requires a much deeper level of thinking about your content, your relationship in their world,
than just standard follow-up email. Absolutely, a real strategic challenge. Reach out to us at jbuyer.com
for comments and questions. Follow us at buyer company on social media and if you'd be so kind,
please rate and review us in your podcast app.