Cybersecurity moves fast, and "the channel" is a hot topic these days. Understanding the value-added reseller (VAR) perspective is crucial for developing effective channel partner relationships. This panel session brings together the entire marketing leadership team from GuidePoint Security to share their unique insights and experiences. Join us as we delve into the intricacies of VAR partnerships, discuss successful strategies, and share how you can build amazing partnerships with value-added resellers including a perspective from GuidePoint Security's very own CMO! 

Headcrab. Kinsing. Operation CuckooBees. The cyber marketing space is buzzing with research. Sometimes it’s a race to break news and others it’s a slow burn that requires careful planning and creativity. PR and marketing pros must translate technical findings for the masses, and authentically communicate them to deliver value for the community, drive interest with media, and ultimately, raise the company’s profile. And as more vendors create teams to explore the latest threats, cutting through industry noise becomes more difficult. 

Jennifer Tanner, SVP at Look Left Marketing, will lead a panel discussion with seasoned pros Bill Keeler (Semperis, Cybereason), Nicole Canulla (Aqua Security, Kaspersky, ESET), and Jessica Lavery (Black Kite, Veracode). Sharing real experiences and lessons learned, they will offer tips for effectively building relationships with global research teams across cultures, discuss crafting stories that capture headlines and provide strategies for navigating challenges in threat research marketing.

Common strategies for attracting attention and building a brand are, frankly, incredibly expensive. Start-up marketers that want to educate buyers and create demand are often left feeling stuck with tight budgets and high expectations. In this session, serial startup marketer Sarah Hartland will share scrappy, high-ROI strategies the Endor Labs demand generation team used to build the revenue funnel in the company’s second year of selling. She’ll cover specific examples from 2024, plus lessons learned and future plans. If you’ve ever heard the advice to “be the television show, not the commercial” and cried in Series A frustration, this talk is for you.

Defining, tracking, communicating, and managing to the most meaningful funnel metrics can make or break the success of your marketing efforts. But there are myriad things you can measure – so deciding on the KPIs for your business is absolutely critical. In this presentation, we will share how ThreatConnect has developed a metrics-driven approach across marketing and sales. We’ll share dashboards and processes we use to ensure they remain front and center for everyone in the go-to-market organization and up to the executive team and the Board. We'll start by emphasizing the importance of KPIs in measuring marketing effectiveness and informing strategic decisions. We'll discuss how to establish baselines and define different categories of metrics based on your organization's unique goals and requirements. Next, we'll delve into specific examples of metrics that could be relevant depending on your marketing objectives. Whether you're focused on lead generation, brand awareness, customer retention, or other objectives, we'll provide a comprehensive overview of the KPIs that can accurately measure your progress. We’ll show examples of actual dashboards we used for board, business, and operational marketing purposes that you can replicate at your company. A critical aspect of working with KPIs is how you use them to drive your business. We’ll cover the meeting and review cadence you need to ensure you’re using metrics to manage your business, not just producing them for reports. We'll share best practices for choosing the right metrics to present, defining the right cadence for reporting, and crafting compelling narratives around your data. Finally, we'll explore how to set up a robust technology infrastructure that enables seamless tracking, analysis, and reporting of these KPIs. We'll discuss various tools and platforms that can help automate these processes and provide real-time insight, as well as when to leverage internal teams vs contractors for each. By the end of this presentation, attendees will leave equipped with practical strategies to enhance marketing performance measurement and drive more informed decision-making. Join us to discover how to make your metrics matter.

Nowadays, extended buyer journeys mean demand generation no longer aligns neatly with demand capture, blurring the lines of how prospects discover your brand. This session addresses the critical challenge of accurately tracking lead sources in a cookie-less world. In this workshop and case study, we'll cover how marketing teams of any scale can merge software-based and self-sourced attribution in their marketing automation platform and leverage that to enhancing their strategy to bridge the gap between initial interest and final conversion. Attendees should expect to walk away with actionable insights to build self- and software-based attribution programs, and leverage their existing data to inform their budget allocation and sales strategies. In this case, we will review both the operational foundation, as well as a case study in how a small marketing team built a budget plan based on data from a self- and software-sourced attribution program to move away from granular, line-item budget review to channel specific investments that freed up more time and room for experimentation.

In an AI-powered buzzword world and lots of new SaaS's being created, the truth is that "No tool fits all needs", and you probably don't need a bunch of platforms to perform daily - or even less regular - tasks: you can create your own and become super powerful spending 1/3 than before and having 2-3x more results.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of cybersecurity, the role of marketing has become more crucial than ever. As marketers, we’re tasked with not just promoting products but truly connecting with practitioners to build trust and share knowledge. Join Chris Cochran, VP and Head of Marketing at AKA Identity, as he draws from his unique journey—from Marine Corps intelligence to cybersecurity leader to leading marketing initiatives—to guide you through an empathetic approach to reaching cybersecurity professionals.This session will delve into the challenges marketers face in crafting effective messaging and share strategies for connecting through genuine storytelling, supportive communities, and valuable content. Chris will explore how marketers can navigate the delicate balance between selling and serving, recognizing the pain points practitioners encounter daily. Discover how to build trust, resonate with your audience, and elevate your brand by embracing empathy and understanding all without serving 20 years as a cybersecurity practitioner.

Imagine reallocating your RSA budget from a traditional 10x20 booth with ephemeral swag to a comprehensive marketing strategy that provides sustained brand exposure over eight months, allow you to broadcast your brand into hundreds of thousands of homes, aligns with charity events featuring influencers, and supports your sales efforts with memorable experiences for your prospects. See how I activated MindPoint Group's marketing budget and grew our brand over two years with the MLS.