Eight Effective Methods For Educating Consumers About Cybersecurity

It can be argued that any company that collects and handles customer data has the responsibility of leveraging strong methods to protect it, but a similar point can also be made about the company’s responsibility to educate consumers about malware and cyberattacks. Safe customers are happy customers, and helping to ensure your customers follow cybersecurity best practices can help keep them that way.

There’s no one way of going about this task, however. Below, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss eight effective methods for educating consumers about cybersecurity and why these methods are so beneficial for your customers and your company.

1. Host Live Webinars

One of the best ways to educate your customers and communicate the significance of cybersecurity is through live webinars. To make the sessions interactive, you can welcome questions and ask the audience to share their experiences with respect to cybersecurity issues they’ve faced in the past and how they dealt with those situations. You can then follow up by presenting the best practices that could have helped them prevent or cope with the situations in a better way. This would not only make your sessions engaging but also give you useful insights that foster effective communication. – Jared Atchison, WPForms

2. Provide Resources For Further Information

Add the occasional links to educational resources on staying safe online as part of your responsibility for customer safety. You can send reminders with your emails from time to time to be vigilant. When sending out emails or newsletters to your customers, consider adding an occasional P.S. at the bottom that contains educational resources for staying safe online. These resources could include short notes on topics such as spotting phishing scams or setting up two-factor authentication on accounts, accompanied by trusted links. If possible and relevant to your business model or audience, create a dedicated webpage or section just for educational materials on your website for customers to find cybersecurity information whenever needed. – Tonika Bruce, Lead Nicely, Inc.

3. Gamify The Learning Experience

One effective way to communicate best practices is to rope in professional cybersecurity training experts and conduct “emergency simulation programs” for users to get a practical idea of how essential cybersecurity programs are. Businesses can generate and hold users’ interest by gamifying this whole training program and gifting users with tokens or surprise gifts. Also, recognize and reward users who report malicious emails or cyberattacks. Create case studies around these incidents and let the natural curiosity of users inspire them to take cybersecurity seriously. – Brian David Crane, Spread Great Ideas

4. Make Posts On Social Media

One effective way to clearly communicate cybersecurity best practices and educate your customers about cyberattacks is to leverage social media. You should build a community using the social media platform best suited to your customers’ preferences and engage your audience by sharing relevant content around cybersecurity best practices. Not only will this help educate your customers, but it will also enable you to interact with them as they share their experiences with you and other members of the community. – Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms

5. Leverage The User Onboarding Process

I think that one of the best ways to educate customers on improving security and preventing cyberattacks is to leverage the onboarding process. Whenever a customer signs up for a service, they should be presented with an educational video or blog post on the importance of data security. This video or post should clearly outline best practices such as using strong passwords, enabling two-factor authentication and regularly updating software. Also, you can add tips, overlays and text information along with your product features. In this way, you make secure practices more accessible to customers and help them make more informed decisions. – Blair Williams, MemberPress

6. Implement A Thought Leadership Strategy

Companies that collect and handle customer data are responsible for educating customers about malware and cyberattacks. Cybersecurity is a team effort, so ensuring that customers are up to date on best practices is essential to secure data successfully. Creating a thought leadership content strategy that repeatedly hammers home best practices through a variety of mediums is the best way to ensure customers are familiar with and remain up to date. A powerful tactic to ensure customer understanding is repurposing the initial messaging into different content formats, such as image carousels and infographics, to distribute to other channels. For a distribution method, email and social media are the fastest ways to communicate with your audience. – Julian Hamood, Trusted Tech Team

7. Use Simple Yet Helpful Messages

One of the best and most effective ways to clearly communicate cybersecurity best practices is by crafting well-thought-out yet simple messages that are easy to comprehend. Not everyone in your audience is tech-savvy or understands the complex terms or jargon often used to educate people about cybersecurity. So, to generate awareness, it’s best that you convey simple messages that don’t make people scratch their heads. – Chris Klosowski, Easy Digital Downloads

8. Create A Dedicated Page On Your Website

I think business leaders should teach customers how to keep their data safe and secure. You should also share some of the key steps you’re taking to ensure their sensitive data remains hidden. One way to do this is to create a security page on your website full of tips and strategies for improving cybersecurity. – Damanjeet Singh, FunnelKit