by Yotam Gutman, Founder of Cyber Marketing Pros Community and a G-CMO member.

Eight years ago, I created a small WhatsApp group called Cyber Marketing Pros with three simple rules: no spam, no vendors, and be helpful. Forty-one marketers joined on day one. Today, the community has grown to nearly 500 cybersecurity marketing professionals across Israel, the US, the UK, and beyond.

Recently, I exported the entire archive – 51,771 messages spanning eight years – to see what the conversations could tell us. Unlike surveys, where people describe what they think matters, these messages capture what marketers actually ask when they need help.

The results paint a fascinating picture of the profession.

A community built on trust

Over eight years, the group averaged roughly 6,300 messages annually, generating more than 4,100 explicit questions. It has become much more than a chat group: a knowledge-sharing forum, a recruiting channel where CVs are exchanged, a recommendation engine for agencies and freelancers, and a place where acquisitions, launches, and career moves are celebrated.

Interestingly, only a relatively small group drives most of the conversation, while roughly two-thirds of members rarely post. Yet those quieter members are clearly paying attention – they’re often the ones hiring the agencies, designers, or consultants recommended by others.

What cyber marketers really care about

The biggest surprise wasn’t the volume of discussion – it was the consistency of the topics.

PR dominates everything. The term “PR” appears 7,253 times, making it by far the most discussed subject. The same question – “Which PR agency should we hire?” – has resurfaced dozens of times over the years, usually producing remarkably similar recommendations.

Video production is another constant need. Between explainer videos, product animations, and interactive demos, marketers continue to rely on a small circle of trusted creative partners recommended by peers.

On the technology side, the archive documents a clear market shift. HubSpot appears 505 times, compared with only 59 mentions of Marketo and 40 of Pardot, reflecting how decisively the community standardized around HubSpot between 2018 and 2021.

One surprising finding is what marketers don’t discuss. Despite heavy industry investment, intent data receives relatively little attention, suggesting either limited adoption or a gap between vendor messaging and real-world marketing priorities.

AI changed the conversation

No topic has grown faster than artificial intelligence.

The term AI appears more than 4,100 times, with the overwhelming majority of mentions arriving after 2023. Recent conversations have shifted dramatically – from experimenting with ChatGPT to discussing agentic marketing teams, AI-powered PR, content creation, and automated demo generation.

The question is no longer whether marketers should use AI, but how to redesign marketing organizations around it.

Timing tells a story too

The community has its own predictable rhythm.

The busiest hour is 11 a.m. Israel time, while activity remains consistently high between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Discussions peak between November and January, driven by RSA Conference planning and annual marketing preparation, while April and September predictably slow down around the Jewish holidays.

Cyber marketers, it turns out, tend to have the same challenges at the same time.

Did AI replace communities?

Message volume has declined somewhat over the past few years, but not because the community lost relevance.

Instead, AI has taken over many factual questions. The discussions that remain are the ones language models still struggle to answer: Which PR agency genuinely delivers? Which freelancer is reliable? Is Cybertech actually worth the investment for a company at our stage?

Those answers depend on experience, reputation, and trust – not search engines.

What the numbers don’t tell is actually more important. The fact that the community is alive after all this time, and growing, indicates that it answers a basic human need – the need for a community. Even though we only “meet” in the digital realm, and mostly discuss professional topics, it is still valuable, trusted by many people, and will continue to function as one in the future.