Digital marketing and related technologies have brought forth dynamic and effective marketing opportunities that both small and established businesses can leverage.
However, most digital marketers and owners of eCommerce stores overlook the importance of cybersecurity on their platforms. While digital marketing provides a completely new and effective way of reaching your target market, online presence exposes businesses to various cyberattacks.
That said, while using various digital marketing options, including social media platforms, emails, and websites, digital marketers should observe various cybersecurity measures. Below are some ways digital marketing frameworks can expose your business and tips on mitigating these risks.
Managing WordPress Updates
WordPress is among the top formidable and popular website hosting platforms. However, despite its efficient functionality, digital marketers of websites using WordPress should regularly update software components to eliminate vulnerabilities that come with outdated software. Running outdated versions of plugins, core site elements, and themes is risky.
The best way of keeping WordPress accounts safe is by enabling automatic updates. This ensures that you use recently released security patches, plugins, and extensions on your website. While automatic updates are good for their convenience, you can also download the updates manually to keep track of the changes that come with the new versions.
Securing CRM Platforms
Digital marketers running extensive businesses should also focus on CRM platforms, which store and manage client’s data used for marketing purposes. This is essential software as it holds and stores private client data, which is a treasure for most malicious hackers.
You can leverage several strategies to curb data breach from your CRM software. For starters, begin by educating your employees about the importance of observing data safety practices. You can also restrict access to crucial information to the most reliable and tech-savvy employee. This reduces the chances of insider threats, which are currently on the rise.
Digital marketers can also use employee-monitoring software, which tracks every employee’s actions on the system. Banning the bring-your-own-device policy can also significantly decrease cybersecurity risks. This enables digital marketers to limit access to sensitive information as much as possible.
Practice Safe Social Media Practices
You cannot question importance and effectiveness of social media in the modern digital marketing sphere. However, with such great reach comes many security challenges that digital marketers should be cautious of. Social media profiles are among the top targets of cybercriminals because they provide more than private information. They are a good spot to hold businesses at ransom.
Cybersecurity issues stemming from social media accounts have increased, most likely because several digital marketers access the same accounts. Therefore, besides limiting the number of people who can access your social media accounts, businesses should use password managers to secure their authentication credentials.
It is also important to train and educate your digital marketing teams on the various forms hackers use to hijack social media accounts. Just as cybercriminals rely on spam emails to launch phishing attacks, they use Facebook and Instagram messages to attack your accounts.
Take Care of Your Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the oldest and effective digital marketing strategies. Unfortunately, most digital marketers concentrate on new strategies, ignoring the importance of observing a secure email marketing strategy. Emails are vulnerable to several malicious attacks, with an increasing number of phishing attacks.
Email marketing primarily faces two main threats. The first risk occurs when your business sends sensitive information insecurely. Businesses should leverage various data protection measures, such as data encryption, to protect data from malicious cybercriminals. Phishing is the second rampant threat that marketing teams should always watch out for. As such, educate your marketing teams on how to spot malicious spear-phishing emails to prevent such attacks.
Secure Your CMS
Content marketing is a major contributor to success in digital marketing. While you can employ multiple channels for your content marketing strategy, your website should remain the main focus of your marketing strategy. As you manage your site with a CMS, ensure that you observe strict security procedures that limit unauthorized access to your content management software.
Without proper safety measures on your content management software, hackers can launch disastrous threats, such as DDOS attacks that slow the website speed. Protecting your site with unique and rigorous passwords seems basic but goes a long way in mitigating such threats. Just to mention, more than 80 percent of data breaches originate from weak passwords.
Cyber Security is Key
Data safety is undoubtedly a cornerstone in all online businesses. Identifying these threats, their potential impact, and mitigation measures are essential in ensuring business success. That said, digital marketers should be up to speed with the latest cybersecurity trends and updates on how to keep websites secure while implementing their marketing strategies. Digital marketers looking to improve their knowledge of cybersecurity should begin by learning some of these key terminologies.