Improving marketing in a cybersecurity startup without a marketing hire can be difficult, but sometimes the extra funding needs to go towards hiring another engineer or sales rep to grow the company.
But that being said, marketing is important, and to scale and get more funding you need to have somewhat of a brand presence.
Luckily, there are ways to utilize your current team to workshop and improve your messaging. Lets dive into it.
Messaging is the foundation of your startup's house. Every employee needs to be able to clearly explain what your company does and why because when you have <10 employees, you are all the face and brand of the company. With this template below, as the CEO, you need to fill it out in a google doc and get your employees to all edit it and add their comments to express what they think the positioning needs to be.
Here's the template to fill out:
1. Mission:
- Briefly introduce your startup and its core mission. Make this simple and do this step after all of the below.
2. Problem Statement:
- Highlight the problem you're addressing in the cybersecurity landscape, and why it is such a pain point for prospective customers.
- Provide statistics or examples that illustrate the severity of the problem.
3. Target Audience:
- Identify the primary audience for your cybersecurity tool (e.g., enterprises, small businesses, individuals).
- Highlight the key decision-makers and their pain points in their roles.
4. Value Proposition:
- Clearly state the unique value your startup offers to address the identified problem. Make this simple.
- Highlight how your solution is different from existing alternatives.
- Emphasize the benefits and outcomes your customers can expect.
5. Key Features:
- List the core features of your solution.
- Explain how these features directly address the problem statement.
- Highlight any innovative or cutting-edge technologies your solution utilizes.
6. Benefits:
- Describe the tangible and intangible benefits your customers will gain from using your solution. These are things like stress relief, time gained back, saving cost etc.
- Address how your solution improves security, efficiency, productivity, or cost-effectiveness.
7. Unique Selling Points (USPs):
- Identify and articulate the key factors that set your startup apart from competitors.
- This could include proprietary algorithms, partnerships, certifications, or a novel approach to cybersecurity.
8. Brand Personality:
- Define the personality and tone of your cybersecurity startup's brand.
- Choose adjectives that reflect your brand's characteristics, whether it's authoritative, innovative, friendly, etc.
9. Proof Points:
- Showcase evidence that supports your claims, such as case studies, success stories, customer testimonials, or partnerships.
- Highlight any industry recognition, awards, or certifications your startup has received.
10. Call to Action:
- Encourage your target audience to take action, and pick the one that best represents what action would be the most impactful for your audience to take (e.g., schedule a demo, request more information, sign up for a trial).
- Use strong, action-oriented language to motivate engagement.
11. Competitive Analysis:
- Provide a brief overview of key competitors in the cybersecurity space.
- Highlight your differentiators and strengths in comparison to these competitors. Use a SWOT analysis to be able to compare your strengths & weaknesses to your competition.
12. UVP:
- Summarize your startup's unique value proposition and its potential impact on the cybersecurity landscape.
- End with a memorable closing statement that leaves a lasting impression.
Remember that clear, concise, and impactful messaging is essential for cybersecurity startups, as the industry often deals with complex technical concepts. Tailor this template to fit your startup's specific offerings and goals while ensuring that your messaging effectively communicates your value to your target audience.
In conclusion, use this as a template and let us know in the comments if it was impactful. Use the language on your website, company bios, in whitepapers, on social media, etc. This will be the basis of how your company communicates what you do and why, so take time on this and use it after completion to enhance the growth of your startup.
ABOUT STRATEGIC CYBER VENTURES
Cybersecurity is national security, and we're a D.C.-based venture capital firm on a mission to find cutting-edge startups that help us make an impact. We go beyond the check to help our founders win by leveraging our industry connections and experience as cybersecurity veterans to fuel their companies from inception to exit.
To learn more about our investment strategy and portfolio, explore www.scvgroup.com or connect with us on X @SCV_Cyber to be part of our mission in shaping the future of cybersecurity.