How to exhibit successfully at Cybersecurity Trade Shows

Cybersecurity trade shows often practically work for cybersecurity companies as the anchors around which their year will be built, from a public relations perspective. The large US and European trade shows – In particular, Black Hat, Infosecurity Europe and RSA – often serve as times when announcements of products, research, new hires and partnerships can be launched, while the eyes of the technology press is firmly focused on cybersecurity, and cybersecurity companies. However, this attention can be a double-edged sword. While the attention of the press being focused on these shows is useful, the reality is that this strategy is widespread, meaning that every other cybersecurity company is thinking about similar tactics. The following piece will provide 5 golden rules for exhibiting at trade shows, from a PR perspective

1. Research the trade show in question and pick the right one

Ensuring you’ve picked the right trade show for your organisation is imperative. The success of any PR strategy developed around a trade show relies on the audience, and attending press at this trade show being interested in your announcement. As such, work with your PR team to review the press list, and tailor any announcement towards the registered press. Additionally, before committing to exhibiting, speak with the event organisers to understand a breakdown of the likely attendees. Trade shows are often a not insignificant spend, so ensuring the attendees fit your ICP is paramount, from a sales and lead generation perspective as well as to inform any PR undertaken around the show

2. Ensure your news is really news

As mentioned above, you should expect the news landscape around major cybersecurity trade shows to be extremely competitive. This means that media attention will be even harder to capture than it usually is. As such, comms teams need to work not just on building out a corporate announcement but building a narrative around this; placing their corporate news in a wider context, encompassing trends, insight or original data (such as surveys) is the best way to do this.  

3. Prepare in advance

Journalist, whose time is already limited, will find their time even more limited in the run up to a large trade show. This is particularly true of some trade shows which have official media partners (Such as Infosecurity Europe and Infosecurity Magazine, and Black Hat and Dark Reading). As such, making sure any news you’re hoping to get eyes on is shared with relevant journalists well in advance under embargo is key. This gives the media time to digest news, arrange pre-bref9ings, and potentially prepare to write in tandem with your own launch.  

4. Make use of the press office

Eskenzi PR has run many press offices at trade shows over the years such as Infosecurity Europe and International Cyber Expo. As such, one of our key tips is to use the press office as much as possible! Come and talk to the team running it and have physical materials relating to your company or news which you can ask (nicely!) to leave in the press office. Journalists and analysts will often use the press office as their base for the day, so having branded company material left there increases the chance they will stumble across it.  

5. Think about your trade show PR plans year round

One of the key things identified on a recent Eskenzi PR webinar about exhibiting successfully was that the more contact you have with a journalist throughout the year, the more success you’re likely to have when it comes around to event season. If a journalist is aware of your company, and already has a relationship with your spokespeople or PR team/agency, you’re infinitely more likely to be successful in getting their attention during the busiest week of the year. PR is about a ‘drip’ of content to supplement the big launches! Happy exhibiting! This guide is a part of our ongoing ‘How to Guide’ series. To read more, please click here.