A wake-up call for technology vendors: Don’t wait for the aliens to land!

When asked about analysts and analyst relations the reaction of technology vendors seems to be divided into two main groups. Those that believe that analyst relations is something a vendor is supposed to work on and those that believe that analysts are an external force – some kind of godlike alien species – that works in a complete vacuum and that will sometime in the future knock on their door to take them to a better planet (or alternatively blast them to hell by putting them in the bottom left corner of a market study).

My favorite quote from the second group – one which is actually a more common example of mindset than you would believe – is the following:

“Dear XXX, we currently do not have any budget for this kind of things. At the moment we do not care too much about analysts, once they can’t ignore us they will write about us anyway. And influencing analysts is fooling yourself. Better to have clear results they can’t deny, right?”

Now obviously this vendor is a strong believer in what in economics is called a “perfect market”. This perfect market implies a 100% availability of all information for all market participants at all times. It also implies that there is no effort associated with gathering information and making sense of it. In reality however it is quite unlikely that an analyst will be able to find, interpret and analyze all the vendors and information that is available at any given time. So providing information for (or withholding it from) an analyst is a kind of influence that is quite real.

Relying on the analyst community to do all the work for you is a dangerous thing because in many cases there will be more than one vendor in any technology space that can solve a customer problem. Now if one thinks about it this isn’t so different from what is happening all over the market. Every buyer tries to spot the perfect solution in the market by gathering information about what is available. Now I wonder if all the vendors that are subscribing to the earlier quote also agree that doing any marketing targeted at all those buyers out there is a waste of time because by some miraculous means they will be able to spot the perfect solution anyway. Of course an analyst is supposed to have a more comprehensive understanding of a market and will probably spend more time analyzing what is available than an ordinary customer but then again he has to deal with a global market and he cannot narrow down the field by simply deciding that a number of features is not relevant for his specific use case. In addition most analysts are simply really busy people and it might not be a good idea to base your analyst relations strategy on the assumption that they will make the time available to notice you right at that moment when you happen to reach the pinnacle of your efforts.

Analyst Relations isn’t about having one interaction at that one magic moment when the alien space ship comes to pick you up. It is more apt to think of it as a kind of SETI project where you listen for messages and where you help guide your alien visitors to a landing space right in your backyard. This process requires skill, dedication and patience and this is also why it is a profession and why there are professional service providers out there to help you. Now wouldn’t it be cool to have “fist contact”? Maybe once you start talking to them you will find out that they aren’t so different after all.

How to eat an elephant – A recipe for proper analyst relations.

When starting with analyst relations companies often realize that the task lying ahead of them is pretty daunting. There are several hundred analyst firms with thousands of analysts publishing research for every imaginable market niche. On the other side there are tens of thousands technology providers worldwide vying for the attention of these analysts. This means that simply having a great product will not be enough to get noticed.

But how does one cope with the task of sorting though this vast number and actually getting down to doing some work? This is where the proverbial elephant comes into play: How does one eat an elephant? – One bite at a time. If the whole of the analyst community is too much to digest at once, it must be broken down into smaller pieces. So one of the main tasks of any analyst relations program will be to come up with a way to structure and prioritize both the analyst firms and the analyst community in a way that makes sense for your company and your analyst relations goals. Targeting analyst from the top three or four analyst companies that are experts in the technology your company is offering is the obvious thing to do. Doing this will give you a starting point but it also means that you will be omitting lots analysts that are just as important for the overall success of your analyst relations efforts. And since it is the obvious thing to do it will also mean that most of your competitors will be competing for the analysts’ attention.

Having a clear cut idea what you want to achieve will also help you to build your list of analyst firms and analysts you will want to target. For example there are some analyst firms that have a great presence in the media but are lacking the client base to make them attractive as potential channels to directly impact the buying decisions of your buyers. So if you are looking to support your PR efforts and increase your presence in the media you might have to target a different set of analysts than if your main goal is to influence the analysts who are supporting your prospects in sorting through their vendor short list when making a buying decision. Pretty much the same applies for selecting analysts based on the verticals or geographical areas they are covering. All these criteria will help narrow down the number and allow you to come up with an initial list of analysts that are relevant for your analyst relations program.

However the problem with all these selection criterias is that you will not only need to come up with the right criteria to match your analyst relation goals, but they also require a deep understanding of the capabilities, methodologies and focus of the various analyst firms and analysts. Without this understanding chances are that you will waste a lot of effort dealing with the ‘wrong’ analysts wasting both time and money. So make sure that your cook knows how to properly prepare the elephant before it is served and eaten.

Content is key! – Leveraging influencer marketing to gain market mindshare.

