Analyst relations is about building relationships with independent analysts who provide feedback to technology buyers. It is important but not a pay-to-play activity. The webinar provided tips for finding and identifying relevant analysts, engaging them effectively through briefings and other activities, and maintaining relationships over time by treating them like people and providing a constant stream of relevant information. Key recommendations included focusing on a select number of top analysts, leveraging partnerships, advertising against analyst names, covering analysts who cover your company, and making the most of events.

1. Analyst Relations 101
Building Influence with the Influencers
Webinar: December 13, 2012

2. Introductions
Bob Ragsdale Elizabeth Shea
VP of Marketing, MicroPact CEO, SpeakerBox
bragsdale@micropact.com eshea@speakerboxpr.com
@bobragsdale @eliz2shea

3. Analyst Relations…
Analyst Relations is a corporate communications
and marketing activity in which corporations
communicate with ICT industry analysts (also
known as research analysts) who work for
independent research and consulting firms.
--- Wikipedia

4. Understanding the Analysts
§ What analysts are…
– Third party validators for your product or service
– Independent researchers with deep insight
– Analytical, thoughtful, thorough people
– Responsible for understanding a market and providing
feedback to buyers of technology products
– People!
§ What analysts are not…
– On your payroll
– Paid to say nice things about you
– Pay-to-play resources

5. “Analysts are info junkies. They spend most of their lives,
when they are not on the phone, online. They have
Google Alerts set up on the companies they track.”
“When getting to know an analyst keep in mind that all
analysts are experts, and they know it. They are
extremely confident on their home turf…their area of
expertise. That is why they respond so well to questions.”
--Richard Stiennon
Author of “Up and to the Right”
Former Gartner Vice President

6. In the minds of an analyst…
“You only do this job if you're passionate about solving
unanswered questions, and the thrill of helping others. If
you want to be rich, go into finance, law, engineering, or
entrepreneurship. (Seriously).”
--Jeremiah Owyang
Altimeter Group
April 19, 2012 Google+ discussion

7. Why Bother?
§ Analysts talk directly to your enterprise buyers.
§ Most analysts have a rock solid understanding of your
market and its players.
§ Analysts can provide invaluable perspective on your go-
to-market strategy, positioning, etc.
§ Analysts take pride in understanding who matters in the
space they cover. Make sure they know about you….
§ Can be one of the more cost-efficient line items in your
budget, if done correctly.

8. Find and Identify…
§ Top Tier (Gartner, IDC, Forrester):
– Search their web site, may be overlap with categories.
– Call an account rep to be more clear: they are your friend!
§ 2nd and 3rd tier firms (1000+!):
– Search online for your category, see who actively covers your
space.
– Read articles about your competitors, which analysts are quoted?

9. Find and Identify…
§ Social media channels:
– Who has the most “influence” when searching on your terms?
– Who are your competitors following and engaging?
§ Other resources:
– IT Database (ideal for 2nd and 3rd tier firms)
– Barbara French’s Directory
– Institute of Industry Analyst Relations
“There are probably going to be new analysts covering your space every quarter. As
new research is published keep track of the analysts who author it.”
--Richard Stiennon, Author of “Up and to the Right”

10. For vendors, the problem is clear – how to
minimize their expenditure on the analyst
community while ensuring the best coverage of
their company with
the correct prospect/customer base.
--Quocirca, The Use and Abuse of Analysts Report

11. Some Challenges…
§ Paid relationships:
– Realize you will have access to a LOT of data. Rarely can you
digest as much data as you are required to buy.
– The stakeholders at your company will benefit greatly from the
information you consume. It’s a challenge to curate the data and
share with those who need it the most. But develop a plan so
you can.
§ Engagement: Square Peg/Round Hole:
– You won’t always fit neatly into a category they cover. It means
you may need to engage multiple analysts at the same firm so
you aren’t discounted in one area and covered in another that’s
not the right fit.

12. Bob’s Top Ten Tips
1
Be cognizant of how many analysts/
analyst firms you can effectively
engage. Oftentimes, less is more.
Work with partners who have
relationships with the same analysts and
cross promote, support one another.
2

13. Bob’s Top Ten Tips
3
Advertise against the analyst’s name on
Google. For example, when customers/partners
look him or her up, a MicroPact ad appears.
Same is true when he or she searches for
himself or herself! Which they will do.

14. Bob’s Top Ten Tips
4
Cover the analysts that
cover you, particularly
at their events or
symposiums
– Blog
– Tweet
– Share

15. Bob’s Top Ten Tips
5
Make the most of
your analyst-
related events

16. Bob’s Top Ten Tips
6
Leverage the relationship with your account
rep. He or she can be your best ally, coach and
cheerleader! If you neglect this relationship,
you aren’t maximizing the opportunity.

17. Bob’s Top Ten Tips
7
You may fit into more than one space, and you
may need to engage with analysts from both
areas to cross-pollinate.
That being said, begin one-on-one with each
8
analyst. Having multiple analysts on the phone
when your category isn’t clearly defined can
backfire.

18. Bob’s Top Ten Tips
9
Make sure every internal expert you have in the
company is on hand to address the questions
you may not be able to answer. It’s not
unusual to choose a different team for each
briefing.

19. Bob’s Top Ten Tips
10
Be a relentless marketer: find every opportunity
to market to them and build a relationship
every day:
§ Include their quotes on your website.
§ Send them a holiday card, drop them a line.
§ Learn about their personal life, family.
§ Send them your press releases.
§ Treat them like people.

20. The “Briefing”
§ Analysts will take an informational, unpaid briefing to learn about you.
§ Analysts love information. Demonstrate data, not marketing fluff.
§ Include in your presentation:
– Company vision, who you are, what problem you solve.
– Company stats: size, location, executives, # of employees
– Product details, including your product road map
– Customer list, references
§ Don’t include:
– Quotes from other analyst firms
– Market charts: they know the market already!

21. More Love for “Up and To The Right”
§ Invite your analyst to dinner the night before a conference or
analyst day. Find out about their interests, their outside passions.
§ Send your presentation ahead of time. Don’t attempt to do a live
online presentation. Let them digest early.
§ Don’t neglect traditional PR activities. Many analysts are still “old
school” and want to read about you in periodicals. They are vast
consumers of information. Be sure you’re out there.
§ Think about what the analysts are seeing when they Google your
keywords. Are you there?

22. More Love for “Up and To The Right”
§ Build a Wikipedia page for your company and product. There is an
art to it, it can’t be self-promoting, but make it happen.
§ Don’t leverage how other analyst firms regard your product,
especially with Gartner. “If IDC coins a new term for a product
category, Gartner will coin their own and define it differently.”
according to Stiennon. Understand and respect that.
§ If conducting a paid briefing with an analyst, consider including a
presentation/conversation from an influential customer. Address
the problem they had, how they chose your company, and how the
problem was solved.
§ We love this one: advertise in your analyst’s airport. They travel, a
LOT. At least twice a week possibly. Can be expensive, but can
reap a nice ROI!

23. THANK YOU!
Bob Ragsdale
VP of Marketing, MicroPact, bragsdale@micropact.com
Elizabeth Shea
CEO, SpeakerBox, eshea@speakerboxpr.com
For webinar attendees only:
RAFFLE! We will randomly pick three people to receive a complimentary copy
of Richard Stiennon’s Book, Up and to the Right.”
You must be present to win!