Selling cybersecurity products and services isn’t exactly a walk in the park. You’re not just competing with a ton of other vendors. Still, you’re also fighting against one of the most potent psychological barriers we have when selling to other humans (especially when selling some proactive or defensive product).
Yep, it’s the whole mindset of “that won’t ever happen to us.”
If you’re in the infosec space, you already know we have a cybercrime epidemic on our hands. Each year, hackers find more innovative ways to breach our defenses. State-sponsored cyber warfare seems to be ramping up. And to top it all off, we are seeing ransomware attacks hit the headlines almost weekly now.
Yet despite all this, you still face the same response from prospects: a polite nod, maybe some concerned hmm-ing and hah-ing, followed by “we’ll think about it” or “let’s circle back next quarter.”
If this sounds familiar – don’t worry. Likely, the problem isn’t your product or your service. It’s probably not even your pitch. It’s the human psychology working against you. It’s hard to convince someone to invest heavily and hand over budgets to protect themselves from something they’ve never seen or heard – only on the news.
Why We Think We’re Immune
The psychological phenomenon at play here has a name: optimism bias. It’s the same reason people smoke despite knowing the health risks or why they text while driving even though they’ve seen the PSAs. Your prospects aren’t stupid. They’re human.
Humans have an incredible ability to acknowledge risks in the abstract while believing we’re somehow exempt from them. It’s not logical, but it’s deeply ingrained in our thinking.
This same way of thinking will also be applied to cybersecurity. Even if prospects see tech giant after tech giant being hit by attacks, they never assume or fully accept that they are in the firing line, too. It’s naivety, and cyber companies need to break through it.
Breaking Through the Denial
So, how do you market cybersecurity solutions when your audience has this psychological immunity to your fear-based appeals? Here are practical approaches that work:
1. Make It Personal
Generic statistics don’t change behavior. Numbers and hard data are all well and good, but personal stories and anecdotes might.
Instead of saying: “43% of cyberattacks target small businesses”
You could give a hypothetical scenario like, “Imagine you come into work on a Monday morning, ready to deliver an important sales presentation to a key prospect. As you start preparing, you notice your files are encrypted, and suddenly, you see a message on your screen demanding $50,000 to recover your files. Your customer database, financial records, and email—are all locked. What’s your first call?”
If you help prospects visualize this very realistic scenario, this can bypass the rational brain that says, “It won’t happen to me,” and trigger emotional responses that drive action.
2. Focus on Success, Not Fear
While fear has its place in marketing because it is an important driver, it’s clearly not always enough. Most people, especially in the B2B space, want to see results. They want to know what they will gain, not what they can avoid losing. And that’s the key difference.
Rather than emphasizing what could go wrong, tell prospects how good it feels to gain peace of mind, confidence, and the freedom to focus on growth instead of worrying about threats.
You can also sell the very real time-saving and efficiency benefits that modern cyber solutions bring. For example, you could mention how automated threat intelligence can save hours of manual work for their teams or how integrated security platforms reduce the need for setting up and maintaining multiple dashboards and reports. These productivity angles often resonate with executives who might otherwise dismiss security as just a cost center.
3. Amplify Your Message Through Cyber PR
An often overlooked tool in the infosec space is strategic cyber PR. If your prospect sees you quoted in Tier-1 publications, your credibility and authority automatically shoot up.
Cybersecurity press release distribution services can be very valuable in a wide range of marketing scenarios. For example, maybe your founders want to be featured commenting on new and emerging threats.
You could share non-promotional security research to help control the narrative on the latest trends. If (or when) a significant breach occurs, your leadership can offer expert analysis and give a full breakdown of what happened and how companies can protect themselves.
Essentially, you position your company as an authority while subtly challenging the “it won’t happen to me” mindset.
Seeing your insights in respected industry publications makes prospects think, “If these security experts are in CIO Magazine talking about this threat, maybe I should take it seriously.” This third-party validation gives you authority by association, and it may help you succeed where direct marketing fails.
4. Use Social Proof Strategically
When someone thinks, “It won’t happen to me,” they’re really saying, “I’m different.” Social proof counters this by showing them they’re not so different after all. But not all social proof is created equal:
- Good: Testimonials from companies that prevented attacks
- Better: Testimonials from similar companies in their industry
- Best: Stories from companies who thought they were immune—until they weren’t
A recovering skeptic is your most influential advocate. Look for opportunities to feature these stories in your PR campaigns, too.
5. Make Inaction Feel Risky
The status quo feels safe. Your job is to make it feel dangerous. Ask questions like:
- “What’s your current response plan if you’re hit with ransomware tomorrow?”
- “How quickly would you know if someone was inside your network right now?”
- “If your data was breached, who would you have to tell, and what would you say?”
These questions shift the burden of proof. They make prospects sit up and genuinely think about these scenarios. Above all, they should show them how their current level of protection is actually leaving them exposed, giving you that all-important window of opportunity.
Final Word
The “it won’t happen to me” mindset isn’t a wall—it’s a filter. But your marketing doesn’t need to break this wall down—it just needs to be the kind that makes it through the filter.
Even in the B2B buying journey, decisions are still made emotionally. People usually act based on a feeling, then justify it when data later – not the other way around. Even if you’re selling a cyber solution, you need to try and touch it.
Because deep down, people know the truth. A cyberattack could absolutely happen to them. Your job isn’t to convince them of this fact—it’s to make them feel safe enough to admit it.
