MarTech Interview with Lisa Matherly, CMO at Cobalt

MarTechSeries caught up with Lisa Matherly, CMO at Cobalt to chat about modern B2B marketing trends dominating the B2B technology marketplace in 2023:

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Welcome to this MarTech Series chat, Lisa, tell us about yourself and your marketing journey through the years, we’d love to hear more about your new role as CMO at Cobalt.

I have two decades of experience in B2B marketing and cybersecurity, with expertise in all customer segments, indirect/direct channels, product marketing, growth marketing and operations. Before joining Cobalt, I served as the Senior Vice President of Marketing at [24]7.ai where I led the brand and go-to-market transformation for their SaaS business in conversational AI and contact center automation. Prior to my role at [24]7.ai, I worked with McAfee, Intel, and 3Com in various leadership roles across marketing, customer service, and sales.

First and foremost, I am deeply passionate about cybersecurity. Having grown up in a family of law enforcement and public service, I have a natural instinct to help people and businesses protect what matters most to them from cyber threats. After working in the cybersecurity industry for more than 20 years, I have a better understanding of the Cobalt customer, what their challenges and pain points are, and how we can continue to be a trusted partner to better protect valuable data, IP, and information.

It is an exciting time at Cobalt, as the company saw record growth in 2022, announced new products and partnerships, and received various industry recognitions. In fact, Cobalt was just awarded four new badges in the new G2 Spring 2023 Grid, and has been named a Leader in PtaaS for the SIXTH consecutive quarter. It’s truly a testament to the experience Cobalt’s customers and partners have had with us. One of my top priorities is making the team feel confident in where we’re going as an organization. I want us to focus on creating a multi-segment portfolio strategy that will reach the right audiences with a new approach to solving their security needs. My role is to ensure that all enterprises, big and small, regardless of industry, are aware of the benefits pentesting brings. With its flexibility,  affordability and effectiveness, PtaaS must be a line item on every company’s budget.

When it comes to B2B tech marketing and the current challenges that plague modern marketers: what are your observations and suggested best practices?

One of the main challenges that modern marketers face in B2B marketing is the ever-changing landscape of technology and the need to keep up with the latest trends and innovations. To address this challenge, it is important for marketers to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in their industry and to have a solid understanding of their target audience’s needs and preferences. The same can be said for the security industry to protect against the rapidly increasing number of cyber attacks.

Another challenge is the increasing competition. To stand out from the crowd, marketers need to clearly differentiate their products and services by highlighting their unique value propositions and benefits. Going beyond tangible offerings, ensuring your product is the most flexible, user-friendly and affordable, all while remaining adaptable is essential in order to keep up with market shifts.

Many industries continue facing a talent shortage and cybersecurity has been hit hard in this regard. At Cobalt, we have a unique opportunity to help address the growing talent shortage problem through Cobalt Core, a community of skilled, vetted on-demand pentesting professionals. This program provides professionals the opportunity for flexible work, freelancing their skills and connecting with Cobalt customers across the globe. Finding the potential and transferable skills in people and providing them with career growth opportunities can be an advantage to navigate talent shortages.

Lastly, the continued adoption of cloud computing solutions and services will drive the need for customers to evolve their approach to security, which needs to integrate nimble and agile pentesting throughout the lifecycle. Regular, comprehensive testing is essential but continuous, agile testing is where customers are headed – and they need to do this without compromising their own innovation, revenue growth or security compliance.

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Can you highlight some of the key martech and B2B tech marketing trends that you feel will dominate the industry through 2023?

In 2023, marketers will continue to look for ways to leverage AI to augment and even automate some laborious tasks and processes. This will allow marketing teams and organizations as a whole to redirect budgets and make the marketing organization more agile. I think marketers will play a key leadership role in customer retention and loyalty – even extending to overall customer experience. Additionally, content will continue to be king (or queen), especially if the content comes from reputable influencers and peers that educate and empower the buyer. Ultimately, brands who invest in marketing during these economic times have an incredible opportunity to grab share and come out ahead of their competitors.

We’d love to hear more about your own marketing processes and strategies that you rely on as well as the martech behind them?

I enjoy being the voice of the customer inside the company – ranging from corporate strategy and product roadmap, to sales and partner enablement, all the way to customer success and support. Marketing is both an art and a science. Being able to merge the two is what I ultimately strive to accomplish.

If you could change five things about the state of B2B tech marketing, what would they be?

Greater focus on customer experience: B2B tech marketing often prioritizes lead generation and sales, which ultimately results in unintentionally pushing customer experience to the waist side. To improve this, companies must focus on delivering high-quality, optimal customer experiences that build long-term relationships and foster customer loyalty.

Increase personalization: Prioritizing personalization in all stages of the buyer journey, including messaging, content, and sales interactions enables companies to build deeper connections with customers. In turn, we see improved engagement and conversion rates.

More emphasis on storytelling: All too often, tech marketing focuses on the technical, nitty-gritty features and benefits of a product or service, which can be overwhelming to potential buyers. This stands especially true when aiming to increase awareness to an audience where your service may be uncommon or foreign. By incorporating storytelling and relating messaging to current trends (like cybersecurity breaches), companies can better engage with customers and make their products and services more relatable.

Better use of data: Leveraging data to gain insights into customer needs and preferences is paramount to evolving with shifting market demand. Using real-time information to develop marketing strategies helps identify trends and opportunities that would otherwise go unnoticed.

For example, our 2023 State of Pentesting report found that 79% of cybersecurity professionals say they’re deprioritizing to-do list items just to stay afloat due to tight budgets and slim teams from layoffs. Another 89% report their workloads are harder to manage. This causes fewer resources and leads to a backlog of unaddressed vulnerabilities. Of those, 82% expect this to worsen in 2023. This signals urgency for security teams to maximize their pentesting efforts and bolster their organization’s security posture.

Collaboration between marketing and sales departments: Marketing and sales teams often operate in silos, which often leads to misaligned messaging and missed opportunities. By fostering collaboration between these teams, it provides a holistic view into overarching company goals, challenges and successors. This helps companies be better equipped to create seamless customer experiences and improve overall sales performance.

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A few common misconceptions about B2B tech marketing and martech that you’d like to dispel?

One of the biggest misconceptions right now, especially with generative AI having its moment, is that martech can replace the need for human marketers. The reality is, while technology can automate certain processes and improve efficiency, many areas still require the irreplaceable human touch to create and execute in-depth marketing strategies. Technology is not coming for our jobs! As new technologies integrate into our workplaces and begin to take on the more mundane, repetitive tasks all businesses face, marketers can focus more on what matters: the evolving needs of our customers and providing them with the best services possible.

Another misconception that we often deal with in the cybersecurity industry  is that tech marketing revolves around product features and technical specs. While technical details are important, it is our job as marketers to focus on demonstrating how the product can solve the customer’s pain points and deliver measurable business results.