Case Study: Heimdal Security

Heimdal is a unified and AI-powered cybersecurity solutions provider headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. With an integrated approach to cybersecurity, Heimdal has dramatically boosted operational efficiency and security effectiveness for over 15k+ customers globally.

Heimdal works with Expert Insights in categories including email security, endpoint protection, extended detection and response, patch management and more to generate leads and improve brand awareness. In this interview, Sawsan Hamawandy, Head of Global Demand Generation at Heimdal® tells us about the campaign, and what sets Expert Insights apart from other research and review websites.

What initially led you to Expert Insights?

The Heimdal website performs really well organically, and our traffic comes from a range of sources—this is because we produce highly engaging TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU content. We saw a great opportunity to enhance this further by collaborating with other sites that cover specialist subjects that matter to our ICP. One of the reasons we decided to work with Expert Insights was because we regard them as a reliable, trusted, and respected organization. 

Where did you hear about Expert Insights?

We do lots of research in-house on our own performance but also on where the market is moving. This allows us to stay up-to-date with trends and developments. When we first discovered Expert Insights, we were curious to learn more as they had great content, impressive traffic, and some real differentiators compared to their competitors. 

There are websites that try to cover all topics and all product categories, but Expert Insights is really specialized in particular areas that their audience can explore on a deeper level. They take their time to not only understand the cybersecurity market, but also the technologies and the people who drive these innovations. This allows them to share the latest insights and ideas with their audience in a neutral way which is extremely valuable—particularly to cybersecurity decision makers who are looking for solutions that meet their specific needs. They can trust companies like Expert Insights to provide them with a starting point as they commence their research.

How does Expert Insights support your marketing efforts?

There are a number of ways in which we work with Expert Insights. We work together on producing relevant content that will appeal to our target audiences, whether it be interviews or articles. We then receive monthly performance reports to let us know how these items perform. They contain interesting details that my team can use to track and optimize performance, and this is super valuable.

Expert Insights has access to our solutions so that they are able to become familiar with our technical capabilities—this makes their reviews more rounded as they are able to form their own opinions from their experience. We’re able to meet with the team regularly and deliver demonstrations of the exciting new developments we have made. It’s interesting to get external and unbiased opinions from professionals that review different technologies on a regular basis. This type of feedback is great for marketing teams.

Having a partner such as Expert Insights actually knowing how these technologies work and how they are used to address business challenges is useful. A lot of the other companies that Expert Insights competes with, don’t know the products on that level; they rely solely on user-generated reviews or short vendor demos which are not enough to get an accurate view. 

Expert Insights are continuously trying to find different ways to provide value for both vendors and businesses alike. Another area that we have recently started exploring together is lead generation. They have developed a new service that will provide even further value by connecting their clients with suitable vendors based on their unique requirements. As Expert Insights is familiar with the products in the market (through their own testing and evaluations), their audience looks to them for advice. This consultative element will no doubt continue to boost their relationships and trust with their audience. We are super excited to be part of this journey.

The Expert Insights team are a pleasure to work with. You can really see that they take pride in what they do. Most vendors will just organize calls when you’ve got a renewal coming up, but Expert Insights organize review calls monthly because they genuinely care about performance. It’s one of those calls we look forward to because we know that it’s going to be an opportunity to formulate ideas and think about how we can grow together. That’s how it should be in business—especially in cyber—because sharing that type of information helps everyone advance.

What results have you seen from working with Expert Insights?

We’re a Nordic company but we are rapidly growing in the UK and US due to increased visibility and awareness. Expert Insights has large audiences in these regions so has allowed us to accelerate growth in these territories. 

To be able to generate demand in core regions is really important for us, and that’s something we’ve been able to achieve with Expert Insights through the combination of things we’re doing. It’s not just the listings; it’s the collaboration, the continuous engagement, and working with the Expert Insights team to identify new strategies.

As the Expert Insights’ traffic is highly targeted and centered around key themes that align with what we do naturally—we’ve increased traffic to our website, seen interesting leads come through, and started discussions that we may otherwise not have been exposed to had it been for the join collaboration. Luckily with these campaigns being digital, its easy to track and report on. 

How has your experience been working with Expert Insights?

Expert Insights is such an easy provider to work with and to be honest with you, those are really hard to find. They genuinely prioritize performance and outcomes. I don’t mean performance in terms of what a business like ours would gain from collaboration, but actually putting the audience first by creating content around what their website visitors would be interested in. Ultimately, that’s what keeps them coming back and makes vendors like us want to continue collaborating. Expert Insights really understand their segment, their USPs, and play into their strengths—rather than trying to be like others.

The quality of content that Expert Insights produces is phenomenal. They recognize the power of content, and a lot of businesses that they compete with probably underestimate how useful that can be. It’s not just about providing content frequently though; it’s about understanding what is going to provide value to businesses who are in market and looking for suitable solutions to buy. This is where they focus and excel.

As a business that’s continuously trying to innovate, you need to continuously have open conversations because new things are happening all the time. Expert Insights conducts lots of field research to gather their perspectives. They are always out meeting people, whether that’s virtually or in person at events—that’s why they understand the market and are able to produce high-quality, relevant content. 

Finally, lots of Expert Insights’ competitors are self-service, which removes that human element—you just enter bidding wars with other vendors to be listed in different product categories. But another one of the things that Expert Insights does really well is recognize the importance of humans in cybersecurity. We join forces to share insights and updates on what we are learning from client conversations. Due to the nature of the industry, every time we meet so many new things have happened, so there are always plenty of updates; if we were to have these calls only once a year (which is what happens sometimes with self-service vendors), you lose that type of value and aren’t able to adapt to changes and trends quickly enough. 

It’s been nearly a year now on this exciting journey, but it’ll definitely be one that will continue for many more. Together, we will continue to educate the market and support businesses along their buying journeys.