The 2025 CISO Engagement and Decision Drivers Study reveals that AI-themed content dominates cybersecurity interest, while operational technology (OT) cybersecurity is gaining editorial traction but lacks corresponding vendor-sponsored content. The report highlights evolving content format trends, regional preferences, and industry-specific topic engagement, emphasizing the importance of tailored, high-value content strategies. #ArtificialIntelligence #OperationalTechnology #Ransomware
Keypoints
- The report is structured into four main sections: Content Creation & Format Trends, Topic Trends & Industry Signals, CISO Preferences & Persona Engagement, and Intent Data, AI Trends & Buyer Behavior, each analyzing content production, audience interests, engagement, and behavioral data.
- Key statistics include a 235% increase in content asset production over 10 years and a 323% rise in sponsored digital content since 2015, with articles and videos growing steadily, while podcasts decline.
- AI remains the most engaging topic across all industries and regions, while ransomware and OT cybersecurity are emerging as significant focus areas for sponsors and audiences alike.
- Sponsored content maintains seasonal spikes around October and March linked to budget cycles and campaign launches, underscoring the importance of timing and cadence in content marketing.
- Regional preferences vary notably: North America and EMEA favor webinars; LATAM and APAC prefer articles; India, APAC, and ANZ engage more with whitepapers, suggesting a need for localized format strategies.
- Industry-specific preferences highlight AI, cloud security, cyberwarfare, and ransomware as universally important, with tailored messaging necessary to address sector-specific risks, such as fraud management in financial services.
- OT cybersecurity editorial content increased by over 50% in 2024, reflecting rising regulatory and threat landscape interest, yet vendor-sponsored OT content declined, indicating a strategic opportunity for early movers.
- CISOs show strong preference for webinars as executive engagement assets, while podcasts and expert-led videos effectively build mid-funnel trust and momentum.
- The study underscores the convergence of offense and defense in AI-related topics, with both AI-powered attacks and protections rising, encouraging integrated narrative development for marketing strategies.
- Recurring themes emphasize the value of multi-format campaigns, repurposing top-performing assets, and combining evergreen topics with emerging trends to sustain visibility and engagement in a competitive content environment.
Source: Awesome Annual Security Reports - The reports in this collection are limited to content which does not require a paid subscription, membership, or service contract. (https://github.com/jacobdjwilson/awesome-annual-security-reports/)