What is B2B cybersecurity market research? 

If you’re in the cybersecurity space, then you know that it’s an ever-changing industry. Security threats are always evolving, which means that cybersecurity companies need to keep up with the latest trends and technologies to stay competitive. For instance, currently, AI is ever-growing in cybersecurity as new threats emerge every day. A study by Reportlinker takes a deeper look into how AI can be put to use even better for cybersecurity.

Conducting B2B market research is one of the best ways for a security firm to do this because it helps them understand what customers are looking for and what their biggest concerns are so that they can better serve those needs.

Defining and understanding your target audience

If your cybersecurity project is about reaching a target segment, you want to start by defining who they are. Understanding this is crucial for B2B cybersecurity market research because you’ll be marketing directly to them. You need to know what they want and how best to reach them.

You may be wondering: “How do I define my target audience? How much detail do I need?” Well, it depends on the type of business you have and what kind of information you want. Here are some general guidelines for defining a target audience for B2B market research.

• If your IT company relies heavily on word-of-mouth referrals from customers, then it might not make sense to get too granular with the demographic. This is because they tend not to be so loyal. They might only buy from one company once in a blue moon but refer to another company all the time! So focus instead on understanding what motivates people in general (e.g., "What makes someone recommend us?").
• There might be multiple types of clients or customers who come through your door (e.g., B2B or B2C). You should focus more attention on defining those two groups separately. This is so that each group has its own unique needs when it comes time for marketing messages. You can also think about the timing of emails sent out to B2B customers. A B2B customer in cybersecurity could be a technology officer or the IT department. You can think about different ways to target these segments so that they participate in your research.

For more information on B2C vs B2B research participants, read our blog page on our website.

Identifying the top cybersecurity problems and questions your target audience has

• Identify your target audience.
• Determine where your audience goes to get answers, then decide whether you should be there too.
• Identify the top cybersecurity problems and questions your target audience has.

Finding out where your target audience goes for answers

There are a number of ways you can find out where your target audience goes for answers:

• Social media: Many companies and organizations offer Facebook and Twitter accounts where they post content related to their industry. They often provide links to articles, blog posts, and other content worth reading. You should also keep an eye on the comments section for any questions left by users that may provide insight into what they’re looking for. IT chronicles has a good list of the top cybersecurity influencers to follow in 2022!
• Forums: While forums aren’t always frequented by customers seeking specific products or services, they are still valuable sources of information when it comes time to conduct market research. Forums can be used as another way of identifying what problems people are struggling with in relation to cybersecurity issues or concerns about data breaches. If there is no existing topic relating directly back to your company or offering an answer, start one! This will help build up trust among potential clients who may need help later on.

Discovering what media your target audience trusts

With all these media available, it can be hard to determine what your target audience trusts and doesn’t trust. Asking yourself the following questions will help you figure out if a certain medium is relevant to your research:

• What are they reading? While they may not read every article published by the media source you’re examining, they’re likely to read several articles from it each week. You can look for newsletters that focus on cybersecurity issues as well. 
• Do they trust the publication? If so, why? If not, why not? Look for comments about its accuracy or bias in opinion pieces (like op-eds). You can also look for recent scandals involving the company that could affect your brand's reputation if mishandled.
• Is there any overlap between my target market's interests and those covered by this publication? If so, how much overlap exists between them? This can help guide where else online content has been created based on similar topics—for example, podcasts focused on cybersecurity news.

Determining which companies are the biggest influencers in the cybersecurity industry

Researching the best influencers to target is a great way to identify who you should be targeting. You can use social media to figure out which companies are the biggest influencers in the cybersecurity industry. For example, if you run a small business that sells an app that helps users protect their privacy on smartphones and tablets, then you’d want to find out what companies are leading the charge when it comes to privacy-related issues.

You should also try finding out where your target audience goes for answers. If they have concerns about personal data breaches online and generally feel anxious about how safe their information may be online, then maybe there are online communities where they hang out so that they can get answers from others who share similar concerns. 

Other common areas for B2B cybersecurity market research

This is not a comprehensive list, but it is meant to give you some idea of common areas for B2B cybersecurity market research. 

• Your customers in the cybersecurity area that you operate
• Your competitors such as IT or software companies 
• The regulatory environment in which you operate

The last point is a critical one as cybersecurity products and services tend to be heavily regulated. If your company wants to sell its cybersecurity technology or services to healthcare, then you need to understand what kind of data protection requirements your customers have.  It's also a good idea to develop your product or service for them. For instance, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is the cybersecurity regulator in the UK overseeing cyber threats.

Conclusion

It can be a lot of work to figure out the best way to conduct B2B cybersecurity market research, but it’s also one of the most important things you can do. If you don’t know who they are, how can you expect them to buy from you? 

We hope this post has given some insight into what goes into B2B market research and a few tips on how to get started on your own cybersecurity-focused research. If you’d like to know how we conduct B2B market research, drop us a line at sales@grape-data.com.