Analyst Relations Strategy
ANALYST RELATIONS
BEST PRACTICES
The Analyst Relations Library contains both time-tested Analyst Relations
best practices and is also updated regularly to provide you
with the latest in Analyst Relations information.
New Year’s Resolutions from AR Pros
With each new year comes promise and opportunities for improvement. So as we close the books on 2021, we hope 2022 will be happy, healthy and prosperous – for you, your families and loved ones, and your businesses. As it pertains to analyst relations (AR) in particular, the new year can be a springboard to improve efforts – assessing what worked well (and doubling down),…
Using Software to Extend Your AR Superpowers
In a home with two young boys, we talk A LOT about superheroes (and villains) and their superpowers. If my 6-year-old could have any superpower, it would be invisibility. Flying is a close second. My 9-year-old says he would give up his iPad, gaming console and after-dinner sweets if only he could have superspeed. As for me, the choice is easy: the ability to clone…
How Can You Measure AR’s Impact on Deals?
When BillingPlatform, a global, cloud-based monetization and billing solution provider, recently closed a large, six-figure deal, the analyst relations (AR) team had cause to celebrate. The customer win had originated from an industry analyst referral — delivering ROI not just on BillingPlatform’s engagement with the referring firm, but also on the company’s entire AR program. It also further validated AR’s strategic importance at BillingPlatform, which…
Tiering the Analyst Briefing List for Better Resource Allocation
Engaging with industry analysts is, of course, important to technology companies — they influence customers’ buying decisions; define, articulate and shape industry trends; and impact vendors’ reputations in the market. Analysts also provide valuable product-roadmap feedback, messaging guidance and competitive intelligence. For many vendors — particularly those with offerings spanning multiple technologies/markets — it’s not uncommon to track and be relevant to hundreds (and hundreds)…
How Gartner Peer Insights — and Other Peer Review Sites — Intersect with AR
At ARInsights, we host “open sessions” for our clients on a quarterly basis. During those sessions, we all come together virtually to discuss trending topics in the analyst relations (AR) community – whatever is on clients’ minds! It’s an opportunity to ask questions of other professionals in the field, swap stories and discuss what’s making your program “tick,” all in an informal (and unrecorded) setting….
The Analyst Relations Job Description
So you’re looking to hire an analyst relations (AR) professional. The goal: increase awareness and knowledge-sharing between your company and a vital audience – industry analysts. Why is the information exchange important? Industry analysts influence buyers’ decision-making, purchases and technology stacks. In fact, data shows that more than 9 in 10 B2B buyers (92%) say analyst reviews and reports impact their purchase decisions; of those,…
Roles & Responsibilities During an Analyst Briefing
To enhance your team’s effectiveness during analyst briefings, AR managers should formalize roles and responsibilities for each individual attending the meeting. Key roles include presenter, color commentator, scribe, questioner, and geek. Having defined roles ensures that your message is communicated effectively and that the value received from the briefing meeting can be communicated to executives at home. This SageNote offers advice on how to prepare…
Negotiating with the Analysts: A Roadmap for Getting the Right Services from the Right Firms at the Right Price
Over $100 million is wasted annually by IT vendors buying the wrong services at the wrong price from IT analyst firms. Buying the right IT industry analyst services is easier said than done. With the right process, you can ensure the best value for your money, and avoid costly mistakes. In this SageNote we outline a step-by-step process to follow when buying IT analyst services….
Styles of Analyst Relations: Don’t Be Stuck in Reactive Mode and Lose Sales
Of the four styles of AR (i.e., firefighting, reactive, proactive and pre-emptive) most organizations dwell in reactive, or worse, firefighting. Both of these modes can have a negative impact on sales and revenues. IT vendors should focus on developing a proactive AR style at a minimum, with an eventual goal of moving into a pre-emptive style. Advice Vendors of high technology products and services have…
Analyst Relations: Growing Relationships and Increasing Profits
Because of their relationships with the buyers of technology, IT industry analysts like Gartner, Forrester and IDC hold tremendous power over the vendors of IT products and services. While a vendor’s analyst relations program should be a strategic business tool, in most cases it is not, thus ceding power to the analysts. To smooth the power imbalance between analysts and vendors, the vendor community needs to…