How iVerify's First Marketing Hire Built a Research-Driven Engine

In this episode of The Marketing Front Lines, we speak with Lisa O'Reilly, Vice President of Marketing at iVerify. iVerify is pioneering mobile endpoint detection security, providing advanced protection against real threats that face all mobile devices, including both iOS and Android. As the first full-time marketing hire at the company, Lisa has built a marketing program from the ground up in one of the most crowded and competitive markets in tech. Through research-driven content marketing, strategic event approaches, and disciplined brand positioning, she's developed playbooks for standing out in the cybersecurity space while building authentic authority and trust within the mobile security community.

Topics Discussed:

• Building marketing programs as the first marketing hire at a cybersecurity startup
• Leveraging founder-led research and thought leadership for authentic brand building
• Evolving event strategies from large-scale booth presence to curated, high-value meetings
• Using AI tools to enhance marketing effectiveness and social media engagement
• Developing disciplined content strategies that build category authority
• Transitioning from product-focused to human-centered cybersecurity marketing

Lessons For B2B Tech Marketers:

1. Start With Deep ICP Analysis and Continuously Refine It: O'Reilly emphasizes that understanding your ideal customer profile isn't a one-time exercise. She rebuilt her buyer's journey and ABM program after her first year and continues to revise lead scoring models. This ongoing refinement ensures marketing efforts stay focused on prospects that actually convert, rather than chasing vanity metrics in an increasingly noisy market.
2. Leverage Authentic Research as Your Differentiation Engine: Rather than competing on messaging alone, iVerify built their marketing around proprietary research and threat discovery. Their "Data in the Middle" report became a conversation starter at RSA, opening doors that traditional marketing tactics couldn't. The key is ensuring research is genuinely valuable to the community, not just thinly veiled product promotion.
3. Abandon Large-Scale Events for Curated Relationship Building: O'Reilly shifted from expensive booth strategies at major conferences like RSA and Black Hat to hosting smaller, targeted meetings away from the event floor noise. This approach delivered better ROI through meaningful conversations and pipeline development, while avoiding the commoditized messaging that plagues large security conferences.
4. Use AI as a Creative Partner, Not a Replacement: O'Reilly discovered that AI-assisted social media content consistently outperformed her organic posts in terms of engagement. Rather than using AI for complete content creation, she leverages it to expand her initial ideas from three concepts to six or seven, then selects the best options. This approach maintains authenticity while enhancing creative output.
5. Build Authority Through Disciplined Topic Focus: In cybersecurity's crowded landscape, O'Reilly maintains strict discipline about which conversations to join. Rather than chasing every trending topic, iVerify focuses on mobile security expertise and consistently says no to adjacent opportunities. This focused approach builds genuine category authority over time.
6. Transition From Product-Centric to Human-Centric Narratives: O'Reilly's career evolution from commodity tech marketing to cybersecurity reflects a broader shift toward storytelling that emphasizes human impact. She can now tell stories about protecting infants in ICU units from threat actors, transforming cold product features into compelling narratives about saving lives and protecting organizations.

 

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