Targeted Sponsored Content Amplifies Sophos’ New Go-To-Market Messaging

The Challenge

To shift Sophos’ go-to-market strategy, the Walker Sands team needed to achieve three key objectives:

1. Increase awareness of Sophos’ ability to provide cybersecurity-as-a-service
2. Deliver new go-to-market messaging to key audiences crucial to Sophos’ business
3. Highlight product and service superiority and differentiate Sophos from its competitors

With these objectives in mind, our team felt confident that sponsored content offered an ideal solution for Sophos. This approach would enable Sophos to effectively communicate its new messaging to its target audiences by leveraging the credibility and reputation of well-respected industry publications. By doing so, the team could position Sophos at the forefront of the cybersecurity-as-a-service conversation.

The Solution

To kick off the sponsored content program, Walker Sands worked with the Sophos team to identify the audiences they wanted to target with the new messaging. The team landed on C-level executives, who would be motivated by cybersecurity-as-a-service’s ability to protect their organization’s bottom line, and IT security leaders who were craving the added expertise and resources that cybersecurity-as-a-service can provide.

By customizing the message to each audience, the team hoped to deliver content that resonated with these key segments while also positioning the authors of the sponsored articles as forward-looking industry thought leaders.

Based on Sophos’ narrative, target audiences and budget, Walker Sands researched and evaluated sponsored content programs offered by relevant publications to determine the best distributor for Sophos’ new messaging. After delivering a short list of opportunities that aligned with Sophos’ objectives, we decided to pursue content series opportunities with The Wall Street Journal and IDG, the parent company of CSO.

Next, a dedicated, in-house content writer created a series of articles that highlighted Sophos’ cybersecurity-as-a-service narrative in a way that informed and educated readers. Article topics included the rise of ransomware, the ultimate guide to outsourcing cybersecurity with a cybersecurity-as-a-service model, and how to plan your next cyberattack response.

From coordinating kick-off calls to crafting and refining content and reviewing results, Walker Sands managed and facilitated the end-to-end sponsored content process. Our team served as the primary contact to ensure a seamless experience for both Sophos and the publications.

The Results

The sponsored content program resulted in a total of 13 articles, driving awareness of Sophos as a leader in delivering cybersecurity-as-a-service among key audiences. Combined, the 13 articles earned 54,021 page views and sent thousands of readers directly to the Sophos website.

The articles also achieved an average of 4 minutes and 48 seconds time-on-page across publications, demonstrating that Sophos’ message resonated with readers. Ultimately, the article series enabled Sophos to break through to the audiences that mattered most to its business and helped position the company as an industry frontier in the cybersecurity-as-a-service space.