Digital marketing is a fancy term which basically means that a business is using the internet to reach out to customers. In this day and age, digital marketing is not just a suggestion it is critical to the survival and success of the majority of businesses in existence. Digital marketing can be as simple as email correspondence and a website, however the rise of social media has given a new dimension to digital marketing. Business owners can now insert themselves into their customers feed and thus strengthening the impact of their ads and promotions in the minds of their clientele. The impact of social media campaigns and outreach has been massive to say the least. However, it is not without its risk.
Emails, social media, and digital marketing in general also increases the exposure that a company may receive to threats. Cyberattacks are no joke. Companies have lost vast sums of money, and some have even lost their businesses, as a result of cybersecurity breaches. Last year alone, more than 40% of companies surveyed claim that they have experienced a security breach. And it is not just revenue and profits being lost, but also the priceless trust of customers and investors.
In the face of this what is a business to do? There is a need to conduct business, to reach out to clients, to interact with them, to build trust, to build rapport and in the end, to earn their business. But in doing so, a company must put itself into considerable risk. Take email for example. It is perhaps the most popular and widely used methods of communication, but it is also the most unsafe form digital marketing and is the most exploited vectors of attack. Emails are particularly devastating because through email channels a cybercriminal can attack both the company and the customer. In the latter, a fraudster will pretend to be an agent of the company and phish information from the customer. This not only puts the customer in peril, but also demolishes the trust and reputation that the company has built with the customer.
Caught in between the hammer of cyberattacks and the anvil of turning a profit Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) must take steps to ensure that cost of acquiring customers is not the business. Above all CMOs must put the customer first. The key to maintaining their trust is predicated on the companies ability to protect their customers information. Working with the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) would be a prudent second step. Having both sides of the business equation on the same page will help develop a plan that will tackle the problem in manner that everyone can work with. And finally, it is best to remember that knowledge is power. Every minute of every day there is a cybercriminal somewhere in the word that is learning or developing ways to breach security systems. It is just what they do. CMOs, CISOs and companies must be equally diligent in their study of breaches in their industries, what is being done about them and to always communicate a breach. The quicker it has been made known that a breach has been suffered, the quicker a search for a remedy can begin.
Article by David Share from Amazing Support.
