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When marketers write content for Chief Information Security Officers, we need to ensure they’re listening. The content needs to speak to their concerns. Understanding their emotions helps us to do that.
Tapping into their emotions helps to ensure the CISOs are paying attention, and that the CISOs are not dismissing our content as unimportant and unworthy of their attention. (See what I did there, dear marketer?)
Are our prospects listening to us?
I’ve talked about emotions and content before. My approach is fairly simple, identifying the emotions encountered at two stages of the customer journey:
- The negative emotions faced at the “problem” stage. Perhaps fear, anger, or helplessness.
- The positive emotions faced at the “results” stage, after you have provided the customer with the solution to their problem. This could be the happiness or satisfaction resulting from hope, accomplishment, or empowerment.
What do CISOs fear?
I’m reworking a client piece targeted to Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), and I needed to re-examine the things that keep CISOs up at night. I started with a rudimentary list.
- Cyberattacks. (Duh.)
- Technological complexity.
- Resource constraints.
- Corporate liability.
- Job security.
A good list—well, I think so—but is it good enough? (Or big enough?) The elements are rather abstract, since you can discuss concepts such as “resource constraints” without FEELING them.
What do CISOs really fear?
Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs is (literally) based upon physiological (survival) and safety needs. Can I translate the abstractions above into something more primal?
- Loss of all our information, leaving us dumb and helpless.
- Confusion and bewilderment in (as the AI bots are fond of saying) “the ever-changing landscape.”
- Overwhelming burnout from too much to do.
- No money after being sued into oblivion.
- Wandering the streets homeless and starving after losing your job and your income.
How should we express those fears?
Now there are various ways to express those primal fears. I could go for maximum effect (will the wrong decision today leave you homeless and starving tomorrow?), or I could write something a little less dramatic (are you vulnerable to the latest cyber threats?). The words you choose depend on your company’s messaging tone, which is why I recently reshared my original brand archetypes post from August 2021. A Sage will say one thing, a Hero another.
Why?
Anyway, thank you for reading. Writing this helped me, and maybe it gave you some ideas. And if you want to know more about the seven questions I like to ask before creating content (emotions being the 7th), read my ebook on the topic.
Bredemarket 