outreach with an impact

analyst relations

Industry analysts keep an ear on the ground to influence, address and drive the market. They make objective recommendations based on available information, and the more you give – the more you get.

Industry analyst relations is all about establishing and developing close relationships with key analysts by proactively sharing relevant information and creating a dialogue to increase outreach, ensure wanted perception and influence sales.

well worth while

Analyst relations is fun, straight forward and well worth considering as there is much to gain and little to loose. It is a cost efficient tool that supports your sales efforts while building perception. The key is to start small and focus on what is relevant when establishing and developing analyst relations. By sharing information and exposing your business offering, trained spokespersons and experts to the analyst community, the program creates attention and generates visibility. It requires focus, relevance and consistency. It is simple, efficient and makes the difference.

influence sales

The purpose of industry analyst relations, or AR, is to influence sales by getting recommendations and building a favorable perception in the market. Information is the currency and by developing relationships with key industry analysts and establishing a dialogue both parties benefit from knowledge sharing. Analysts have a unique understanding of the industry and can provide you with market intelligence share advise and validate your strategy, positioning, products, messaging, company etc.

pave the way and create a stir

Analyst relations can pave the way for new technology, by initiating a dialogue and share information with key industry analysts at an early stage. This allows the organization to prepare, test and tailor the messages and get the topic on the agenda. Analysts give you the chance to influence the direction of the market as industry analysts want to understand what you think will happen in the future. Due to the nature of their business, analysts are ahead of the market and focus on what will happen within the next year or so to understand what areas that will interest their – and your - customers.

AR function

Establishing an AR, analyst relations, function can be done by creating an industry analyst outreach program. Focus on what you want to achieve with the program rather than on specific activities and tailor the program according to your tier 1, 2 and 3 analysts. Target, plan, execute and follow-up, and find a relevant way to measure success. To succeed with analyst relations you need an AR function that manages the relationship, executive support and available subject matter experts that are trained to handle analysts. The sales force also needs to understand who the analysts are, how they work and why they are important (and sometimes the opposite) and how to leverage on analyst relations to close deals.

relevant target audience

When targeting industry analyst firms and individual key analysts, the following aspects are taken into account, depending on what the wanted outcome is and why. The selection may be based on market impact - i.e. how much weight they have towards customers and visibility in media; perceived quality and type of output - i.e. how useful and accurate their reports are and level of approach - strategic, visionary or product specific; time-to-market -  i.e. how fast they are in turning information into reports; value in two-way communication - i.e. by creating a close dialogue and share information, the feed-back can be used to sharpen the messages or repackage to make sure the market clearly understands what is on offer. Examples of industry analyst firms are ABI Research, Analysys Mason, BDA, Canalys, CCS Insight, Current Analysis, Forrester, Frost & Sullivan, Gartner, Heavy Reading & Light Reading, IDC, Informa, Ovum, Pyramid, Strategy Analytics, The Yankee Group and more.