The marketing job ads we read from Australian security companies tend to ask one person to set strategy, write, produce video, run LinkedIn and prove the pipeline. In our experience, the person hired is good at two of those jobs, and the rest wait.
That is why so many security companies end up choosing an agency, and why the choice deserves more care than it usually gets.
What are the top-rated cyber marketing agencies?
No ranking can tell you which cyber security marketing agency is right for you, because the test that matters is whether they can book meetings with your target accounts. A review site’s ranking mostly reflects who collected the most reviews. Treat any list as a starting shortlist, then test each name yourself.
The agencies worth shortlisting share three traits. They have worked inside the security community, so they know the CISOs and editors your buyers listen to. They report on meetings and pipeline. And they will start small, so you can judge their work before you sign a retainer.
Agency, fractional marketing director or a new hire?
An agency gives you production capacity, a fractional marketing director gives you senior strategy with a team behind it, and a new hire gives you one person’s full attention. Each suits a different stage, and each has a weak spot.
| Option | What you get | Where it falls short |
|---|---|---|
| New marketing hire | One person, full time, who stays and learns the product deeply | One person can rarely do every job the role needs, and recruiting takes months |
| Generalist agency | Writers, designers and campaign capacity on demand | Rarely knows the security buyers, editors and events your campaign depends on |
| Fractional marketing director and team | Senior strategy plus specialists to carry it out | Part-time attention, so it works only if the director has room for you and knows your sector |
The fractional model suits growth-stage security companies that need a strategy and the people to run it, but can’t yet justify a full-time marketing executive. That is the model we work in. Tom leads the work, a team of specialists comes in for the specific areas of each campaign, and ongoing programs start from $10,000 a month. A company with a strong marketing lead already in place may only need an agency for production.
Five questions to ask before you sign
Ask every agency on your shortlist the same five questions, and judge them on how specific the answers are. Vague answers now become vague reports later.
What was the last campaign you ran for a security company, and how many meetings did it book? A good answer names a number and a period.
Who would you invite to our first roundtable? Ask for names. An agency that knows the sector can give you five on the spot.
Who will do the work each week? The senior person in the pitch is not always the person writing your posts.
What will your monthly report show? Look for meetings, opportunities and pipeline against your target accounts, tracked stage by stage. Impressions alone are a warning.
Can we start with one piece of work? A good agency will let you test them first. Ours can start with one piece, such as a ghost-written opinion piece for $2,000 or a media release for $2,500.
We’d expect you to ask us all five. Murfin Group is a Melbourne strategy and storytelling firm for cyber security, quantum and technology companies, and our clients have included Fortinet, Qualys and GuardWare. The answers to the first two questions are the ones we’d most like you to test.
To put the questions to us, book a 30-minute meeting or email tom@murfin.au.
