Code Red Security PR Network

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CMO of Polyswarm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Code Red Security PR Network?

After the bad experience I had with another company, I was still looking to improve our PR and awareness.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I hired them for PR exposure, wanting certain types of publications to talk about Polyswarm. They did direct outreach to journalists, offering story angles that intersected between what Polyswarm has to offer within various industries. They also won placements for our company through direct response reports.

Dianne (Founder) was our main point of contact and engaged us in weekly calls about our work, during which we could adjust strategy.

What is the team composition?

There were 4–5 people that I was in contact with including Dianne.

How did you come to work with Code Red Security PR Network?

After a couple of months of comparing vendors, we choose to search for a security-focused PR firm. From our previous experience, we learned that our industry may be too complex for generalists in the PR industry.

We decided to go with them once we were able to confirm that they were knowledgeable experts within the industry. We saw that they've worked with very prestigious security startups in the industry, and we were drawn in my that.

How much have you invested in them?

I was paying them about $8,000 a month. The grand total came out to about $50,000. They were actually cheaper than the other company we worked with and a lot more productive.

What is the status of this engagement?

We collaborated from about April–September 2019. I look forward to working with them again when our business is in need of their services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They delivered about three articles per month in top-tier publications. Considering that we were a startup, that was very impressive to us. 

Some of the articles they won contributed to about half of the organic traffic to our site. That made a substantial impact and earned us hundreds of thousands of impressions. There was a huge ROI, especially compared to our past experience with PR companies.

How did Code Red Security PR Network perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very professional in our weekly meetings, and we communicated almost daily. When they proposed new story angles, their information was well-researched, which brought up valued opportunities.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their expertise within the security space was fantastic. That experience is often claimed, but it's pretty rare to see an agency back up those claims. They're the real deal.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I believe they have a US branch of their business, but I wasn’t as aware of them. The people that I had the pleasure of interacting with from the UK were excellent at their jobs.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Interact with Dianne first. She is very professional and on top of everything. Just be upfront with objectives and propose a realistic timeline. They will be able to tailor a custom plan for you.