MAY MITCHELL
CMO
Qualys
Evolving Marketing Strategy for the AI Era
Marketing at Qualys is focused on driving business growth and pipeline contribution, operating as one go-to-market motion with Sales and Product, not in silos. We work together to reach our ideal customer profile (ICP) for new customer acquisition, and to retain and expand the contract lifecycle for existing customers, ultimately building advocates. Marketing creates the narrative, communicates it where customers look for information, and drives demand. We also provide the right tools for Sales and partners, and Product builds solutions that meet customers’ needs.
For prospective customers, our strategy hinges on understanding the different customer profiles – not everyone is at the same place in building out their Risk Operations Center (ROC). That’s where AI is very useful in providing the intelligence for customizing the narrative. AI helps us gain better visibility into what customers are looking for, prioritize who we reach out to, and adapt the narrative to the target audience, so we reach the right person at the right time.
For existing customers, it's about developing trust through strong integration and continuous education on new Qualys and partner capabilities as their needs evolve, like a doctor conducting ongoing health checks. By growing and evolving with them, this extends the customer lifecycle well past the initial sale — so customers see Qualys as strategic to their cyber risk management program, not just a vendor.
Brand Positioning in Competitive Market
Our priority is precision: our narrative must be simple, compelling, and urgent. Most of all, it needs to be a tailored message, customized to the person we are reaching. We do this by understanding the motivations of who we are speaking to and problems they need to address, validated through the same LLMs customers use to find solutions, while meeting them where they are in their cyber risk journey to build frontier AI readiness.
Cyber risk management today comes down to detecting vulnerabilities fast, prioritizing by business impact, and remediating at machine speed — and our messaging must match those pain points felt industry-wide. At the same time, we’re also enabling our partners to continue communicating that same message.
Effective customer marketing to our install base is vitally important for retention, expansion, and as a source for customer advocacy. That’s why it’s a key priority for us to sustain growth in today’s increasingly competitive market. Ultimately, it's product-market fit. We’re listening to our customers’ needs and pain points, communicating how our solutions can solve their issues, and why you should let Qualys show you.
