Digital marketing is an essential part of modern business today. With the worldwide lockdown of countries due to the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020, businesses found it essential and more profitable to sell their services online. Any business that is serious about growth and dominance must strive to satisfy its audience/customers wherever they are.
What the Digital Space has to Offer
The digital space has become more saturated in recent years with the introduction of various innovative digital marketing trends which help you sell better. Some of these digital marketing trends include visual search, online reviews, artificial intelligence, voice search engine optimization, programmatic advertising, chatbots, and data-driven marketing to name a few.
That being said, to remain competitive in today’s online marketing space, you should be ready to adapt to the ever-evolving changes that occur in digital marketing.
Risks associated with the Digital Space
As with any internet-enabled service, digital marketers can be at risk of cyber-attack. This includes but is not limited to hacking, identity theft, data breaches, scammers, etc. This means that a stellar online security solution is a must for any individual or organization.
Individuals often downplay the importance of online security but as a digital marketer, you should make your online security a priority.
Security Risks Faced by Digital Marketers
Cyber-attacks might not just lead to a loss of data or sensitive materials. As a digital marketer, you’re mostly in charge of various organizations’ accounts and data which could amount to huge amounts of money. If by chance you’re exposed to an attack online, you can lose this money and plunge the company into a loss.
It is estimated that companies around the world spend an average of $3.9 million to rectify data breaches. The points below explain the risks and how they could materialize into an attack:
1. CMS (Content Marketing Strategy) Attacks – Many digital marketers do not consider the need to set up a proper security system when setting up a content marketing strategy. Content management systems effectively ensure valuable content is available to end-users consistently. Breaches occur with CMS (content management systems) if security is not enforced.
Content management systems can include WordPress, Drupal, or any other platform. These platforms have databases connected to them and a security breach would mean confidential information is compromised.
2. Attack on Email Marketing Systems – Email marketing is a major part of digital marketing today. Almost 90% of the online population has an email address to their person. It is therefore required of any serious digital marketer to use email marketing as a means of communication to sell products and services to customers who are subscribed to receive such emails.
This huge availability of information on these email marketing systems has led to the development of malware known as Phishing. Phishing intends to trick unsuspecting customers to submit confidential information via a link they receive in their email. Email marketing security risk is massive as it can affect all the customers and lead to loss of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and money.
3. Attack on Social Media Accounts – Social media is arguably the best platform for digital marketers to ensure brands, products, and services are accessible to all customers. The vast array of content available on social media accounts attracts hackers and anybody wishing to steal information. Attacks on social media accounts can be launched by identity theft, hacking, and most importantly by phishing links. Even though social media services provide a high level of security, it is left to you as a digital marketer to ensure there’s adequate security for all your accounts.
5 Amazing Security Tips for Digital Marketers:
As we’ve discussed the common risks digital marketers are exposed to, it is also important to share some security tips that would secure your digital marketing career online. They include:
1. Always Update Your Software – Digital marketing professionals often carry out their job roles by using software applications specifically designed for the marketing. Digital marketing can also be done by using SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) products. An example of these websites is WordPress.
To best protect these applications and websites against hacking and loss of data, regular software updates are mandatory. New patches are developed to fight against malware, bugs and to secure the application better.
2. Use a Strong Password Always – Being a digital marketer means you have access to client websites and social media accounts. There is a lot of information and services at your fingertips that could cost a loss of money, and data if compromised.
A client might not necessarily know the risks involved in using a weak password, however, it is your responsibility to make sure whatever password you set is strong and cannot be easily hacked. A combination of lower and upper case letters, numerals, special characters, and a minimum of 12 characters is best when choosing a password.
3. Make Use of a VPN – Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is the best when it comes to the security of your identity and data online. Downloading a VPN app and using it when accessing the Internet ensures you and your client’s data is secured through high-level encryption.
VPNs protect your data by encrypting all the traffic your devices are exposed to, in most cases, your network provider, or public Wi-Fi.
If you’re also looking to conduct keyword research in any clients’ country other than yours, researching with a VPN ensures you get all the trending keywords in the targeted region.
4. Use Anti-Virus Software – For better protection of your computer and smartphone devices you work with as a digital marketer, anti-virus software is necessary. A strong anti-virus protects against malware, and also enables email scanning for malicious links and removal of potential threats.
5. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication – To better ensure all-round security for all your devices and accounts, it is best to implement two-factor authentication. Hackers are daily implementing different tools and methods to bypass passwords set for devices and accounts.
However, with two-factor authentication, a multi-layered security system is set up that is not just dependent on passwords but other security data like an authentication code.
Conclusion
Just as the trends in digital marketing are on the rise, so is the rise in the potential for security attacks. As a digital marketer, it is left to you to better secure your and your client’s data from any form of security risks using the above information.
