At Calysto, we talk a lot about why it’s so important for AI, IoT, mobile, wireless and telecom companies to have a strong media relations program. The ability to craft stories surrounding your news is critical to capturing the attention of the media that matter to your customers. But equally important is creating a strong analysts relations program—in fact, having an analyst relations strategy is critical to the overall success of your PR program. The two really do go hand in hand.
There are three types of industry analysts, and it’s important to establish relationships with all of them to ensure your company is setting itself up for success:
- The prescribers spend most of their time advising end-user technology buyers on strategy. They work directly with your customers and prospects, making recommendations on how these companies can best make use of technology like yours.
- The number crunchers are focused on tracking service providers’ and vendors’ market share and overall market growth, using the past to predict the future. Briefing these analysts could mean your inclusion in reports of this nature. These reports are often used by the media as a frame of reference for the articles they are writing.
- The service provider and vendor-facing analysts concentrate on helping companies to better position themselves in the market – often supporting go-to-market strategies, messaging and content such as white papers.
Analysts can:
- Help guide focused and strong Positioning and Messaging and your overall story (as seen through the types of questions they ask). Getting analyst feedback is critical before approaching any media. Many analysts also initiate their own coverage of your company once you’ve briefed them. This is represented in reports, blogs and other content they consistently write. These analysts can be used to vet your Positioning and Messaging, help validate the category in which you’re positioned, and more.
- Advise and influence potential customers or buyers through first-hand conversations. Because they have the ear of the customer, analysts play an important role in helping you best market your company.
- Serve as a credible and quotable third-party reference for the media that cover your industry. Many reporters and editors are required to include credible sources such as analysts as part of their news announcements and editorial articles, so having one or more analysts familiar with your product or solution is key.
- Declare “Market Leaders” in key markets in which you have a presence. These are often used by potential customers to vet solutions based on their specific needs.
It’s wrong to think of analyst interviews as one-time occurrences. Once they’ve been briefed on your initial strategy, many analysts want follow-up briefings six months down the road, or whenever you have substantial news to share, such as new customers, products, services and solutions. If there have been positive changes in your ability to execute your go-to-market strategy, such as reaching or surpassing a key benchmark or entering new vertical of geographic markets, analysts want to be updated on these milestones as well. Think of analyst relations like a book—there are many chapters to read, and they should be notified (and pitched) for each one.
Crafting a strategy for approaching these different types of analysts is vitally important. Want more information on how to best reach the analysts that move your market? Contact Calysto today.