Cybersecurity marketers – How to break through the noise at RSA

RSA is one of the most important industry events in cybersecurity, bringing together more than 40K attendees. It includes keynotes from major influencers and top government officials, discussing key issues affecting the industry, and setting the agenda for the rest of the year. However, with so many vendors competing to be part of the conversation at the show, it’s difficult to know how much impact a vendor can make. 

As a marketer, understanding impact isn’t just a case of counting coverage. We need a more holistic view of the event to understand what the “noise” looks like and what impact is needed for a message to be heard. To do this, we analyzed articles from over 150 vendors who attended RSA in 2024 to get a clear idea of what marketing and comms professionals must do to get noticed this year. 

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What does cut through look like?

153 vendors achieved coverage at RSA, but we estimate that there were closer to 600 competing for coverage from the short list of media. This is a busy and sometimes overwhelming time for journalists, their inboxes are flooded with pitches and requests for briefings. If you’re trying to get their attention, you need a good story to stand out. 

Companies with a strong news angle earned, on average, nine pieces of coverage. This tells us that to cut through the noise you typically need to be earning eleven or more pieces of coverage to consider the event a success. 

However, it is important to know that when reporting on coverage, although volume is good, quality is just as important. RSA attracts some very influential journalists from highly reputable news outlets such as Dark Reading, Infosecurity and SC Media—but some stories will see success more than others. Why?

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To drive coverage at RSA, you need data

Cybersecurity journalists have a massive appetite for trends around cybercrime and how it affects businesses. This is true all year round, and RSA is no different. More than half of coverage at last year’s event covered vendor research or insights from threat intelligence teams. The ability to share insights on a unique industry challenge or an emerging threat puts vendors at an advantage when trying to attract the attention of the media. 

Beyond data, M&A and funding stories were the most covered news stories. The volume of M&A announcements reflects the ongoing trend of consolidation in the market. 

Attending RSA, or any big event, without a big news story puts a vendor trying to raise awareness at a disadvantage. Of course, not every vendor will have this type of story, and their success will rely on crafting a good story—possible but challenging in this highly competitive media environment.

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Pitch at least two weeks early

Our research tells us that in the lead up to RSA, coverage starts to rise in an “anticipation period”. Indeed, for this year’s event, we've already seen a search increase of 9%, and media conversations have increased by 27% in the last 30 days. 

Coverage volume then peaks during the conference, with 50 pieces of coverage being published on average every day. To achieve this volume, journalists will have a few stories written in advance. You need to pitch at least two weeks in advance of the show—ideally a month—to stand a good change of a story being included. 

For vendors, the benefit of coverage either during the anticipation period or at the event is raising awareness, driving traffic to their booth and providing sales teams with the ammunition they need to generate leads on the ground. 

RSA provides a short window of opportunity to get coverage, but our analysis tells us that event coverage continues for at least two weeks following the event, before slowing down. Even if you didn’t get the coverage you wanted during the show, the following weeks offer opportunities. This in turn provides content to feed marketing and sales activities and nurture leads generated at the conference. 

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Build relationships early 

Cybersecurity journalists’ time is limited, especially at a conference, so fostering a relationship with them throughout the year and knowing when they start planning for it is key to pitching a story for an event. Pitching a month or two weeks before the event won’t help if they’ve never heard from you before. 

We’re anticipating that RSA 2025 is going be bigger than last year, especially given the keynote and conference speakers lined up, and this will only increase the competition for coverage. Understanding the media landscape has to be a key part of RSA planning—and needs to start now.

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