June 6, 2016

Analyst Relations FAQ

What is an Analyst Relations programme?

An Analyst Relations programme is a managed sequence of interactions by a technology provider with relevant members of the IT Industry Analyst Community, which include vendor/analyst briefings, analyst inquiries, industry events, workshops and other types of engagements, designed to gain credibility, better control influence and enable superior decision making.

Who are these ‘analysts’?

An information and communications technology (ICT) industry analyst is a person, working individually or within a firm, whose business model incorporates creating and publishing research about, and advising on how, why and where ICT-related products and services can be procured, deployed and used.
(Source: IIAR paper “Who are industry analysts and what do they do?”)

Why should I bother?

Analyst Relations gives technology firms increased brand awareness and is a powerful sales enabler. Analysts influence over 50% of technology buying behavior and act as sources for media. Investors tell us they value the opinion of analysts greatly when making investment decisions.

Are there any other advantages?

Industry analysts are not only there to support your customers’ critical decision making, they’re also there to support you: the technology provider. Analyst firms provide their technology provider customers with comprehensive, often 360° insight about customers, technologies, markets, competitors, target industries and business processes. The insight to be gained is ‘on demand’ by nature and, if well leveraged, will help you make superior decisions, regardless of how fast they follow one another.

What is the best stage for any company to start working with analysts?

Analyst Relations is not a billion dollar club. It is critical that analyst are well informed of your company strategy, products, and services. This needs to be an ongoing process to maintain a top-of-mind status. That especially applies to vendors that aim for higher name recognition and company growth. Early engagement with analysts is a great way to get analyst buy-in and top-of-mind presence to increase short list placement.

Why can’t I wait until they reach out to me?

Analysts are writing about your market, whether you like it or not. Being pro-active in reaching out to analysts gives you a strategic advantage of being able to influence their research by providing them with the insight they need, when they need it.

What do you mean with “tiering the analysts”?

Tiering is the process of arranging analysts by relevance, based on your requirements.

Tier One: Analysts who have demonstrated direct customer contact (documented presence in deals), frequently author reports covering the organisation’s markets, knowledgeable and credible, able to bring fresh insights to executives, and are willing to be leveraged for visible, marketable content such as blog or other social media posts and media quotes.

Tier Two: Analysts with more narrowly defined, but relevant offerings such as market research (but limited customer contact and advisory services) that is directly relevant to the company’s business priorities.

Tier Three (and up): Industry watchers minus direct customer contact but visible in the market. Further useful to keep updated via ‘one to many’ outbound communications.

Why should I outsource AR to Kea Company (instead of my PR or intern dealing with it)?

We own influence. With over 75 years of combined AR knowledge, our team consists of some of the founders of the AR profession. Like no other, we understand that AR is a full-time profession rather than just an add-on.