Welcome to our latest blog series, where with each post we’ll be taking a deep dive into a different area of PR.
In this three-part series, we will look in depth at analyst relations and how it fits into broader PR and marketing strategies.
Those who are new to PR can often be led to see it as synonymous with media relations, but the reality is far from the truth. Certainly, media relations is often an important part of PR; however, it soon becomes clear that it is not the whole thing. Awards, events, social media, and influencer engagement are also channels that PR practitioners must pay attention to.
Analyst relations is vital to businesses given analysts’ role in educating the market, supporting journalists, and guiding enterprises via consulting services around their purchasing decisions. In the second and third posts of the series, we will explain the importance analyst relations play in PR and the best ways to collaborate with them. However, before we cover those areas, it is worth briefly explaining exactly what an industry analyst is, what they do and who they are.
So, without further ado, let’s look at what an industry analyst is.
What is an analyst?
Simply put, analysts conduct research that they then use to create detailed market intelligence reports and provide consulting services. Thanks to their independent positions they offer a neutral view of the market that helps guide businesses through the purchasing, deployment, and use of services and solutions.
Given the breadth of the technology sector, and to enable them to become experts and provide the detailed support businesses need, analysts dedicate themselves to a specific industry (e.g., telecommunications, security) or technology type (e.g., marketing platforms, ERP). By focusing on a specific industry or technology type, analysts become highly respected sources of data and insights. Being a neutral voice in the market, analysts are a precious source of unbiased data on trends like market size, sales volumes, and industry growth projections, as well as emerging trends.
With the detailed data and insights they have access to, analysts are highly regarded and influential figures in their sector.
What do Industry analysts do?
Analysts participate in the technology sector in several ways. These include:
- Reports
As mentioned, reports are a crucial part of an analyst’s role. Report types and formats vary and change depending on the sector and areas a report covers. However, typical analyst reports cover topics such as market size, vendor landscapes, emerging trends, and strategic planning.
- Consulting
Analysts provide consulting services to both vendors and customers. For vendors, they offer insights into market position and trends that can be used to refine and adapt marketing and positioning, product strategy and customer engagement. Their role with customers is focused on offering advice for purchasing, deployment, and usage.
- Writing Articles and Blog Posts
Much like journalists, many analysts are very active writers. When not producing reports, they often write articles and blog posts that are hosted on their site and published with business and trade media publications.
One type of article that many analysts produce is prediction pieces. Often published as a series, these prediction pieces look ahead to the next 12 months and beyond at the trends, challenges, and changes businesses and organisations can expect.
- Events and Webinars
Whether online or in person, events are another area that analysts often have a presence at. This can take the form of being a member of panel discussions or fireside chats or hosting and moderating an event. Sometimes, brands invite analysts to a webinar to deliver a presentation on their latest research.
- Awards
Analysts have two ways they engage in awards. Firstly, analysts are asked to be judges for awards such as the GLOMOs. Secondly, some analyst firms run their own awards programmes. Gartner for instance has its Marketing and Communications Awards, while Forrester has its Technology Awards.
- Media Engagement
It’s not just organisations and businesses that want to speak and hear from analysts either; journalists do too. Providing a neutral and informed perspective on a particular story makes analysts valuable assets when journalists are developing their ideas, as they can act as guides for the story.
Who are the analysts?
Due to the number and variety of analyst firms, it would be difficult to list them all in one article. Instead, below is an example selection of analyst firms:
Celebrating its 40th birthday this year, Forrester has established itself as one of the largest analyst consultancies, with offices across the globe and a team of around 2,000. Alongside its reports, awards, and events, Forrester also has its own podcast series, covering topics including AI, CX, Digital Transformation (DX), and marketing.
The popularity of its Hype Cycle and Magic Quadrant reports have helped position Gartner as one of the largest and most recognisable analyst firms. With nearly 2,000 staff positioned across the world, Gartner has a truly global footprint.
The final member of the FIGs (Forrester, IDC, and Gartner), IDC is a wholly owned subsidiary of IDG, which also owns and operates several technology publications via its Foundry brand; these include CIO, ComputerWorld, InfoWorld, and Tech Advisor. IDC’s team numbers over 2,000 with office spread throughout the world.
Omdia was formed via the merger of several analyst firms including Ovum, HIS Markit, Heavy Reading, and Tractica, which were all owned by Omdia’s parent firm Informa. Informa itself is a large publishing firm that owns brands including Light Reading, InformationWeek, and Game Developer. Its research areas include telecommunications, cybersecurity, cloud, and semiconductors.
An IT industry analyst firm, Freeform Dynamics is a European-based analyst firm that focuses on bringing buyers and sellers together to foster closer collaboration and create beneficial relationships. Its highly experienced analyst team cover topics ranging from IT strategy and DX to edge computing and software development (DevOps).
Take Aways
- Analysts are important sources of industry insights and information, including market overviews
- They generate revenue by selling research reports, speaking at events, and providing consulting services
- In addition to reports, analysts also write articles, blogs, judge awards, and work closely with media providing commentary and insight for stories
In part two of this series, we will be looking more at what a good analyst relations programme can offer a business and why it’s an important area to consider as part of your PR activity.