Tech companies are constantly looking for additional ways to generate leads, establish industry credibility and boost competitive market share of voice. Initially, leaning into paid advertising efforts seems like the correct course of action, but expanding advertising goals and budgets doesn’t guarantee promotional success. Public relations agencies, instead, leverage earned media through journalist and analyst relations to establish brand dominance within various tech verticals.
Analyst relations is important in securing top coverage and promoting industry expertise. Building analyst relationships allows tech companies to lay the foundation for long-standing inclusion in market research reports and strong data-driven reputations.
These efforts are particularly important for B2B tech companies. Analyst evaluations and market reports are major drivers of investor interest, customer conversions and partnership opportunities. Current and potential customers will turn to analysts as trusted and unbiased sources to determine which companies are leaders in their markets with superior offerings.
Developing solid relationships with analyst firms can be a powerful differentiator for tech companies vying for top product consumption and media coverage in increasingly competitive tech industries.
Established Relationships Garner Media Connections
An analyst relations program has little impact without one essential component managed by PR teams: relationships. PR teams spend as much time building and maintaining relationships with analysts as they do researching connections and scheduling briefings.
It can be easy to forget about the human aspect of these relationships when engaged in highly technical conversations. But simple acts such as sending “thank you” notes, providing slide decks of the presentation after briefings and attending key events and webinars can secure long-lasting analyst friendlies and conversational rapport.
Another strategy to continue the momentum of analyst relationships is to immediately offer additional briefings post-call. Whether the following meetings focus on a deeper analysis of the product and the specific verticals it serves or on a completely different product or offering, analysts will appreciate the breadth and depth of information provided at their fingertips.
One briefing with a specific analyst doesn't tie down the product and company for future communications. As relationships mature, analysts are typically willing and enthusiastic to connect relevant products and companies with their colleagues in different niches. Nurtured relationships can spur quotes and commentary that can be leveraged in press releases and media placements down the road. These developed relationships help to bolster news announcements with unbiased evaluations and add additional layers of credibility to brand messaging.
Working with a PR team to develop the right cadence for briefings can support desired media relations efforts. These goals should be specific, obtainable and based on other KPIs outlined in strategic plans. Expectation setting is essential to fully understand how to achieve impactful analyst relationships and transform them into earned media opportunities.
A Targeted Game Plan for Briefings
Before a briefing, PR teams will establish extensive contact lists of relevant analysts and develop tailored pitches for each individual. These pitches include important information about a company’s product or service with messaging directed at target analysts. Analysts are very technical and deeply understand the verticals they cover, so there is no fooling them with fancy slide decks or phony case studies.
Alongside carefully crafting pitches, a good PR team will also ensure that all representatives attending the briefing are well-versed in product and company confidentiality. Unless an analyst specifically states that a conversation or quote is off-the-record, expect that everything mentioned during the briefing can and will be published. Media training with a PR agency can prevent conversational stumbles through practice briefings and interviews.
Although rare, when a company representative misspeaks during a briefing, a PR team will connect with the present analyst to course-correct. Representatives should avoid sharing any information that is unclear or discussing competitors directly. Instead, focus on the importance of the company vision and emphasize the product’s value proposition and competitive fit within the market. PR is, in fact, all about relationships, so a PR agency can mend tarnished relationships by scheduling follow-ups or providing clarity to smooth rough conversations over.
Once briefings have been secured, PR teams work tirelessly to ensure the meeting garners the maximum results centered around company KPIs. Offering a product demo during the briefing is a critical component that impacts far beyond the initial conversation. Product demos are a win in any instance; they show analysts which products apply to their research and how they compare to competitors in the industry. Demos should give analysts specific examples of product capabilities and provide successful use cases.
Industry Research-Backed Matchmaking
Sending tailored pitches to the right analysts is only half the battle. There is far more research and monitoring that PR teams initiate to guarantee the right analyst is matched with the right company at the right time.
A PR team will spend additional time researching and tracking recent reports that analysts have published. Reports such as Gartner’s Cool Vendors or Magic Quadrant are benchmarks for PR teams to plan and build upon for upcoming briefings. PR teams also consider recent analyst panels, webinars and their social media posts to ensure pitches are relevant.
In other instances, PR teams will proactively pitch analysts that may not have any upcoming reports or events but still pose as a potential match with a company’s offerings. Within these pitches, a PR team will highlight any recent company momentum, such as product announcements, platform upgrades or funding rounds, to pique the interest of analysts.
At the end of the day, analysts are transparent about what topics interest them. Although pitches are targeted to analysts’ specific industry verticals, there is always room for a deeper conversation about what they would like to learn more about for upcoming reports.
Setting Your Company up for Success
Analyst relationships are an important aspect of any PR and business strategy. The process of developing target analysts and connecting with them for business opportunities can seem like a daunting task, but partnering with a prepared PR team with deep industry knowledge will take some of the burden and heavy lifting away from companies who can put their bandwidth into other things such as product development, investor meetings, and the like.
PR teams act as the timely, professional and knowledgeable point of contact before, during and after briefings. Open and consistent communication is key for maintaining relationships with analysts. Choosing the correct PR agency to manage your company’s analyst relations can drive impactful results along every aspect of the business funnel.