Building Rapport with Cybersecurity Reporters: Why Now is an Optimal Time

The latest spate of high profile retail cyber attacks is sending shockwaves to businesses globally. M&S’ cyber attack knocked out online orders, hit contactless payments, disrupted stocks in stores, and is expected to take a £300M bite out of profits. Harrods, Adidas, Victoria’s Secret, The North Face, Cartier among others have recently been breached to various degrees. The long term reputational damage among loyal customers will no doubt reveal itself in the coming months.

With so many prominent consumer brands affected, the press is racing frantically to cover the news and impact…placing the need for cybersecurity front and center. It’s also creating an ideal moment for cybersecurity startups to share their insights with reporters across tech and business press, as well as security trades.

Our team at Si14 Global conducted an in-depth media analysis on six high-growth cyber companies - Wiz, Cato Networks, Claroty, Cyera, Island and Snyk - to discover how they stood out in a crowded market and secured buzz in the media. (Full report here.)

TOP TAKEAWAYS FOR CYBERSECURITY COMPANIES

Bold Thought Leadership is Essential

One of our top takeaways is the value of bold thought leadership, particularly when it comes to news commentary, as an essential strategy to create media awareness and develop relationships with key reporters. When news breaks on an attack, speed is essential, Responses should include insights that progress the story the same day, preferably within a couple of hours. There are exceptions - If your research team reveals new vulnerabilities relevant to an attack, this furthers the story and might be of interest even if the discovery is made a few days later. 

PR Can Play a Critical Role in Business Strategy

Shrewd business leaders understand that PR can play a critical role in overall business strategy and deliver massive impact. When the C-suite works in tandem with the comms leads on ways to position news to achieve business objectives, the results can bolster brand recognition or even  increase valuation. Too often, executives pull in comms late in the game, leaving them to react and sometimes scramble, instead of leading the narrative. Instead, pull in your PR leaders early so they can build a supporting strategy, including: what news to share or withhold; when to share it; and with which reporter (exclusive) or reporters (pitching widely).

Interested in learning more about working with

Si14 Global Communications’ cybersecurity team? 

Book a call here to find out how we can increase your media exposure.

Understand Share of Voice

Share of Voice is often misleading when relying on raw data from platforms such as Cision, Meltwater, and Muck Rack. The total coverage number is rarely a true reflection of the number of earned articles a company has secured. Posting press releases on the news wires automatically places them on multiple websites, according to which package and platform was chosen. These releases are posted on separate sections of news sites and generally get very few views. (Consider…when was the last time you were reading TechCrunch or The Wall Street Journal and read a press release?)

Identifying genuine articles that have been written by reporters and published on news sites is a much more accurate reflection of SOV. A thorough analysis is necessary to determine the drivers of brand recognition and assess if coverage is predominantly neutral, positive, or negative. (A crisis, for example, could inflate SOV but it’s not the type of buzz to which companies aspire.)

CONCLUSION

There are many opportunities for cybersecurity companies to raise their media profiles outside of hard financial news. Successful PR achieves results that are specific and

essential to your company. There is no one blanket measurement that can be used to reflect success for all companies, though if resources allow, providing insightful responses and original  analyses of attacks is by far one of the most successful routes to landing your company in the press.

At Si14 Global Communications, our team brings two decades of experience in cybersecurity PR to the table, guiding your strategy and tactics. Contact us for a free consultation at contact@si14global.com