Written by Kevin Perez

01/04/2023

The cybersecurity industry is continually growing. The global cybersecurity market is projected to double from 2022 to 2029. Being able to recognize new security trends, research these trends, and then analyze the findings allows businesses to be at the forefront of a quickly evolving market. Vendors, security professionals, and business owners all benefit from up-to-date cybersecurity data. Luckily, the market research industry is seeing exciting developments that position PeerWise to offer quick and accurate research results. In this article, we will discuss the state of market research, and how market research will play an increasingly important role in the cybersecurity space.

Cybersecurity market size

Reliance on technology continues to increase across all industries and geographic locations. This digital shift connects the world and creates massive amounts of increased economic opportunities. At the same time, the greater the reliance on digital devices and internet use, the greater the attack surface becomes for cybercriminals. It is no wonder then that the cybersecurity market is growing just as rapidly.

The global cyber security market is projected to grow from $155.83 billion in 2022 to $376.32 billion by 2029. This is a CAGR of 13.4%. In North America alone the cybersecurity market size was valued at $62.41 billion in 2021. 

SMBs in the cybersecurity market

While vendors often target sales to large enterprises, the large market share that SMBs represent is beginning to be recognized. The majority of the global cybersecurity market share is attributed to cybersecurity services. SMBs play a large role in that segment, as these companies are more likely to rely on utilizing consultation and management services as compared to larger enterprises that have in-house security teams.

SMBs also use cybersecurity hardware and software to create their own tech stacks. Small businesses have an average of 15-20 cybersecurity tools. Medium businesses have an average of 50-60 security tools. SMBs present a valuable opportunity for a growing cybersecurity market share as buyers of both tools and services. Increased security spending is beneficial for both the SMBs and the vendors.

For SMBs, an increased budget means stronger security measures are implemented. 60% of small businesses that are victims of a cyberattack go out of business within 6 months, and 61% of small businesses experienced a data breach in 2021. The increased market share of cybersecurity shows that decision-makers at small and medium businesses have realized that security spending is not superfluous. Increased vendor interest in SMBs leads to better vendor relations, and in turn, a smoother integration of tools and services as vendors learn how to best sell to smaller businesses. This includes vendors learning how to educate SMBs about their products and about security in general.

For vendors, the increased SMB presence in the cybersecurity market share creates new and profitable sales opportunities. SMB cybersecurity spending represents a $40 billion dollar market.

The graphic above breakdowns SMB cybersecurity spending. SMBs are broken down into different categories of “maturity” based on the number of in-house IT staff and resources. Find more information on this and the SMB market in our article on pitching to SMBs.

Market research trends

The market research industry is currently valued at $82.6 billion dollars. This value grew by more than $40 billion dollars from 2009-2019. COVID-19 caused businesses to evolve rapidly, and companies across all industries made changes in just two years that may have normally taken a decade. This includes shifts to remote work, shifts to e-commerce, and overall a greater reliance on technology. This reliance on technology brings the added benefit of making many tasks quicker and more efficient.

A study by McKinsey shows that respondents say their companies acted 20- 25x faster than expected during the digital transformation. In the case of remote working, respondents actually say their companies moved 40 times more quickly than they thought possible before the pandemic. 

This change has carried over to market research. Jack Plunkett, CEO of Plunkett Research ltd., says “The only effective way for enterprises to gain these vital insights is to utilize accurate, up-to-the-minute research. Market researchers have to work harder than ever, and I mean that literally, to conduct interviews, analyze data, draw conclusions, and make forecasts because things have changed so much and so radically.”

New tech opportunities in market research

Improved technologies and increased interconnectivity of people from diverse backgrounds create exciting opportunities for the market research industry. As people spend more time online, it is easier to offer streamlined and incentivized experiences for users to participate in market research studies. For example, PeerWise will offer the opportunity for people to view our reports by completing surveys. Other sites may incentivize through money offerings or other in-site incentives. 

New technologies can be implemented to improve market research speeds. Zappi has raised $170 million dollars for its AI-based market research platform. AI can help to cut costs and improve the speed of research. Zappi is mainly used for research on products in the pre-production stage. They are able to run what would normally be a $20,000 survey for as little as $2,000. Using AI in market research is an interesting premise and one that will likely see developments in the coming years.

How are companies using market research? And how PeerWise can help

A 2020 study by Survey Monkey provides interesting insights into how companies utilize market research. The study finds that 9 out of 10 companies use market research to inform decisions, but that 48% of those companies encounter hurdles to getting data. 32% of respondents cite cost as the biggest hurdle. Enterprises are more likely to be able to afford market research in-house than SMBs. 70% of market research professionals say they are likely to transition to more DIY tools, but SMBs do not often have the luxury of having market researchers on staff.

SMBs are already at a disadvantage when it comes to security. Their security is likely implemented by IT professionals rather than in-house security professionals. The IT teams at SMBs have smaller budgets and wear many hats in addition to cybersecurity. It can be difficult for SMBs to find any reliable information relating to cybersecurity, much less having access to timely research.

In no industry is a quick market research turnover more important than in cybersecurity, where trends are changing rapidly. Hackers have to continually try to adopt new attack methods and improved technology allows for more sophisticated attacks and security measures. Utilizing the increased interconnectivity of cybersecurity and IT professionals, cybersecurity vendors, and business owners, PeerWise has built a diverse panel. We will continue to grow this panel into the new year.

We listen to the insights from our members and are focused on developing research that is up-to-date and useful to our members. Through our panel, we are able to quickly produce original research and analyze this research into actionable findings aimed at helping educate SMBs about cybersecurity trends. Joining PeerWise is free. Become a member today to access all of our insights and stay up to date on our research surveys.