Webinar summary- Analyst relations

Last we’ve hosted a webinar to discuss Analysts Relations. Shaul Efraim, an account executive from Gartner who is a cybersecurity product marketer at heart (having worked at companies such as Port authority, Checkpoint and Tufin).

Analyst firms such as Gartner, Forrester, 451 Research and others, are research companies with hundreds of analysts covering different topics- from technology to agriculture. Therefore, it’s critical to identify which firm covers which area and engage with the ones that are relevant to your product offering.

Why Analysts firms matter?

The analyst firms’ clients are your clients- they are end users. They use these firm to conduct their own research, to help them identify the appropriate solutions and receive advise about technology and purchasing. Even end-users who are not clients of these firm admit that they consult with their research before starting their buyer journey- even if to create a shortlist of potential solutions.

Next are the analysts. Analysts are subject matter experts, usually with strong technical and business expertise in a certain area (like network security). Analysts are either customer facing; talking to end-clients and dispensing advise, or industry facing (in charge with identifying trends and understanding product offering). As tech companies, you will be engaging mostly with industry analysts. Again, before you start engaging them its important to identify which analyst covers which area of interest.

Analyst Briefings

The main tool a technology company has to communicate with analysts is the analyst briefing. Analyst briefings are 1:1 online meetings, usually of 45-60 minutes, through which companies tell their stories to the analyst. These are usually free. Anyone can approach an analyst firm and ask to conduct a briefing- it’s up to the analyst to decide if she takes this briefing (most chances are that they will only accept if it’s relevant to their line of research, so do your homework well Before approaching them).

These analysts talk to about 500 vendors every year, so they know the market well. In fact, they know it better than you. Therefore, it is useless to talk about general market needs and trends. Instead, you should focus on your offering and differentiators.

Refrain from using marketing jargon, and always, always stick to the truth. Analysts talk (to other analysts, to clients) and if you are boasting they will eventually acknowledge that. 

What you souled do instead is to articulate the “why” of your company- which need are you solving, and what novel approach you are taking to solve it.

Show examples and case studies, and focus on business growth and traction. If you can’t or don’t want to show real numbers (in US$)- talk about percentage instead (like 300% YoY growth). Feedback from analysts can vary from none at all to insights about the market, your competitors and your product. If you are a client of an analyst firm you can request specific feedback through inquiries. These can include validation of technology and client needs, pricing and business model, and even product-specific question like the appearance of the product UI.

Analysts research

Analysts firms conduct industry and sector-specific (and sometimes even category specific) research, which they then sell to clients (Gartner Magic Quadrant, Forrester Wave and others). In most cases, they will only conduct this research if a market segment is large enough. These are annual studies, but sometime firms release smaller (non-comparative) papers on emerging market sectors. You can usually understand which papers a firm is planning on releasing in the next 12 month and prepare your attack plan accordingly- identify relevant analysts, engage them and brief them. If they don’t cover your specific niche, it is highly unlikely that they will suddenly add your category, so think long and hard before investing in this area.

Maintaining contact with analyst

Analysts vary in their methods of operations. Some are very open and engage with anyone, other are more secluded and only communicate through the “proper” channels. It is well worth to invest the time and attention to cultivate relationship with analysts- follow and engage them on social media, try to get a face to face meeting with them at conferences and follow their publications. Make sure you email them before briefings and present the topic, and that you follow up with email after the briefing and provide them with all the necessary information.

Is it worth it?

Before commencing on the analyst relationship journey, I suggest understanding the short and long term goals. If you are looking for leads and customer referrals- there are probably better, quicker and cheaper ways to make an impact. Take into consideration that in addition to a substantial subscription fee, it take hard work and commitment to make analyst relations work. You must perfect your pitch, engage with analysts on an ongoing basis and ensure that the necessary resources are available within your company (technical people, CEOs are not always willing to spend hours talking to analysts). Same goes for the willingness to listen analysts and implement their product feedback and even their commercial advise.

I’d like to thank Shaul for taking the time and sharing his insighsts with us. If you have additional questions please feel free to contact him at [email protected]