Effective Cybersecurity Marketing Strategies - enabling sales
The Marketing Network’s February 2024
Did you miss our latest virtual meetup on cybersecurity marketing strategies and sales enablement? Here’s a comprehensive recap with essential takeaways, examples, and actionable tips.
Integrating sales and marketing: A unified approach
The meet-up highlighted the importance of integrating sales and marketing efforts to drive a cohesive commercial strategy. Hannah Jenney, UK&I Marketing Director shared her experience and reminded us that by understanding sales targets and challenges, marketing can tailor campaigns that resonate with both sales teams and customers, ensuring that creative ideas are not just innovative but effective and focused.
What do sales want from marketing when it comes to enablement?
We explored what sales teams expect from marketing. One point was the need for quality sales enablement content that is engaging and directly supports sales objectives.
Research indicates that sales teams spend a considerable amount of their time on administrative tasks, leaving limited time for training. Thus, marketing materials need to be concise, easily accessible, and tailored to sales needs. Best practices include simplifying information and providing tools like emails and quick reference guides that help sales teams engage effectively with prospects.
Innovative Solutions: The Fortinet Academy Example.
An exemplary model shared by Sarah Duce from Exclusive Networks, was the Fortinet Sales Academy, demonstrating the power of structured sales enablement programs.
The challenge:
Speeds & feeds: In the dynamic world of cybersecurity sales and marketing, the challenges are as varied as the solutions. One significant hurdle is the emphasis of vendor collateral on product features (“feeds and speeds”) overlooking the real-world problems these products solve.
Pace of technology change: Link this with the fact that sales and technical teams face considerable constraints, notably the scarcity of time for training and the rapid pace of technological updates. The constant evolution of technology means that as soon as a new product or version launches, the sales messaging needs an update.
Beyond the technology: A strategic approach to sales enablement involves understanding the distinct needs of various team members involved in the sales process. It’s not just about knowing the target audience but also understanding the problems decision-makers face and how a solution fits into the picture. This approach extends beyond mere product knowledge to include strategies for overcoming objections and leveraging case studies, particularly those that resonate with the prospect’s industry and challenges.
The solution:
An exemplary initiative that tackles these challenges head-on is the Fortinet Academy.
Time efficient: Designed to streamline the enablement process, the Academy condenses what would have been a year’s worth of workshops into quarterly, focused sessions catering to sales, marketing, and technical teams. This not only addresses the time availability issue but also ensures that each team receives relevant, actionable information tailored to their specific role in the sales process.
Innovative tool to cross and upsell: A flip book example illustrated below was shared, as an innovative sales enablement tool designed to facilitate cross-selling and upselling, particularly for products within the Fortinet portfolio. Structured like a children’s flip book with tabs for different product categories, it offers salespeople quick access to elevator pitches, key benefits, and questions to initiate conversations about each product. This format allows for easy navigation between products, helping sales representatives to seamlessly integrate and suggest additional solutions during discussions with customers, thereby enhancing the potential for cross-selling and upselling opportunities.
Key takeaways for effective sales enablement from the Fortinet academy
- Focus on Solutions: Shift the conversation from product features to the solutions and benefits they offer.
- Respect Time Constraints: Design enablement programs that are respectful of the time pressures sales and technical teams face.
- Stay Current: Keep sales enablement materials up-to-date with the latest product versions and technological advancements.
- Engage with Relevance: Tailor your enablement efforts to address the specific needs and challenges of different team roles.
Final Tips for effective sales enablement
- Understand Sales Needs: Tailor marketing efforts to align with sales objectives, focusing on what will make a tangible difference in their monthly and quarterly targets.
- Leverage Vendor Tools Wisely: Utilise vendor-provided sales enablement tools regularly but critically assess their relevance and effectiveness.
- Prioritise Quality and Engagement: Ensure sales enablement content is not only high in quality but also engaging, encouraging sales teams to use and benefit from it.
- Simplify Training: Recognise the limited time sales teams have for training; make content accessible, easy to understand, and straightforward to implement.
- Foster Collaboration: Encourage ongoing dialogue between sales and marketing to refine strategies and ensure both teams are aligned in their efforts.
This session highlighted the critical role of sales enablement in cybersecurity marketing, offering insights into effective strategies, the importance of sales and marketing integration, and practical tips for enhancing sales support.
To find out more click here or contact Sarah Duce at [email protected]