In a world that is dominated by “push-advertising” and that includes an overwhelming choice of products and services that need to be evaluated by the buyer, it is increasingly hard to find ways to stand out from the crowd. According to many studies we are now facing a world that is so saturated with advertising that many companies are seeing diminishing returns on their traditional marketing efforts. More often than not it is consumer generated content that gets favored by the readers when it comes to making buying decisions. In this context however, the term ‘consumer generated’ refers not only to peer reviews and end-user product evaluations but has to be seen in a broader context. Any form of content that is not (obviously) paid for and distributed by the business itself gets a bonus when it comes to trustworthiness.

But creating original content is only one side of the problem: With many channels – both traditional ones like TV, news magazines and post mailings and new ones like blogs, social media groups and peer networks – competing for the attention of the individual, it is equally important to choose the right channels for every kind of content to ensure that your message is heard.

The purpose of influencer relations in this context is to (in part) ‘outsource’ the responsibility for content creation and managing the communication channel to those individuals that are most influential in any given channel. The important part is to provide the facts and ‘building blocks’ needed to create relevant content featuring your business, products and services, thus significantly increasing your market reach and brand awareness. By establishing the right relationships with the relevant influencers (like business analysts, editors and bloggers) you can get the world to know what your business is about.

But finding out how to leverage the potential of influencer relations for maximum impact is a complex challenge. For this reason influencer relations agencies play a critical role in establishing the relationships to the influencers and are key to the success of the entire marketing mix. The reason for this is that influencer relations agencies focus both on creating original content and at the same time act as moderators and facilitators in the distribution process. By defining and managing the channels (e. g. public relations, social media or analyst relations) and deciding what type of content to make available to which channel and influencer, they take a central position in creating market mindshare for a brand.

 Ultimately content marketing, supported by the right type and quality of content and distributed by the right influencers, will be a powerful marketing tool for any business.

Influencer Marketing dos and don’ts: Have you read something boring today?

 I bet you have – but since it was so boring you probably cannot remember what it was. Now turn the question around and ask yourself what you have written (or said) today that might have been pretty boring for someone else?

Within influencer marketing not being boring is one of the key challenges. Influencers (e. g. industry analysts, editors or bloggers) are always keen to stay ahead in their respective fields. This means that the most likely way to catch their attention is by providing information that has not been beaten to death everywhere else before. The problem is figuring out what is truly unique about your company and/or your solution. It is quite easy to get blinded by routine when working for a single company. You are probably keeping track of a number of obvious competitors and some publications relevant for your area of expertise but do you truly know what is happening outside your own backyard? Chances are that someone – e. g. an industry analyst who has spent a number of years screening vendors and looking for (and shaping) new trends – has come across the same ideas before. For this reason it makes sense to take a close look at what the influencers you are about to engage with are currently focusing on and what they have covered in the past. Besides spending some time with research it might make sense to double-check your pitch with experts outside your company who have some experience in dealing with the influencers you are about to engage with. This will not only help you to avoid featuring something as ‘unique’ that has already been covered in writing by the influencer in question but will also give you the chance to focus on areas of interest of the influencer thus increasing the chances of getting some coverage and mind share.

Another point to remember is that influencers are looking for deep insights into their topics. Sure, it might take some courage to share your vision and road-map with someone outside your company but taking this chance might be the key to establishing a trusted relationship. Keeping the right balance when providing information and deciding what to disclose at which time requires some tact and skill on the side of the influencer marketing team or agency but it will help to ensure that you will not be filed away under ‘boring’. Now isn’t that something worth striving for?

Analyst Relations – nothing start-ups should worry about. Or should they?

It is a common belief that the playing field of analyst relations is reserved for the ‘big guys’ who are spending lots of money on their relationship with the analyst companies. And for the most part it is true that it is mostly established companies that have implemented structured analyst relations programs. For this reason it obviously is a waste of time and resources for any emerging vendor to engage in this discipline – for how should he ever be able to compete with the established companies, right? Certainly the analysts will always spend a considerable amount of time covering the established players in the market but it is equally important for the analysts to be aware of what is happening in the market and what new trends and technologies are gaining ground. More often than not it is start-ups that dare to do things differently and help to establish a new trend. Of course you can wait until your technology has reached maturity and has become mainstream before getting in touch with analysts, but by acting this way start-ups are missing out on the chances offered by efficient analyst relations activities.

As with anything else analyst relations involve a learning curve and it takes (a lot of) time to establish working relationships with analysts. This reason alone should be enough for start-ups to start with analyst relations as early as possible. Starting an analyst relations program from scratch later on when a company realizes that it desperately needs to get on the radar screen of the analysts (be it to get some traction with large enterprise customers, venture capitals or technology / channel partners) will not only be much more expensive but it will in all likelihood not work at all. Without laying the groundwork and without a history of engaging with the analysts it will be very tough to ramp up a successful analyst relations program on short notice.

