Cybersecurity Content Strategy: What Works and What’s a Waste of Time?

Cybersecurity is a booming industry, according to the Cybersecurity Market Report, with an estimated market size of $234.01 billion in 2025. The market is estimated to reach $424.14 billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.63%.

Cybersecurity is a culturally distinct industry. Spending even just a short time in cyber, it becomes clear that specific patterns, behaviors, and cultural norms stand out. Fresh observations from an outsider’s perspective often reveal the hard-hitting truths, such as:

• The importance of having a CMO 
• The complex relationship between Sales and Marketing
• The ability to think outside the box, avoid cliches, sound different, and try not to be boring

With the size of the industry, it’s hard to stand out in all of the noise. Marketers face many of these problems in other industries, but in cybersecurity it only continues to compound. At the end of the day, cybersecurity has one core purpose: to protect against cyber crimes.

How can you craft a cybersecurity content strategy that actually works? Your content should convince customers that they need protection – especially the kind offered by your organization – but in a sea of blue logos and websites all selling the same thing, the cybersecurity marketer’s job is a tall order: how can you best stand out when numbers still need to be hit, the company still needs to grow, and the product still needs to sell? What matters beyond the spectacle is the numbers; any company exists to sell its customers something and make money.

Ross Haleliuk perfectly captures this vicious cycle: 

“There is one truth that many people, regardless of the industry, have yet to fully internalize: everyone is selling something. It is the nature of business—it isn’t just about building something cool and paying people’s salaries; it’s also about returns to shareholders, growing the market share, and making money.” - Cybersecurity marketing: in need of fundamental change.

Cybersecurity marketing, like Ross explains, is in need of fundamental change. Here’s what’s a waste of time – and what works – in cybersecurity content strategy. 

What’s a Waste of Time?

1. Let's not be Ultron… Substance vs spectacle

While watching The Avengers, it’s hard not to think about what Ultron represents: an over-engineered protector who eventually becomes the problem. Cybersecurity, at times, plays between spectacle and substance. Fear-mongering is a well-worn tactic in the industry. But fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) may not get you very far: being hacked or scammed is a stressful experience, and no one denies the real risks, but, relying too heavily on fear can desensitize the audience or make a brand sound disingenuous.

It’s the Ultron effect: designed to be the ultimate protector, but through unchecked logic and escalating fear, he becomes the threat he was meant to stop. In cybersecurity content strategy, constantly pushing danger without providing grounded and proven solutions alienates rather than engages.

Content that is merely spectacle – and ultimately providing no value – should be avoided.

2. Lack of purpose and consistency

Another common pitfall? Content that lacks purpose or consistency. Nili Molvin Zaharony’s article, Three Reasons Your Cyber Security Content Isn’t Driving Conversions, hits this point. She outlines how many cybersecurity companies fall into the trap of producing content that doesn’t solve audience problems, lacks clear calls to action, and is inconsistent in delivery. Content for content’s sake, without focusing on the audience’s needs or without driving actionable outcomes, adds noise rather than value.

In a crowded market, that kind of self-serving approach doesn't differentiate; it drowns in the sea of sameness. Cybersecurity content strategy should prioritize clarity, consistency, and customer value over flashy gimmicks or filler blogs. 

3. The final waste of time? Skipping a clear content strategy.

Moving straight into content creation can be tempting, but without meaning or purpose and a clear, focused strategy tied to audience pain points and long-term goals, even the best content can feel scattered.

Anjika Jain talks about this in her article on Why Cybersecurity Content Marketing is a Challenge for Businesses, highlighting how successful brands lean into niche topics, long-tail SEO, clear metrics, and consistent messaging to stand out in a saturated market. Without a strategy, efforts are wasted, blogs get written without purpose, key audiences aren’t reached, and ROI remains invisible. Content becomes just another checkbox rather than a driver of growth.

What works?

1. Customer problem-solving first (Keep it simple)

When we take a step back and see the people impacted by cybersecurity, we’re able to humanize it. They have voices, likes, dislikes, needs, and wants, just like anyone else. 

One way to make sure your content solves real customer problems? Understand who your customers actually are. Not just broadly—but at a more specific, human level. That’s where the idea of personas comes in.

In the Society  webinar with David Ebner, Where the Story Starts: Personas, he talks about how developing personas is like having a GPS. If you know exactly who you’re speaking to, you can follow the map more easily; your content will miss the mark less frequently.

In cybersecurity, this matters even more because a CISO and a SOC analyst aren’t looking for the same thing. Without knowing who you’re addressing, you risk writing content that sounds generic, doesn’t solve their actual pain points, and doesn’t convert.

You can watch the full webinar here: Where the Story Starts: Personas  

2. Niche SEO or long-tail Keywords

Generic keywords are like casting a wide net in a sea full of competitors. You might get visibility but not necessarily the right audience. The brands standing out are the ones narrowing their focus, creating content around specific problems and detailed search queries. That’s where long-tail keywords come in. These aren’t always just random low-traffic terms; they match exactly what a decision-maker or IT manager is searching for and they bring in people who are ready to act, not just browse.

As Eric Siu points out in his analysis on long-tail keywords, brands that focus on these niche, intent-driven queries avoid the crowded fight for attention and end up attracting visitors who are much more likely to convert.  It’s not about getting the most clicks, it’s about getting the right clicks.

3. Strategically repurpose content

Not every company has endless resources – we have to work within the constraints we have. The Society knows that better than anyone, because whenever we can, we recycle existing content. Brands that take one strong piece of content and repurpose it – across blog posts, LinkedIn carousels, webinar clips, and so on –  get more mileage without burning out.

The bottom line

At the end of the day, cybersecurity content strategy doesn't need to be overcomplicated, over-engineered, or drowned in noise. It’s not about flashy campaigns or fear tactics, it’s about knowing who you're speaking to, understanding what they need, and delivering clear, valuable content consistently. 

Substance will always outlast spectacle. Whether it's through meaningful problem-solving, smarter SEO focus, or simply making the most of what you already have, the brands that prioritize strategy and audience value will rise above the sameness.

Cybersecurity might be complex, but your content strategy shouldn’t be.