Mission before money: refocusing cybersecurity on what matters

In an industry whose goal is to protect people, purely profit-driven marketing makes no sense - and certainly doesn’t work.

After over a decade of running digital marketing for high-growth B2B technology startups, my guest, Dani Woolf, realized marketing is wildly different in information security. 

It took her four years after joining the cybersecurity industry in 2018 to create Audience 1st, a customer research agency built on four pillars: 

curiosity to truly understand audiencesempathy to listen first and identify cybersecurity buyers' pain pointsdedication to provide insights that promote growthand honest connection to establish authentic relationships with buyers.

Dani Woolf continues to do meaningful work for people who care as the Creator and Host of the Audience 1st podcast and the WTF Did I Just Read? Tech Sales and Marketing Edition Podcast. 

Throughout this conversation, Dani shares her thoughts on marketers' role in cybersecurity, her "mission before money” mindset, and why repetition and messaging consistency are crucial in this space. 

You'll also hear why we need leaders who choose peaceful and kind ways of communicating and why Dani believes the creative tension between old-school and modern marketers in cybersecurity is a good thing. 

Additionally, Dani explains how she uses honesty to get real, deep insights from tech and IT pros, why she doubles down on being pragmatic and practical, and more ways to create positive change.

Listen to this episode to learn:

Why Dani advocates for slowing down and opening our hearts in cybersecurity (3:00)How to avoid leaving people out through black-and-white approaches in communication (7:50)Why having creative tension is a good thing (14:40)How marketers can make a meaningful contribution to cybersecurity (18:30)How to set expectations to have in-depth conversations with tech and security leaders (27:00)Why it’s crucial to connecting with audiences beyond data (34:00)Which benefits come from being pragmatic, practical, and prescriptive (41:20)

Resources from this episode:

What vendor looks really good, but is it actually GREAT?Jason Vana's LinkedIn profileEveryone Hates MarketersBehind the mask: Managing high-functioning anxietyYour audience insights = Your foundationThe biggest problems in the cybersecurity industryDani's post about her interview at Cyber EmpathyMarketers can learn a great deal from security researchersHere's how I flipped from reactive to proactive as a marketer in my 14+ years in B2BHow to build authentic relationships in cybersecurity to scale growth Vulnerability management in cybersecurityPeep Laja's websitethe Jobs to be Done framework

Connect with Dani:

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Let's connect!

WebsiteLinkedInTwitter