Besides the time factor there are several benefits in being a small vendor when engaging with the analysts. For example there are some analyst publications (e. g. Cool Vendor reports) that are ‘reserved’ for covering small vendors with unique technologies or business models. Also the analysts will be eager to hear about new technologies and solutions if they align with their research agenda or with a perceived end-user demand in the market.

Tailoring your message to address these analyst needs is one of the core challenges faced by small vendors. By talking to the analysts and reading their published research small vendors will be able to get a valuable 3^rd party perspective on the market, their technology and their G2M strategy. This will also give the vendor a better understanding of the focus areas of the various analysts which in turn will help to fine tune the analyst relations activities and the corporate messaging. In addition to this even small pieces of advice given by an analyst in the early phases of a start-up may be critical to their success later on.

Considering that start-ups only have a limited window to establish themselves in the market and usually lack the time and resources to run extensive push marketing campaigns it is imperative that they leverage the potential represented by analyst relations. Being noticed and mentioned by analyst companies will help them establish the market reach and credibility they need to succeed in the market.

Who are they? Identifying the influencers of today and tomorrow ….

Most people trying to reach a decision for a vendor, a product or a service will try to get at least a couple of third party opinions on the downsides or benefits of any particular choice. In addition to recommendations from friends and business partners the world’s influencers are often key-components in this process.

So far so good, but when you are planning to engage with these influencers the first step is to identify them. For any given topic there usually is a vast pool of relevant people to take into account. This not only includes the top journalists and tier 1 industry analysts but also various other potential influencers in the market. Among the obvious candidates are consultants, associations and bloggers but it might also be worth to think about the account managers and client relation people supporting your potential customers in their interactions with the analyst firms.

A good way to get started is to review what is being said about your market niche in the various social media groups, blogs, Tweets and magazines. By checking the number of replies, comments and page views you will get a good first impression of the market reach and interest the topic has. Also it is well worth checking the published research by the leading analyst companies to see what trends are shaping the market and who is covering these topics. In addition you can use the search engines to check the key sources in the web and their relevance in the eyes of the search engines. Also don’t forget to talk to your customers and prospects to get some feedback on how they have come across your company and products and what information sources they use to reach a buying decision. The combination of these efforts will probably yield a long list of people who have something to say about your area of interest.

To narrow down the list of influencers to target you will first have to decide what you want to achieve with your influencer marketing activities. For this purpose it makes sense to create „influencer rating cards“ to rank the influencer depending on various criteria. The choice and importance of these criteria obviously depends on the goals you have set for your influencer marketing activities. Examples for potential criteria are market reach, thought leadership, geographical coverage, page views, number of followers etc. Gathering this information will take up some time but it pays to get it right to make sure you spend your (limited) time on the right audience. To speed up the identification and ranking process it might make sense for you to involve an influencer marketing agency who already has some background information or an influencer data base with the relevant metrics. At the end of this process you should end up with a list of 5-15 key influencers relevant for your market with whom you can start your influencer marketing activities. But keep in mind – things will change over time with influencers changing their focus, losing audience and new influencers appearing in the market. This means you will have to continuously review and update your list.

Getting started with Analyst Relations: In-house or external AR agency?

Getting started with analyst relations can prove to be quite a challenge if a company does not have any previous experience in dealing with analyst companies. At this point it is time to consider the alternatives of in-house analyst relations and/or utilizing an external analyst relations agency.

From the perspective of the corporation, it seems obvious that the company can represent itself better than any agency. However, much of what an agency does isn’t representation. Organizing and planning the analyst relations strategy, coaching internal AR stakeholders and measuring the AR success also falls into the realm of an AR agency. On the other hand it can sometimes be tough for an outside agency to get access to the contact person or information needed to brief or update an analyst. Also some analyst may prefer dealing with senior company representatives directly because they might feel that this will give them easier access to internal information not readily available outside the company.

I have been in both positions and my experience is that there are a number of benefits in utilising a specialized analyst relations agency. The major difference will always be that in house teams have experience of one vendor, whereas agencies can implement the best practices and lessons learned from many interactions. Also they probably already know many of the analysts a company wants to reach and understand the internal workings of the various analyst firms. In addition there is an advantage in an objective 3rd party view. Too much elation for the own company and its products might not be received well by the analysts since it can be seen as a lack of perspective/insight on the companies real position in the market.

Having worked with many vendors throughout my time at an analyst firm I have seen some good and quite a few bad examples for both options. I work for a consultancy now with clients who are more than happy with the support they get for analyst relations and influencer marketing. It is my opinion that in the end the right decision depends on the available resources (time, money and expertise) a company can „spare“ for analyst relations. For many emerging and mid-size vendors it will be hard to allocate the necessary (full-time) resources for an efficient analyst relations approach. In these cases it makes perfect sense to leverage the expertise an analyst relations agency can provide to avoid mistakes and ensure professional planning and execution of the analyst relations activities.